Understanding and Incorporating Home-Based Child Care Into Early Education and Development Systems

Caregivers’ emotional competence and behavioral responsiveness as correlates of early childcare workers’ relationships with children in their care

“…Our findings indicate that FCC providers were more likely to report high levels of relational conflict with children in their care whereas EHS teachers reported having closer caregiver–child relationships. FCC providers may have less access to resources and supports than do EHS teachers working in centers (Tonyan et al., ). Moreover, FCC providers may experience elevated stress levels as a result of working in isolation (Rusby et al., ) and/or having less training in how to deal with children's challenging behaviors (Bailey & Osborne, ).…”

“…These settings can be licensed or unlicensed and operated by a relative or a nonrelative (Eheart & Leavitt, ; Johnson, ; Kisker, Hofferth, Phillips, & Farquhar, ; Kontos, Hsu, & Dunn, ; Pence & Goelman, ). FCC is more common than is center‐based care, especially for infants and toddlers (Tonyan, Paulsell, & Shivers, ). The inclusion of FCC providers in this research is especially significant because they face a unique set of stressors (Layzer & Goodson, ) and may be at higher risk than their counterparts working in centers to experience role overload and work‐related negative emotions (Fernandez, Mootoo, Romero, & Rasmussen, ).…”

Literature review on early childhood education and care for children under the age of 3

“…Overall, the literature suggests that staff in home-based settings for children under age 3, in comparison to staff working in centre-based settings, is less likely to have higher educational qualifications and specialised training in early childhood (Bigras et al, 2010 [89]; Eckhardt and Egert, 2018 [4]; Groeneveld et al, 2010 [90]; OECD, 2018 [1]). Home-based providers are also more likely to have less access to resources and supports and fewer opportunities for professional development than centre-based staff (OECD, 2018 [1]; Tonyan, 2017 [91]). Research further suggests that home-based providers often work alone and thus face a range of additional challenges such as fewer opportunities to share ideas with others about how infant and toddler development and engagement and how to involve children in the activities (Porter et al, 2010[92]; Tonyan, 2017 [91]).…”

“…Home-based providers are also more likely to have less access to resources and supports and fewer opportunities for professional development than centre-based staff (OECD, 2018 [1]; Tonyan, 2017 [91]). Research further suggests that home-based providers often work alone and thus face a range of additional challenges such as fewer opportunities to share ideas with others about how infant and toddler development and engagement and how to involve children in the activities (Porter et al, 2010[92]; Tonyan, 2017 [91]).…”

“…Similarly, for home-based settings, several authors have called attention to the fact that key successful PD indicators might differ across varying types of home-based providers, according to their specific motivations and barriers to professional development and quality improvement (Tonyan, 2017[91]). Specifically, even though some authors stress the value of coaching, consultation visits, and peer networking as part of relationship-based PD services for home-based providers (Bromer and Korfmacher, 2017[134]), recent studies highlight that the home-based provider workforce represents a widely varying field, with a multitude of particular PD needs, even distinct from those experienced by centre-based providers (Hooper, 2019[95]; Tonyan, 2017 [91]). Overall, even though more research is needed, recent views from the ECEC literature suggest that PD components should be aligned with specific needs and goals to better increase their effectiveness to educators' improvement quality practices.…”