As early childhood professionals from 78 countries prepare to travel to Belfast for the 2009 World Forum on Early Care and Education, these authors surveyed a sampling of those who will be attending on the current trends in early childhood education in their country. Delegates from over 40 countries responded, and in reviewing the reports from…

When "Exchange" magazine was launched 30 years ago, programs serving young children were either called day care centers (full day) or nursery schools (part day). Over the years as early childhood professionals recognized that all services for preschool children provide a combination of caring, education, and development, the names of programs, and…

Describes different types of providers in school-age child care, one of the fastest growing segments in early childhood care. Providers described include child care centers, public schools, private schools and other providers such as youth services agencies, with funding coming from employers, foundations, and the federal government. Notes the…

Describes common mistakes to be avoided by child care directors in early childhood catalog purchasing. Notes roadblocks to successful purchases, including failing to check out seller's reliability, comparing prices without including shipping costs or considering product quality, failing to anticipate needs, ordering from outdated catalogs, failing…

The author presents insights from various readers of "ExchangeEveryDay" regarding trends in the world of family child care. Kathleen Reticker of Acre Family Child Care in Lowell, Massachusetts thinks an increasing trend in Family Child Care is the pressure to emulate a Center, instead of seeing family child care as a different model. Over the…

The field of early care and education has a long, proud history. In conducting research on the oldest child care centers in the United States, the authors discovered 75 organizations that have been in operation research more than 90 years; the oldest of which, Newark Day Care Center, has been in operation for 207 years! Rather than summarizing…

Center-based child care and family child care are now part of the fabric of life in the United States. This trend report will review the available demographic information on the types of child care arrangements that parents are utilizing, the expenses related to these forms of care, and the structural characteristics of center-based care. Most of…

In the September/October issue the author analyzed trends in business and society and identified three pillars of the new economy. After that article was published, readers were asked to share their views on what these changes mean for the world of early childhood. In this article, the author summarizes respondent's views. [For Part 1, see…

Having worked in the early childhood field for over three decades, the author has seen a lot of changes: The supply of child care services has increased ten-fold and the public respect for early childhood services has risen nearly as much. Despite these changes, certain challenges for these field have not been successfully addressed: Compensation…

Today employer child care is accepted as standard benefit for employees and nearly all Fortune 500 companies have gotten involved. The current recession threatened to halt the growth of employer child care as companies consolidated, cut back, and folded. However, in reviewing the status of employer child care for this trend report, it appears that…

This article presents an interview with Barbara Thompson, the Director of the Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In the interview, Thompson talks about trends in military child care in the United States. She shares when the military got into the business of providing child care. She also talks…

The author invited some of his friends to give their views regarding key trends that will impact the early childhood world in the coming years. Chip Donohue, Director of Distance Learning, Erikson Institute, Chicago, Illinois, observed that the rapid pace of technology development and deployment has already changed, and will continue to change,…

In this article, the author highlights two main efforts in line with the historic twentieth annual status report on for profit child care. These includes: (1) adding new players in the "Exchanged Top 40" list; and (2) focusing on regional chains, organizations providing early childhood services in more than 20 locations in two or more states. The…

This article presents the viewpoints of the CEOs of the three largest for profit child care organizations in North America about trends in their field. The three individuals are: (1) David Lissy, CEO, Bright Horizons Family Solutions; (2) Felicia Thornton, CEO, Knowledge Universe Education, U.S. (parent company for Knowledge Learning Corporation);…

For 25 years, "Exchange" has been tracking developments in the for profit child care sector. With this report, CEOs of organizations in the Exchange Top 50 have been asked to reflect on what have been the most significant developments in this sector over these 25 years. This article shares what they said.