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CORPS members: International experts

  • CORPS members: International experts
  • SB 1600: Child care system reforms

From July-August 2006 Issue | The California Child Development CORPS series
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CORPS members: International experts

Members of the California Child Development Corps have a lot to teach—not just to the kids in their programs, but to California grown-ups, as the Corps advocates for better conditions for children and caregivers. Recently four Corps participants at the Concord Child Care Center described universal child care and good curriculum in their home countries.

MEXICO, Adriana Morales Gomez: “ Mexico has free, three-hour-a-day preschool for four-year olds. It’s run by the school system and it’s a good program—both play and academic teaching, and they serve lunch. Everybody wants their kids to get ahead, so pretty much everybody takes them to preschool.

“Teachers have to have degrees and they get more benefits than teachers here. The government builds houses and gives teachers very good rates on loans to buy them. They also get retirement benefits.”

INDIA, Rachna Sharma: “In India, school is free and it’s compulsory for children starting at four. The school day is from 7:30 to 12.

“The program for four-year-olds is not too much academic pressure, mostly social and emotional development, to get ready for first grade (at five). Even in first grade there’s not much academic pressure.”

POLAND, Renata Linkowski: “In Poland the government provides full-day care for children from the age of three months. Parents pay on a sliding scale, but the fee is low enough so anybody can attend.

“Preschool teachers have to have degrees and the children have continuity of care, the same teacher from age three through five. The state sends requirements about what kids have to know at each level, and teachers have to plan and follow a schedule.”

“They have play, group activities, circle time. There’s no pressure—schools don’t start teaching children to read until they are six. It’s better, the children are more mature. And there’s more communication between parents and teachers.”

ARGENTINA, Gabriela Rowland: “In Argentina, preschool (for three- and four-year-olds) is part of the school system. Some schools are half day and some are full day. It’s a play-based curriculum with songs, stories, music and movement, art, cooking.

“Teachers first have to qualify as teachers, then specialize in preschool. They get paid the same as other teachers. Not only preschool, but all education through the BA is free.”

SB 1600: Child care system reforms

The Corps works in coalition with other groups on legislation that can benefit teachers and providers. This year Jo Ann Gilbert, a San Diego family child care provider for almost 30 years, traveled to Sacramento as a member of the United Child Care Union to lobby for SB 1600 (Kuehl). The bill would have:

  • Created a plan to collect data on the need for child care. “There are spaces,” says Gilbert. “But there’s not enough funding!”
  • Created a task force to coordinate training. “We need the classes and the financial help!” says Gilbert. Providers need evening classes, “and there are not enough bilingual classes.”
  • Allowed family child care providers to bargain collectively with state licensing and payment programs.
  • Create financial incentives for higher-quality care.
  • Increased the rate paid to subsidized centers (Title V).

(The bill did not pass this legislative session, but advocates will be back next year.)

For more information, contact:

If your county is not listed above, contact Sara Hicks-Kilday at cares@caccwrc.org, 415-808-7327. For spanish, contact Teresa Calle-Streicker, 415-808-4126.

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From July-August 2006 Issue | The California Child Development CORPS series

Sponsored by: Trio Foundation

Related topics: California Child Development Corps, Child Care and Early Care and Education, Multicultural/diversity

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