why me
If you have read the article that I linked to in the OP, you will see that the Finnish social services do believe that it is a problem for their young to be 10 hours in day care. This is not something that they are bragging about. And the consequences of such a happening are well known for the future of the child.
I do believe that perspective parents in Finland do need parenting classes. The problem is however a lack of funding for such programs. In fact, the reason why day care is becoming more croweded is because some centers have been closed for lack of funds. All are government sponsored.
That may well be true of Finland. I have not researched nor studied Finnish childcare systems. At the same time, you can take the childcare systems of Norway and hold them up as
a gold standard model of best practice for the entire world and yes, that includes the USA.
You do realize that childcare systems exist in other countries outside of Finland, do you not?
When you say that the LDS "got it right" I assume that you are not referring simply to Finnish LDS but LDS as a global religious group. As you can see, BYU operates it's own childcare program for 4 year olds that functions as a lab school for their ECE department. This particularly preschool, why me, is reference in college texts for Early Childhood Education students. I have worked with one ECP (early childhood professional) who was schooled in that lab school and also LDS. It is where she earned her degree.
Given the above, I do not see where LDS is against good programs for young children. The graduates of the ECE program (students, not the children) take their art out into the world in all sorts of situations including those that I listed in an earlier post. If you look online you will clearly see that there are
LDS mothers operating licensened programs in their own homes. These are located in the area of BYU and presumably, intended to serve children of LDS students at BYU itself.
And I don't think that private classes exist and the expenses would limit who would take such classes anyway. I think that what I am trying to say is that the family is under attack from a system that is greedy for money and which has become a profit before people system. The workplace is not family friendly.
The types of classes I mentioned are not private classes. They are early childhood classes that can be taken at any community college or university as well as at BYU. Any economically disadvantaged parent can take such classes via financial aid with essentially no out of pocket expenses except for possibly, text books.
Further, most licensed and especially programs accredited by the NAEYC regularly welcome visitors to their programs for tours. During those tours, one can observe and later, perhaps
volunteer to aid staff in a classroom of any age group (so long as they meet state requirements such as background checks) and essentially receive FREE parenting classes on site.
There is NO excuse in today's world (given the presence of google) that any parent should neglect their need to build parenting skills. They can essentially be had FREE of cost and also through colleges in any state.
why me, you don't know all there is to know about what is out there for families or young children. While Finland may have substandard care for young children, they are not the bellwether of doom for the rest of humanity and their offspring.
While the gospel may suffice in terms of the philosophical underpinnings of LDS family life, it is not a replacement for good parenting skills.
(MY. GOD. Jersey Girl wrote TWO serious posts in one day on MDB...watershed moment for sure. :-)