5-Year-Old Ditches Day Care for Hooters

Police investigate whether operator had gone shopping beforehand

(NEWSER) - A fourth child died today after a day care fire in Houston last week, as police investigate whether the woman who operated it out of her home left the kids unsupervised while she went shopping, reports KTRK-TV. Three other toddlers were injured, and two of them remain hospitalized. "There's no question she went shopping," a law enforcement source tells the Houston Chronicle . "They're trying to determine exactly when she returned, although it was a very close proximity (in time) to the fire." More»

4½-year-olds in 'high-quality' care perform better as teens

(NEWSER) - Kids who spend a lot of time in high-quality child care perform better academically than those who don't, even as much as 10 years later. Researchers looked at 1,364 youngsters, analyzing their academic records in the context of the kind and amount of child care they received. Previous studies have demonstrated links between IQ or other metrics and quality daycare, but this is the first to demonstrate improvement so many years later, LiveScience reports. More»

New fuel for mommy wars

(NEWSER) - Teenagers who spent long hours in day-care as toddlers are more likely to take risks and act impulsively than peers who spent those years at home, finds the largest and longest study of child-care in America. The findings—sure to stir controversy among parents and policy makers—found that teens rated themselves 16% more impulsive for every extra 10 hours they spent per week in day-care as toddlers. More»

Child-care centers do far better at restricting boob tube time

(NEWSER) - Children in home-based daycare watch far more TV than kids in formal child-care centers, with preschoolers averaging as much as 3.4 hours a day. The numbers in a new survey haven't changed much from stats recorded in previous years, which the researchers say they find "disconcerting, given the intervening publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines regarding television use for young children." More»

(NEWSER) - Many restaurateurs are struggling these days, but Hooters and a new crop of imitators are seeing their clientele increase, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Hooters revenues went up 2% from 2007 to 2008, and while the chain is secure—“We’re not looking over our shoulders,” said exec Michael McNeil—savvy entrepreneurs are taking a page from the Hooters playbook. More»