Is daycare good for young children

Is daycare good for young children?

When people talk about day care, mostly they picture a noisy, stressful environment with impulsive interaction with toy-grabbing toddlers who do not get enough adult attention. Placing the influence that daycare has on the toddler cannot be all-negative and it mostly depends on the child. Studies have revealed that children with difficult temperaments suffer more in low quality daycare, but do better in high-quality environs. According to babble Disney, a blog that deals with parenting issues, their research in 2012 revealed that, in these low quality daycare centers, the kids stress hormones are released differently. That is, instead of the normal peaking in the morning and gradually decline towards the evening. Their coristol levels increase in the afternoon and this often causes anxiety during their time in the care centers. This repeated pattern will stay with them until the age of fifteen (Spock & Needlman, 2012). Concerns by parents on the rising ratio of three children per one-adult supervision at the center is worrying since it forces the children to fend for themselves most of the time this leaves them too tired at the end of the day. The same study states that kids that grow up in high quality care are better in math and have high vocabulary understanding in their early years (Spock & Needlman, 2012).

Childhood research quarterly, on their research in 2004 showed that the coristol problem in kids is caused by congestion in their environs.  An example is in classrooms with over twenty kids in one room. The research show that they have difficulty relating with their teachers; these same kids when they reach the sixth grade tend to have behavioral and psychological problems. However, according to survey by the national institute of health on the day care system they argue that the day care experience preps the child in readiness for school. The experience is both cognitively enriching and stimulating to the child. According to them, age four children who have had a high quality day care experience do better on numbering and literature skills. The same research reveals that the immunity system strengthens due to the constant exposure to different germs while in the day care facility by average of 30 percent, which helps in prevention of serious chronic problems like leukemia, asthma and allergies. Learning how to get along with others and how to be assertive is another benefit kids get from attending day care. They learn to make friends early in life and it is a sure way of starting their social life (Alexander, 1983).

 The pros and the cons of daycare center what really matters is the independent decision to place the child in these institutions. There are things to look at like how it is helping to develop the child memory, preparation for kindergarten and language. Does it give them any persisting edge that extends to elementary school? Lastly, how do they react to the child when they are agitated and distressed? This is according to cathryn Booth La-Force of the national institute of child health and human development. Experts say that for a day care center to be effective it should seek a program that is licensed and certified. It should include accreditation from a certified organization  for example the national association for education of young children and should meet their basic requirements including number of staff and qualification of the teachers and the option of being able to drop in at any time is a must for any parent. These are the general guidelines for parents to consider while choosing a day care center for their kids (Vandell & Wolfe, 2000).

One of the major theories of day care is of Urie Bronfenbrenner theory on ecological system in 2005 and its effect on a child’s development stated that the environment influences a child growth differently. By using his theory to explain he further noted different ecological factors that play a role in a child’s development and labeled them as micro system. This is the immediate surroundings of the child; it includes any organization or relation they are in contact with for example family or schools. This group is important since the children’s interaction in the group determines a lot how they grow. The mesosystem further helps to develop the micro system. An example is in the children that the caregivers play active roles in their general growth like schoolwork, will promote the children’s well-being and growth. Daycares are better compared to the growth environments with constant arguments or divorce. Such environs inhibit a child’s growth in many ways, in both the ecosystem and the macro system. The exosystem is a group comprising mostly of people the child relates to but not very often. Examples include neighbors, parent’s workplace, and extended family members. Its impact is indirect for example if a parent loses their job the economic value of the loss will affect the child too. The last level is the macro system. This bracket includes many things and diversely remote people it includes the cultural values, freedoms permitted by the government, wars and the economy. All these affect the child negatively or positively (Urie Bronfenbrenner, 2005).

Deborah Lowe Vandell, from the University of Wisconsin, department of educational psychology conducted her research on Child Care quality to see if it matters and if there is need to improve it. Done in 2000, the research brought out the theory that effective childcare is economically justified to improve the level of the non-parental childcare through public intervention. She based her answers mostly on the research centralized around small and large-scale studies and on children from low-income families and then compared the economic rational evidence from these bases. By critically revising earlier research based on the effects of high and low quality day care and their environs in accordance with the child’s development (Deborah Lowe Vandell, 2000).  Her methods include observations on how the kids interact with the caregivers and other children, monitoring activities like health and safety, language development and closely observing what actually happens in these environs through the recording of these indicators in an accepted scale.  In addition, with the review of the caregiver’s quality, childcare settings and structural characteristics, this involves monitoring group sizes of the children, general training and teaching methods of the teachers, and the adult to child ratio. This research confirmed that an effective environment reduces injuries, increases the child participation, and has fewer health, respiratory and infection cases (Vandell & Wolfe, 2000).

The theory on mothers and childcare policies as stated by Simon Duncan in 2003 is mainly based on the government’s expansion of childcare services to include the adult worker model. This model requires both parents to work, make informed and proper decisions on childcare services according to their economic rational choice model that works for them. Through this principal, the research analyses the processes involved in the decision-making in finding a proper childcare from the mother’s viewpoint. It looks at the emotional decisions involved around their children and their needs. The ones that need first priority focus on their children needs and highlight the main differences between the different social groups. Through these studies, the inadequacies in childcare policies are revealed and alternative options given. The author argues that expansion alone is not an effective solution for the model system (Blau & Currie, 2006).

            Recent research by Rowena Kenny in 2010, on the studies of the relationship between the child and his natural environment greatly supports the research by Urie Bronfenbrenner. They both analyze the relation and influence that the environment has on a child’s growth. She takes it further to include easy application protocols. Her methods follow the basic analysis of the former researchers. Through her study the relevance of the link between the environment and missed opportunities for the child are clear, and the negative implications of her study to the child include obesity, increased mental health disorders and poor health. In addition, the findings of her research have called to attention the need for more information on the correlation between the children the environment and its effects on the child’s development.

The recent studies by Deborah Lowe Vandell, on Child Care quality has provided  useful insight on the subject .Other researchers have used her research to measure quality in alternative  ways. These include mainly recording, observation, care giving, assessing provisions of safety, and health structural characteristics. With CC (childcare) home, inventory that uses the checklist approach as a measure of quality process. It cuts across many areas namely the physical environment and health and safety, materials used, and variety of experience (Burchinal, Roberts, Nabors & Bryant, 1996).

Urie Bronfenbrenner theory would be the most appropriate since its principles are easily applicable and they are easily identified with. On his book building the nest, he provided the five principles that make up a socially acceptable person, the main ones being character, development and competence. He links them back to the emotions of a child as the central value to all future interactions and relationships. It states that these settings apply even to adults and this makes it a more suitable theory to apply. His suggestions on the components necessary for a complete development of an individual are found in both the environment and the person. This includes the fact that, for an emotional and intellectual moral growth of a child will need constant participation in progressively complex activities in their life with the people they have a strong irrational, mutual, and emotional connection to. This person has their best interest and development as priority. The set public policies, and practices that offer  stability, time, recognition, status,  and custom effectively help in the child growth in all aspects from the personal levels, teachers, parents, community, coworkers, relatives, entire community and  eventually help in the effective child rearing function (The NSW Office of Child Care, 2006).

  One important issue to note is that, in addition to the many indisputable advantages that the facilities offer, the infant it cannot also be disputed that it has cons, which need attention. A 2007 survey by the national institute of child health development states that these facilities are expensive and most are not up to standard in terms of amount of attention, employed staff and preparedness in emergency and only 10 percent of them provide adequate quality care (Spock & Needlman, 2012).

In conclusion, daycare is beneficial to young children in different ways. The repetitive progressive pattern in daycare establishes interactions on an interpersonal level. These strong attachments mutually enhance the child’s immediate features to respond to the social, symbolic environment and in effect enhance the physical imagination to invite and manipulate the child’s creativity. In addition, the psychological growth is enhanced and accelerated. Lastly, an effective environment that will ease the child rearing process requires an effective two-way communication. This effectively includes the ongoing patterns that support the communication exchange and trust that is mutual between the children and their parents who are the principal authority. These settings are effective at the childcare program, home, and the parent’s work place.

References

Alexander, J. (1983). The impact of day care. Canadian Family Physician, 29, 1879.

Blau, D., & Currie, J. (2006). Pre-School, Day Care, and after-School Care: Who's Minding the

Kids?. Handbook of the Economics of Education, 2, 1163-1278.

Burchinal, M. R., Roberts, J. E., Nabors, L. A., & Bryant, D. M. (1996). Quality of center

childcare, infant cognitive, and language development. Child development, 67(2), 606-620.

Jardine, D. W. (1944). The Piagetian picture of the world. Phenomenology+ Pedagogy, 2(3),

224-239.

 The NSW Office of Child Care (2006). a basic introduction to child development theories,

Centre for Learning Innovation State of New South Wales: Department of Education and Training.

Spock, B. & Needlman, R. (2012). Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care: Time-tested Parenting

Advice Fully Updated For 2012. New York: Skyhorse Publishing Inc.

Vandell, D., & Wolfe, B. (2000). Childcare quality: Does it matter and does it need to be

improved? (Vol. 78). Madison, WI: Institute for Research on Poverty.