Quality childcare and its impact on young children

Quality Childcare

The quality of child rearing is an essential element of a child's well-being. but, first and foremost, what do you mean by child rearing? It is training or bringing-up of children by parents or parent-substitutes of different societies, at different economic levels, in different ethnic groups, etc. Its emphasis is on the act of training or bringing up the child and the interaction between the parent and child (www.websters-online-dictionary.org).

It has long been discussed how a caregiver's rearing practice affects the behavior, personality and physical and mental well-being of the children. Nurture vs. Nature is one classic argument. Issues have been raised on how parents "should" take care of their offspring. Arguments on whether a child's behavior is affected by the kind of environment he lives in or is defined by his genetic make-up. Although, it has also been considered that both nature and nurture are important in raising your children, still, issues on how you should raise them are being discussed.

There are different approaches to child rearing which also lead to different outcomes or behavioral reaction in children. There are different factors that contribute to how parents bring-up their children. Different cultures or religious groups have different child rearing practices. There are numerous arguments on which approach is better and which approach produces "better offspring."

First issue to be raised is the numerous child-rearing books and gurus, solicited and unsolicited advises that a lot of times are conflicting and bombard parents with diverse information that they think enriches and nourishes the minds of their children. This actually confuses them and children just become overstressed and overstimulated. This starts even at the newborn stage when babies are subjected to the "right" music, educational" toys and mobiles that say "brainboosters" all over, even color combinations matter. Thus, parents become meticulous and obsessive over trying to apply everything at the expense of their family budget and the child's peace of mind. According to a book by Michael Gurian on Nurture the Nature, he calls this as "the social trends parenting system." He says that "media- and society-driven system of raising kids that takes the locus of control for child-raising away from the parents' instincts about their own children's nature and puts it in the middle of constantly changing social fads, experts, and infotainments."

Television and print advertisements shower us with a lot of new techniques, a lot of must haves, and various ways of how we should take care of our children. There are a lot of new discoveries that give rise to a whole lot of innovative and fresh new products that are advertised to help build up or develop your children's potentials. Even milk formulas come in different "presentations," each competing on how to best "push your child to the limit." But parents should realize that not every other product is good for your child. They tend to be confused on what to give their children, thus, as they are bombarded with so much information they tend to do the same to their kids.

Each child is unique and has his/her own way of learning. Thus, parents should recognize the uniqueness of their children. Therefore, they will be able to apply the "right" stimulation unique to their child. They will not be frantic over all the methods they hear, read or watch. Recognizing their own child's strengths, weaknesses and potentials, parents could set achievable boundaries and provide the right kind and dose of stimulation. "A child's individual core nature finds meaning through responsibility. A child 'means something' because he or she must act meaningfully. A sense of purpose in the child and then the adult comes from small seeds of purposeful action." This is according to Gurian. (www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=3724).

Also, the mother's well-being is important in child rearing. On a study on the effects of child-rearing by schizophrenic mothers, there is a slightly higher incidence of psychopathology among reared-apart subjects that can be attributed to their greater genetic presidposition. Parents' well being should be whole in order to give wholly to their children. When parents encounter marital problems for example, they tend to project frustrations and failures to their children. Adjustments in the parents' side are also felt by their children. A journal on Marital Adjustment, Marital Discord Over Childrearing, and Child Behavior Problems: Moderating Effects of Child Age by Mahoney, et. al., studied whether marital discord over childrearing contributes to child behavior problems after taking into account general marital adjustment, and if child age moderates associations between child behavior problems and either general marital adjustment or marital discord over childrearing. The journal points to a low-to-moderate association which exists between general marital adjustment and child behavior problems. but, further studies as to specific assessment of marital functioning are needed.

When a mother is not healthy physically or mentally, her child rearing practices are also affected. Problems within herself can be reflected on how she handles her child. You can only give as much as you have. Meaning, if you are not whole by yourself it is hard to help your child become whole. You can only teach what you know. Meaning, a caregiver's mental health and emotional well-being is what is made as a teaching example to the children.

Lastly, other outside factors also affect how a parent raises her children. On a journal entitled "Cicle of Caring" by Gerlach, it was found out that within the category of family there were subcategories identified, namely, the extensive support network, intergenerational learning and doing, and influence of the residential school system. And also, within the category of raising a child there were also identified subcategories such as health and spirituality, causation beliefs, and a sense of knowing. All of these contribute on child rearing. Aside from the parents' belief system, external factors matter. Like the kind of environment the family lives in, the closeness of the children to their extended family, the teachings at school and all other factors. This makes child rearing a holistic approach.

Remember that your child interacts with other children, are expose to the outside world and are also bombarded by different information from the society that surrounds them. What parents teach at home may not be the same with how their playmates children are taught, how their teachers treat them at school, etc. As earlier mentioned, different cultures and societies have their own distinctive beliefs. And your child is not exclusively interacting with people of the same beliefs as yours. Therefore, parents should take into consideration how they explain to their children what they see outside their home.