Term Paper on "Spouse Are Beginning the Search for Good"

Term Paper 12 pages (4065 words) Sources: 8 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Spouse Are Beginning the Search for Good Preschool

Finding childcare for a small child can be a frightening experience not only for new parents but also for parents looking for the second or third etc. time. There are various ways of looking at the process. One process is by utilizing human development in order to view the process of findings suitable care for ones children. Vandell (2004), reports that child care research has made considerable progress in addressing questions about the effects of child care quality, the effects of amount and timing of early child care, and the effects of different types of care such as centers, child care homes, and relative care. The current paper is to discuss the process of locating childcare and the issues and concerns that parents often have associated with this process. Young children benefit from experiences and environments that build on their life-world. Different types of children's services provide young children with diverse experiences. An awareness of the variation in the ways parents conceptualize early childhood education and care (ECEC) services and make choices for their young children is therefore important to the development of a greater understanding of the impacts of such services on children and their families. (Noble, 2007)

As women began to enter the workforce in a drastic influx; daycare became more of a concern; for now was a time that care in the home (the stay at home mom) began to dissipate. Meyers & Jordan (2006),explain that as women approach equality with men in their representation in the U.S. labor force, child care became a critical concern both for families and for community development professionals. For parents-as-providers, most often mothers, the price, availability, quality, and reliability of childcare affect labor market attachment and hours of employment, particularly when children are young. Over the long-term, mothers' employment accommodations for care giving have consequences for career advancement and earning trajectories, and for gendered wage and earning differentials. For parents-as-caregivers, the safety and quality of care has implications for psychological well-being, management of work/family demands, and continuity of employment. (Meyers & Jordan, 2006)

The second half of the 20th century witnessed substantial changes in the lives of young children as maternal employment increased and more children participated in non-parental care arrangements. The available evidence indicates that these care arrangements vary widely in quality, amount, and type. These variations and the large number of children in care (over 10 million children in the United States in 1999) have raised several questions, which are also focuses of this current research. 1.) Does quality of early child care matter? 2.) Does amount and timing of early child care matter? In addition, 3.) Does type of early child care matter? Answers to these questions are important for parents and other childcare personnel, who are interested in the individual and collective well-being of children. They also are important for developmental theory because of their relevance to fundamental issues in the discipline such as the role of early vs. later experience and the efficacy of enrichment and intervention efforts. (Vandell, 2004)

Another method of childcare is the utilization of grandparents. Grandparents, like 'parents' and 'families', are not a homogeneous group. They are in their forties or octogenarians; can be employed full-time or retired; may be gregarious and have personal qualities indicative of loving relationships of be distant and lonesome. Grandparents may live alone or they may be encased within the family and co-reside with their children and grandchildren. Some grandparents may be independent and self-confident; others may lack initiative and self-esteem or be quite dependent. Grandparents fill diverse roles, one of which is the regular care of grandchildren. Grandparents were quite specific about their caring role being different from that of just minding or babysitting. Grandparents spoke about caring within the context of their knowing about not only their grandchild but also the family. This knowing enabled the grandparents to be aware and participate with them (their grandchildren). They saw themselves as providing stability, continuity of care, routine, and consistency. They contrasted their role with that of staff in child care. Grandparents stated that the relationship was more personal with them. They believed that in a childcare facility the children are just seen as another fee. (Goodfellow, 2003)

In the past years, more than fifty states and localities have formed teams that have attempted to measure the economic importance of childcare from a regional perspective, from a labor mobilization perspective, and from a human development perspective. (Warner, 2006) Childcare has a uniquely complex importance for an economy. It can influence the productivity and participation of both the future and the current workforce, affecting both parents and children. (Pratt & Kay, 2006) Research has reported that prior to the recent concern for the quality of school-age care program, policymakers, educators, and parents were concerned about the quality of infant, toddler, and preschool care and education programs. In the early 1980s, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) began an accreditation program that outlined the criteria necessary to support the physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development of young children birth to age eight. NAEYC defines accreditation as a process in which a program's director, staff, and parents voluntarily work with representatives of the association to determine whether the program meets nationally recognized criteria for high quality. Programs achieving accreditation have demonstrated a commitment to providing the highest quality care and education. (Hall & Cassidy, 2002)

Brennan (2007), argues that child care is a societal institution that separates children from adult socio-cultural communities through this organization of the centre's physical and social space. Young children and their caregiver's in-group care situations are physically separated from adult social activities, and this is encapsulated in both the cultural and social arrangements of the childcare centre. These are aspects often overlooked by parents when looking for childcare. However, it is an important dynamic to consider. Parents want to know that their child (ren) are in an environment that offers optimum positive interactions, learning opportunities, and opportunities to learn from others their own age. While looking for a day care it is important to research the daycare i.e. length of time in business, are there any charges against the facility etc. these are important facts to find out and definite indicators of whether or not a childcare center is one that should be considered. The writer further explains that learning by just being there (in a center etc.) involves picking up values, skills, and mannerisms in an incidental fashion through close involvement with a socializing agent and cultural models of learning. There is a silent absorption of children into community life through the natural participation in its daily rituals and tasks. Yet this requires children's access to involvement in community activities, and access is dictated by the extent to which caregivers organize specialized child-focused activities or expect children to learn from intentional participation in ongoing shared endeavors. In communities where children have access to aspects of adult life they learn from opportunities to observe, and in fact adults expect young children to learn through watching.

There are varying facets to what parents are looking for in a childcare provider/facility. Most young children in the United States now spend at least a portion of their time in non-parental care. Children are cared for in a variety of non-parental arrangements ranging from informal care giving by relatives and friends to formal care in family child care homes, child care centers, preschool settings, and before- and after-school programs. (Meyers & Jordan, 2006) the current literature explains what these facets are and why they are deemed important and necessary by the parents utilized in the studies in this paper. A question that is important to ask oneself is what services are offered for ones child in daycare if he or she has a mental disability. This question is addressed by Hernandez & Hodges (2003) the writers state that systems of care are presented as mutable strategies for improving organizational relationships that are best judged by outcomes focused at the organizational level. The systems-of-care concept is described as an explicit organizational philosophy that emphasizes services that are family focused individualized, provided in the least restrictive environment, coordinated among multiple agencies, and culturally competent systems of care are viewed as more than networks of services. (Hernandez & Hodges, 2003) Traditionally, child care has been thought of from an education or welfare perspective. This is primarily because public funding for early care and education has been limited to programs focused at the preschool level (Head Start or pre-kindergarten) and targeted to poor children (subsidies for low-income parents). An interesting shift has happened in the last few years as the early care and education field has begun to measure its importance for families and the broader economy. (Warner, 2006)

Financial reasons also play a valid role in choosing childcare services. In families that have financial difficulties, there are funds that are appropriated to help fund childcare by supplementing or often… READ MORE

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