Introduction
Developing a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to early childhood education is a significant problem in pedagogy. Licensed childcare proves its higher efficiency than babysitting because it provides children with professional supervision. Licensed childcare guarantees appropriate competency in specialists providing the services, while babysitters usually need to be more professional. It is particularly relevant to children and infants with disabilities who need appropriate approaches to interaction and upbringing that address their specific needs. This paper focuses on the importance of implementing licensed childcare for early childhood education and upbringing to facilitate developmental opportunities for minors at the earliest stages of life. Licensed childcare providers work according to the latest standards and guidelines, which makes their services significantly better than the ones of babysitters.
Ineffectiveness of Babysitting Compared to Licensed Childcare
Home-based care providers have insufficient professional competencies, compared to facility-based licensed childcare. In particular, licensed childcare proposes children the opportunities for proper development and talent actualization, especially children with disabilities and developmental issues. Research demonstrates that multiple households in the United States use babysitting services from unlicensed individuals to support their daily childcare routines (McConnon et al., 2020). However, the diminished quality of such services and the lack of responsibility for the long-term implications of possible neglect for a child with disabilities necessitate implementing proper solutions that would necessitate licensed childcare. The same assumptions are true for children without problems with physical, cognitive, or psychological development because they are not educated in home care, which is different from the licensed care.
The government understands the necessity in making childcare professional and licensed, which shows the importance of pedagogical accreditation for working with children. At the national level, the implementation of systematic facilitation of licensed childcare for children with disabilities has been observed. Multiple programs specifically designed to incorporate the interests and needs of such students within the national educational system have been relatively compelling. Indeed, as stated by Bruder et al. (2019), “744,414 were served in 2016” under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which represented “6.4% of the population of children aged 3 through 5 years” (p. 281). These numbers demonstrated that many individuals require specific approaches to upbringing, education, and daily routines that an unlicensed babysitter cannot correctly support.
The advantages of the licensed childcare compared to the babysitting services are reflected in the developmental opportunities of children eligible for IDEA early childhood intervention and proper educational support. Indeed, children with disabilities “under IDEA are entitled to services that are individualized, monitored for effectiveness, and delivered within a variety of settings where infants, young children, and families spend their time” (p. 281). However, such programs’ consistency, accuracy, and effectiveness largely depend on the professionalism of educators who implement them in classrooms. Therefore, it is essential to facilitate the implementation of such approaches to working with children with disabilities in the home-based childcare setting so that individuals providing care to such children minimize harm and maximize developmental opportunities. Proper development settings and means in preschool make a substantial contribution to students’ unimpaired, healthy, and happy adulthood (Dodge et al., 2022). Thus, it is essential to eliminate the insufficient professionalism of babysitters providing childcare services to infants and children with disabilities.
The Use of NAEYC Standards and Guidelines in Licensed Childcare
The advantages of the licensed childcare are evident in the systematic, evidence-based, and interdisciplinary frameworks allowing for maximizing developmental opportunities for young children with disabilities. In particular, using the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) (2019) standards and guidelines is an effective solution to the problem. This point of view is justified by the opportunities of the standards to allow for implementing interdisciplinary child-centered approaches in early childcare capable of meeting the needs of children with disabilities, which is commonly omitted in the care provided by babysitters. The adherence to unified and well-tailored high standards of child-centered education will facilitate the development of each child due to the focus on every individual’s specific abilities or disabilities.
The solution to the identified problem is envisioned in improving carers’ competencies, which might be addressed through standards 1, 5, and 7. Indeed, “positive relationships between adults and children are essential for the development of children’s sense of personal responsibility and for fostering their capacity for self-regulation, their constructive interactions with others, and their academic functioning” (National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC], 2019, p. 11). This Standard-1 rationale for relationship building is one of the stepping stones to practical cooperation and communication between a competent care provider and children based on the prioritization of their needs. Furthermore, Standard-5 Health promotes the nutrition and health of children and protects children and staff from illness” (NAEYC, 2019, p. 8). In addition, Standard-7 Families emphasizes “collaborative relationships with each child’s family to foster children’s development in all settings” which should be “sensitive to family composition, language, and culture” (NAEYC, 2019, p. 9). Thus, it is essential to ensure that childcare professionals are licensed under the standards and follow the guidelines mentioned earlier accordingly.
Anticipated Improvement in Licenced Childcare Use
The solution through the facilitated implementation of NAEYC standards and guidelines is expected to strengthen licensed childcare providers’ competencies, communication and relationship-building skills, cooperation readiness, and continuous professional growth. Firstly, as an anticipated outcome of the proposed solution, one might address the increased level of care providers’ awareness about the variety of developmental needs children with disabilities might have (Bruder et al., 2019). Secondly, implementing NAEYC standards is anticipated to provide specialists with strong communicative and stress-coping skills that would ultimately benefit the children (NAEYC, 2019). Finally, the most important outcome of the proposed solution is the improved quality of life and fulfilled developmental opportunities for children with disabilities.
Benefits of NAEYC Standards and Guidelines for Improving Licensed Childcare
Therefore, licensed childcare has evident advantages compared to home care services, and it is possible to enhance their positive impact. When discussing the beneficial outcomes of implementing the guidelines for improving licensed childcare, one might identify the facilitation of the quality of care that would maximize child safety and developmental opportunities (Vandenbroeck et al., 2021). Moreover, the transition from babysitting, commonly unprofessional, to licensed childcare will minimize harm to children with disabilities and help them develop under the supervision of a competent care provider.
Conclusion
The quality of childcare is hindered by the involvement of unprofessional babysitters and the diminished role of licensed childcare providers. This issue is particularly relevant to children with disabilities, whose care should be based on evidence, knowledge, and competence to adequately meet their needs. For that matter, it is essential to facilitate licensed childcare by implementing NAEYC standards that would enhance the relevance of competencies to the needs and expectations of the served population. Thus, advancing these standards will benefit child development at the early stages of life, thus contributing to the well-being of the whole society.
References
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Dodge, D. T., Heroman, C., Colker, L. J., Bickart, T. S., Berke, K., & Baker. H. (2022). The creative curriculum for preschool (6th ed.). Teaching Strategies.
McConnon, A., Midgette, A. J., & Conry-Murray, C. (2022). Mother like mothers and work like fathers: US heterosexual college students’ assumptions about who should meet childcare and housework demands. Sex Roles, 86(1), 49-66. Web.
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2019). NAEYC early learning program accreditation standards and assessment items.Web.
Vandenbroeck, M., Slot, P., & Hulpia, H. (2021). Quality in home-based childcare providers: Variations in process quality. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 29(2), 261-277. Web.