Childcare involves caring for young children, particularly from 0-9 years of age. There are two different types of childcare. The first one is parental childcare, where parents care for their children. The second one is non-parental childcare, where the child is taken care of by another person, but not the parents, through daycare or home-based care by nannies.
This paper focuses on the types of non-parent childcare and its effects on the child’s development in psychological, social and cognitive development. Galinsky (2004) affirms that daycare is nonparent childcare, which is divided into two: the long day care and short daycare. The extended day care involves taking care of a child for many hours in case the parents of the child who is being taken care are also working for many hours.
This may include the nighttime, and it is the duty of the caregiver to ensure that the child sleeps and eats well in the absence of the parent. The short daycare is where a child cares for a few hours in the case where parents work for short hours. When the parents’ working hours are over, they pick their children from the caregivers and stays with them for the rest of the day.
Daycare holds many children from different homes that are brought daily and many staffs are hired to care for them. Hiring a nanny is another type of nonparental childcare care. A family hires a nanny in their home to take care of their child. This is because of their busy schedules, and the nanny either stay in their home or goes back to his/her home when the child’s parents are back.
These nannies are usually given training on childcare, and it is their responsibility to ensure that the child grows in the best way. A nanny cares for children of one household, and when compared to the daycare, they care for many children from different households.
Similarly, according to Volling (2000), preschool is a type of childcare where children aged between 3 to 6 years are enrolled. Young children are introduced to education as other needs are being taken care of. The preschools are sometimes operated by a community, church or government. Parents may also come together and put up a preschool and hire people who have been trained in early childhood development in their area.
Although non-parental care helps the parents to concentrate on other duties apart from childcare, the care given to children at care centers influences them on social, cognitive, and psychological development. The quality of the care also matters because children who have been brought up in a high-quality daycare have good social skills.
They are not shy, and they are competent because of being exposed to different caregivers as compared to those who are cared for by their parents, and when they grow up, they become more aggressive. Howes (2000) argues that the child’s cognitive ability is determined by the age at which the child joined non-parental child care. Those who were enrolled at the age of three months have better and improved cognitive ability.
The performance is better especially for those who joined the care centers at an early stage, and those who were cared for by their parents have shown low performance in schools. Children who have been exposed to poor quality of non-parental childcare have poor mental development. They usually have a negative attitude towards life depending on their level of experiences.
High-quality childcare enables a child to live positively and is eager to learn new skills. In conclusion, although many childcare centers or systems have been helpful to the working parents, they should be careful when hiring people or selecting the type of care because the caregivers will influence the child development in psychological, mental and social issues. In essence, parents should secure enough time to interact with their children even if they are enrolled in a non-parental childcare program.
References
Galinsky, E. H. (2004). The Family Child Care Training Study. New York: McGraw Hill,
Howes, C. & Philips, D. A. (2000). Thresholds of quality: Implications for the Social Development of Children in Center-Based Child Care. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Volling, B. L. (2000). Infant Day Care and Children’s Social Competence. Infant Behavior and Development. Hershey: Cybertech Publishing.