Children Care Was Here

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, an estimated 13 million children younger than six spend some, or all of their day, being cared for by someone other than their parents. This figure includes babies and toddlers. Ellen Peisner-Feinberg of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “estimates that more than half of the 3-to-5 year-old children in the United States attend child-care centers prior to kindergarten.”
With these numbers in mind, quality child-care is an important issue in our country. For many parents, finding child-care for infant through school-age children is a fact of live. A trustworthy and dependable child-care situation makes it possible for parents to support their families financially. Parents need to take time and check to see if they are using a high quality child-care program.
Quality child-care is particularly critical for the well being of children and youth. Child- care research has shown that compared to low quality situations, high quality care can impact young children’s intellectual, language, and social skills and behavior. In a recent study published in Child Development, better classroom materials and practices in the day care setting were associated with more advanced development of children’s language and academic skills. The benefits of high quality care were even stronger and longer lasting for children at greater risk for having difficulty in school than the average. This was particularly true in case of better math skills and fewer problem behaviors.
Factors which contribute to high quality child-care are:

• Low child-teacher ratio increases the likelihood of one-to-one attention.
• Safe and healthy environment
• Caregivers who are nurturing and knowledgeable about children’s development
• Caregivers have a consistent and stable presence in the child’s life.

Staff training and educational background are among the most critical elements in improving children’s experiences in child-care. Providers who receive higher quality training and more specialized training are more likely to be found in high quality care environments. Job satisfaction and commitment are two factors that contribute to the stability of care. Turnover rates in child-care providers are high. This is due to the stressful conditions of providing child-care with long hours, low pay, and few or no benefits.
Many people think that providing child-care comes naturally, but teaching and caring for children in groups takes special skills. The best child-care providers have education and training about children. Licensed caregivers in Missouri are required to have 12 hours of child-care training every year. Caregivers learn how to plan the day, provide nutritious foods and fun activities that children will like.
To check to see if you child-care setting is of high quality, contact your local extension office and ask for guidesheet, GH6233 Finding and Selecting Good Child Care: A Guide for Parents Returning to Work. Choosing the right child-care program for your family is an important decision. Finding quality child-care helps your children to grow and gives you, the parent, the peace of mind to do your work.

It is a very common sight to see kids playing on their video games, computer games or PlayStation in their spare time. The other lot may spend their free time watching television or reading comics. The only thing common in these kids is that they spend all their spare time indoors, and totally abstain from any physical activity that is to be undertaken daily. The concept of playing on playgrounds or climbing trees is nearly extinct today. However, not many people are aware of the importance of outdoor play for children, and the consequences of lack of physical activity. Here you will find more on the importance of outdoor play for young children.

Benefits of Outdoor Games for Young Children

One of the most important benefit or use of outdoor play is improving physical fitness. Children, who do not undertake any physical activity, have lesser stamina and fitness. They become lethargic and also highly prone to injury. On the contrary, kids who have a regular outdoor games have more stamina, energy and also flexibility. This is because outdoor games and sports increase endurance. Outdoor games also help in improving muscular and bone health. Similarly, outdoor games and activities are biggest stress busters for kids as well as adults.

Secondly, when talking of fitness, we also find that children who spend a considerable amount of time on the playground every day are fit and maintain a proper weight. Childhood obesity is a burning issue in developed nations today. The only way of treating and preventing childhood obesity is having a good outdoor game every day. Any outdoor game, or even simple activities like running or jogging can burn large number of calories, resulting in weight loss. Therefore, the calories consumed by kids during the entire day get burned due to outdoor games, and hence, the child does not gain excess weight.

One of the major aspect of outdoor activities for children, that is often ignored by people, is that outdoor play also contributes in learning. It should be noted that toddlers and children learn more from their experiences and senses than from books. For e.g., if a kid actually sees the kiwi bird, he will understand the concept more clearly than reading about it. Therefore, when noting the importance of outdoor play for children, it should be remembered then when children spend time outdoors, they see, observe and experience things which enhance their knowledge and also perceptual abilities. Children also learn to appreciate nature and may also inculcate aesthetic sense at an early age.

When a child plays outdoors, he usually does so in a group. Therefore, it greatly helps in social development and enhancing social skills. Children make new friends when playing outdoors, learn how to interact with each other, learn skills of negotiation and also learn how to adjust to surroundings and people. Children cultivate values like communication, adjustment, understanding, sharing, etc. when they play outdoors. Mixing with others also helps in boosting confidence. If you have observed children playing in the open, you will find that they run, shout, jump, laugh, etc. Therefore, another importance of outdoor play for children is that it helps in developing a sense of freedom and independence in children.

You can go through the link on outdoor games for children to play to know about some of the best games for kids. Lastly, as a helpful tip, parents themselves should set an example by undertaking a physical activity every day, or subscribing to a sports club. Good luck!

The personality of a person can be defined as a set of qualities, beliefs, feelings, thoughts, attitudes, emotions and ideas that distinguish him from others. Since very many years social scientists have been trying to find the reasons why people behave the way they do and how the personalities shape up. There is a wide spread belief that if the factors responsible for shaping up a person’s personality are controlled, right in the childhood itself, a person can have a desired, well rounded personality. The following Buzzle article discusses some beliefs similar to these by looking at how personality development in children takes place.

Social and Personality Development in Children

There are some theories which say that the personality of an individual is directly linked to genes. However, then why do siblings develop a completely different personality? No one has yet found an answer to this question. Then there is another theory which says that it is the environment to which a child is subjected that makes up his personality. A child’s parents, teachers, friends, acquaintances, his home environment, his school environment – all these have a great influence in shaping his personality. Lastly, the kind of experiences a person has, as a child, teen or a young adult, play a major role in determining his reactions, his feelings, his emotional make-up and the way he behaves.

Parental Influence…
Out of all the factors responsible for personality development in children, parental influence is the most important one. The way the parents behave with the child, how much he is allowed to socialize, the kind of culture he is subjected to by them, and the emotional make-up of his parents, all these have a great bearing on the child’s mental growth. In early childhood, all children ape their parent’s mannerisms. Children learn a lot about socialization from the way their parents interact with their friends, neighbors, acquaintances, etc. If the parents are social, the same traits will most probably be imbibed in the children. Thus, parents should take care to become good role models and provide the child with the best environment, where he gets ample opportunities to develop his personality.

Home Environment…
The first time a child begins to understand his emotions, is through his mother. A child learns about love, care, support and help, through her. Thereafter, he develops various kinds of emotions, both positive as well as negative. Happiness, fear, anxiety, jealousy, anger and shyness – a child starts displaying all these. Again, it is up to the parents to make sure that the child incorporates the positive emotions in his personality and stays away from the negative ones. A child needs both his parents, mother as well as father to develop his personality. An absentee father or someone who stays away from home for a long time, can have a negative influence on the child. To ensure that a child turns out to be a confident, positive person, there are some other things that parents should avoid, such as being too authoritative, trying to discipline the child in excess, scolding the child often, punishing him severely, criticizing the child, discouraging him, comparing him with others and giving preference to one child over the other one.

School Environment…
Besides the home environment, a child’s school environment too plays a major role in shaping a child’s personality. Once a child starts going to school, he learns how to interact and deal with his peers. He comes to know how to engage in “playing” according to the rules and regulations. He gets educated, learns how to read, write and communicate effectively. A child’s personality is greatly influenced by the way he is treated at school, both by his teachers as well as his peers.

Culture…
Influence of culture in personality and social development cannot be ignored too. For instance, a child brought up in western countries is taught to be individualistic and competitive, while children brought up in Asian, African and South American countries are taught to be cooperative.

According to psychiatrist Erik Erikson, there are various phases that a child passes through such as infancy, toddlerhood, preschool and school age. Each of these stages has it’s own share of problems and challenges, which a child has to overcome, with his parent’s assistance, to turn out to be a well developed personality.