child development Essay

The expected pattern starts at 0-3 years where a child is expected to develop the most. They have little control over their bodies at 0-1 years and are dependent on their natural instincts eg: sucking, grasping.

This researcher proposes to examine and evaluate current problems associated with inadequate childcare for parents who work

A child’s first 12 months is described as being a “critical” time in it’s development, and nature versus nurture begins to take place in its development from the earliest of stages. According to Christopher Ruhm, “environmental factors are also likely to be significant in the formation of learning skills, self-esteem, and emotional security” (Ruhm, 2007). If mother’s are forced to go back into the workforce due to lack of funds or job security, this most likely means that their child will have to be placed into a daycare of some sort, unless a family member is able to care for the child while the parent is away. While daycares may aid in cognitive development and social development due to the nature in which day cares are run, a mother may be compelled to raise the child in their own way, and provide the environment in which they would like to have their children raised. Although the difference is small between children who were home with their mothers versus at daycares, if a mother is able to be home and commit her time to raising her child, it has been shown that the child will in return perform better in a variety of areas. According to the Ruhm, “maternal employment during a child’s first year appeared to negatively affect subsequent cognitive test scores and was associated with increases in behavioural problems” (Ruhm,

According to the research psychologist, Dennis Cummins, child care is only beneficial to one-parent, low-income households. She notices that based on 50-year long studies, it became evident that daycare experience had positive influence on disadvantaged children, while it was detrimental to the children from two-parent, higher income families. “…early maternal employment was associated with beneficial child outcomes when families were at risk socioeconomically, particularly in the context of families with single parents and on welfare; these findings support the compensatory hypothesis of employment for these families. In contrast, other analyses indicated that employment was associated with negative child outcomes when families were not at

Does the attachment theory provide a sound basis for advice on how to bring up children? To answer this question for advice to parents I will explore some of the details of the attachment theory showing, 1) earlier studies and more up to date criticisms, 2) how it proposes family members and day care can affect a child’s upbringing.

Much of the evidence she provides to back up her argument is comments other doctors and professionals have made. However, there is not actually any statistics or data in the article backing up what the professionals are saying. For example, Pierce adds in a quote from Dr. Greenspan who says “emotional development and interactions form the foundation of all children's learning… children abstract from their emotional experiences constantly to learn even the most basic concepts.” (2002, pg. 41) Although a doctor did say this, there is no evidence backing up his statement. As a critical thinker, you cannot believe everything you hear just because someone claims to be a doctor or professional. Pierce needs to do a better job at showing actual data for her argument to be more valid. There are some parts in the article that talk about the “undeniable evidence” (2002, pg. 40) but she does not actually show us what the evidence is.

In the article, the participants were 451 families whose children were tested in 1998 and 2000, using methods in which the child was assessed and interviews with their mother were recorded (Loeb). The study was based of a previous study in which mother’s and children who were included in a welfare-to-work initiative named Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Loeb). The studies conclude that children, who were enrolled in childcare, although it was poor childcare, had better social skills than the control group who were cared for by family members (Loeb). The study also concluded that in comparison to children in childcare centers, children cared for their family had more behavioral issues

Human development (NICHD) Early Childcare Research Network (ECCRN) has investigated closely the relation between early childcare experiences and behavioral consequences and concluded that time spent in childcare (i.e center-based care or non-maternal home-based care) had consequential and positive correlations with subsequent negative behaviors, such as externalizing problems (Belsky. et al. 2007; Jacob 2009; Mc Cartney et al. 2010; NICHD ECCRN 1998, 2003, 2004).

Over the past several years, researches have study the relationship between child development, early child care, and the importance of early children’s experiences. Although researchers have found that most children in day care don’t suffer from the experience, recent research suggest that child care hours is related with externalized behaviors. Child care has demonstrated to be a predictor in a child’s academic success later in life. High quality child care predicts higher vocabulary scores and advanced cognitive outcomes, but also exposure to child care centers reported externalizing problems such a behavioral problems and conflicts. However, another research indicates that children exposed to non-maternal child care become identical from their peers with little or no history of non-maternal care from a social-emotional perspective. In addition, a research shows that low quality care is related to poor performance; however, the amount of time children spend in non-maternal care outside the home does not appear to be related to child development. Even though child care does not appear to be related with child development, researchers discuss the potential positive and negative long term effects in their behavior later in life in the following areas: academically, emotionally, and socially.

15). Results from the NICHD study showed that an influential element towards a child’s cognitive and language development was the caregiver’s language, such as asking and responding to questions. Even though this link exists between child development and non-maternal child care, the role of the family played an even bigger part. Concerning social development, there was a weak connection between social development and non-maternal child care. Whether the links between child development and non-maternal child care are strong or not, “the more standards a child care setting meets, the more positive the caregiving, . . . the higher the quality of care and the better the children’s outcomes” (2006, p.

Parents play a large role in a child 's life, socialization, and development. Having multiple parents can add stability to the child 's life and therefore encourage healthy development. Another influential factor in a child 's development is the quality of their care. Child care programs present a critical opportunity for the promotion of child development.

“Half of the infants in the United States today have employed mothers, twice the proportion that there were in 1970.” Studies on the affect of mothers going back to work have been varied and have thus for lead to interpretations of the results. The mothers and infants relationship has a central part in a lot of theories on an infants trust development. Freud’s trust vs. miss-trust theory is an example of this. “Infants must learn to trust their caregivers to meet their needs. Responsive parenting is critical.” (Pg 38, Life span and development, Text book). Freud theory focused on the importance of the individuals early experience with the family. He believed that an infant’s early experience went on to contribute to the individual’s adult personality. The following studies data is based of a one time assessment session. This research found by (refecence 3) has found that infants still form attachments with their mothers who work full time. Although they did argue that these infants are more likely to form an insecure relationship with their mothers compared to mothers who did not work or worked part time. This then posses the risk that working mothers are at risk of having a emotional insecurity as the infants may perceive the parents absence as a rejection. This could be disturbing because of the development of coping strategies leading to anger and mistrust with the mother. Other study that have been done to try and compare infants trust with working or non working

In this context, women have ben able to find work outside of the home, yet they have received governmental assistance for child daycare to offset the time and energy needed to raise their children while they work. This point of view provides a counterargument to the idea of financial compensation for work in the domestic sphere, yet it does not adequately resolve the complex issues that mother’s face when they come home after work. More so, mother’s that cannot find work have no financial recourse in their daily work activities in the home.

The negative results that were found from studies proved that pre-school children with working moms had lower academic achievement and a harder time with language development, unemployment issues, and psychological distress in their futures. (McIntosh).

In the following report, relevant theories and studies into the influences and effects that day care has on a child’s emotional, social and cognitive development will be examined. It will discuss the potential benefits of sending children to day care in order for mothers to be able to return to work. Day care can either be classed as formal or informal. Formal day care is provided by qualified personnel in a nursery setting and has guidelines and a curriculum to follow. Informal day care is provided by non-trained individual and takes place in the home environment. Despite the significant amount of research that has been carried out, there is still no definitive answer as to whether day care is beneficial or detrimental to a child’s emotional, social and cognitive development.