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The early childhood years are of paramount importance in terms of learning early motor skills, socializing and interpersonal skills, and developing the tools and experiences that enable adults to form lasting and healthy relationships. It is during these years that most children are enrolled in preschools and daycares with parents hoping that teachers will be able to provide supportive and engaging surrounds. Daycares' goals should be to facilitate both positive and negative experiences that young children will translated into skills and knowledge that are crucial to mental development. Healthy, structured environments encourage children's play, allowing social, emotional, and cognitive growth.
Two very important skills that children develop very early on, roughly birth to three years, are the ability to establish social relationships and language development. Babies that cry and attempt other forms of communication are taught their own efficacy and communication competence depending on how caretakers respond to them. Children that cry for long periods of time without comfort and reassurance are often less social and self confident. Patricia Kuhl asserted that the first three years of childhood are the optimal period for developing verbal language. The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) states that, "Adult-child interactions can affect the child's vocabulary development, enjoyment of reading, comprehension, phonemic awareness, and expressive language." In addition, these early years are critical for fundamental motor development. Children that are given opportunity and adult support to practice large motor skills are able to more easily acquire complex motor skills, required for activities like gymnastics and riding a bicycle.
According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, "child-initiated, teacher-supported play is an essential component of developmentally appropriate practice." In order to provide this supported play, children need continuous, individualized attention that many preschools are not able to provide due to high child-to-teacher ratios. When early motor experiences are limited, many children struggle with the ability to develop physical aptitude. This may result in delayed effects when attempting to participate in group sports and personal fitness activities later in life. Another difficulty that children in daycares face is being categorized as members of their age group instead of individuals that may or may not perform at a predetermined norm. While it is important for children to have goals and expectations, the NCREL stresses that without room for individuality there are higher chances for failure and feelings, on the child's part, of disappointment.
Children's developments in all areas are greatly influenced by relationships that are established and maintained. This includes primary caregiver relationships, which are incredibly important because they influence self perception, social security, and emotional needs. Children that attend large daycares, though they may be very well attended to physically, may not be receiving as much stimulating personalized individual care as would be the most beneficial for them.
Au pairs provide not just physical care but emotional and mental care as well. First and foremost, since au pairs offer individual attention, children are able to exercise their imaginations freely rather than having to participate in specified group activities that must be appropriate for a range of ages. Au pairs are able to expose children to a much larger variety of activities that are not available between the four walls of a daycare. Au pairs can schedule play dates, go to library story times, playgrounds, parks, museums, zoos, and aquariums. Affording children play time outdoors is much more stimulating than playing in the same space every day.
In addition, the cultural learning experience of having an au pair allows children the ability to experience cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity. Children are capable of learning to function in more than one cultural context simultaneously. It is very beneficial for children to learn to speak more than one language given the rapid increase in globalization in addition to the advantageous effects that bilingualism has on future educational abilities. Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives found, in 1996, that social and sensorimotor experiences during the first three years directly affect neurological development of the brain and have lasting implications on learning capacity. Children with au pairs are also able to be cared for in the familiar, stable, environment of their own homes. Young children actively learn from participation and observation. Having a stable and familiar environment throughout their waking hours enhances and encourages this learning.
So which child would be at a greater advantage, the one with an au pair or the one enrolled in a daycare program? Ultimately it would depend on the child and the daycare. However, parents with the ability to host an au pair should consider the benefits. Which include teaching their children about cultural diversity, the opportunity to learn a new language, the ability to have new learning experiences in new surroundings every day with the added benefit of the home being the base stable environment, and the opportunity for advanced learning that is possible through continuous one-on-one adult supervision and interactions. Hosting an au pair is an invaluable experience that will benefit children in many ways for the rest of their lives.
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