Parenting and Education During Early Childhood Essay

This paper will discuss various forms of caregivers, parenting styles, and early childhood education. Topics covered are: †¢ Evaluate the different types of parenting styles and their influence on development during infancy and early childhood. †¢ Compare and contrast at least two different kinds of caregivers and the positive and/or negative impacts on development during infancy and early childhood. (examples: stay at home parent, daycare, grandparent, and nanny) †¢ Discuss how early childhood education has evolved and its impact on cognitive development in early childhood. Parenting style is a psychological construct, strategies that parents use in the development of their child during infancy and early childhood. There are many differing theories and opinions on the best ways to rear children. Many parents create their own style from a combination of factors in the home, parent upbringing, and surrounding environment. The parent styles are affected by both parents (if both parents are involved with the child) and the child’s temperament; other influences include culture, tradition, and parent upbringing. Despite these challenges in child development, researchers have found links between parenting styles and how these styles affect children. In the early 1960’s psychologist Diana Baumrind conducted a study on 100 pre-school children. Observing the different parent involved in the study, it was identified that there are four dimensions of parenting. The four parenting styles are: The Four Parenting Styles †¢ Authoritarian Parenting: This type of parenting, children are expected to follow strict rules established by the parents. Authoritarian parents fail to explain the reason behind the set rules. Failure to follow these rules results in punishment. If the child asks to explain, the parent then replies to a simple answer â€Å"Because I said so†. These Authoritarian Parents have high demands but are non-responsive to their children. Diana Baumrind labels these parent as â€Å"obedience and status oriented and expect their orders to obeyed without explanation†. (1991) †¢ Authoritative Parenting: These parents like authoritarian parents establish rules and guidelines that are expected to followed by there children. But this style is more democratic, and parents are responsive to the child(s) and willing to listen to the child(s) questions. If the child fails to meet the expectations, the parents are more nurturing, forgiving, rather than punishing. They are assertive and not restrictive and intrusive; their disciplinary methods are supportive rather than punitive. The parents want their children to be assertive as well as socially responsible, self-regulated, and well cooperative. Diana Baumrind suggests these parents â€Å"monitor and impart clear standards for their children’s conduct†. (1991) †¢ Permissive Parenting: Sometimes referred to as indulgent parents, they have very few demands from their children. Permissive parents rarely discipline their children, reason being the parents have low expectations of maturity and self-control. The parents are non-traditional and lenient; they do not require mature behavior and allow considerable self-regulation with confrontation avoidance. Baumrind refers to these parents as â€Å"generally nurturing and communicative with their children, often taking the role of friend rather than parent†. (1991) †¢ Uninvolved Parent: This parent style speaks for itself, parent have very few demands, little to no communication, and low responsiveness. These parents usually fulfill the child’s basic needs. They generally detached and in extreme cases reject or neglect the needs of the child or children. The Impact of Parenting Styles The outcomes of the parenting styles differ; these styles are produce effects rather than causes that lead to the child’s outcome. Here are some â€Å"general† outcomes from the parenting styles listed above. †¢ Authoritarian parenting children may have less social competence due to the parent or parents telling the child what to do instead of allowing the child to make a choice. In some cases the demands are to forceful and resulted with the child or children to break down, rebel or run away. †¢ Authoritative parenting is attentive to their children’s needs and will typically forgive and teach versus punishment for the child’s short comings. The result is the children have a higher self-esteem and independence. This is most recommended parenting style by experts. †¢ Permissive parenting children tend to more impulsive and may engage in more misconduct as an adolescent. The children go on to never learn to control their own behavior and always expect to get their way. As in better cases they child may mature quickly and live a very dependent life. †¢ Uninvolved parenting: children of uninvolved parents develop a sense that other aspects of the parents’ life are more important than they are. The child often attempt to provide for themselves, sometimes halt dependence on the parent to have a feeling of independence and mature beyond their years. Child from this environment often withdraw from social situations, this also impacts there relationships later on in life and they show patterns of truancy and delinquency. Studying these outcomes with any accuracy is very difficult, if not impossible, and trying to simply connect adult or adolescent outcomes to the parenting style used with them without adjusting for a multitude of other factors will produce misleading or false results. Some potential causes of these differences include culture, personality, family size, parental background, socioeconomic status, educational level and religion. Compare and Contrast Over the years child education has evolved from the old fashioned simple lectures and drill styled lessons of the past. Instead of the one dimensional process of teaching, it is based around not only learning by repetition but what motivates a child, using different means and medias to teach. By including all the kids and making it engaging and fun for them the kids are not only able to learn the material but to take the next step by using what they had learned. Theorist Piaget’s stated that children learned through a process called Concrete operational thought. In short this is the ability of a child to process experiences in a logical manner by the age of 8. The other big part of his theory revolved around perception. Where as a child of 9 years old lets’ say distinguishes between different types of bugs a child who is five years see all bug being the same even if nine happen to be ants and one is a grasshopper. In that younger child’s mind that separation hasn’t been made yet. Through all of Piaget’s experiments they showed that around the age of eight is when this ability is found in children. Piaget’s thought was that the main way of learning for kids was more through a process of discovery. Now on the other side of the spectrum was a theorist named Vygotsky. His thought process was one that children learned through cultural interactions, lesson instructions and through their own peers. That the lessons passed down through the generations were as important as the instructions during class. Things that were a knowledge base too were just as important. With all these things combined is what bridged the learning gap. Vygotsky also emphasized the importance of surrounding children with what is being taught. Reading a big focus among all ages and the importance for this to be learned is one huge example of his thought. If a child is surrounded by family who reads and encourages this to happen by not only telling but also engaging in the activity. In turn the child is more adept to follow in step. So in today’s schools the two theories are practiced or more combined into one. Meaning not only is the old fashioned style of repetitious lectures still partially important. It is also even more so encouraged that kids interact with one another in a fun positive environment led by a teacher. So in this way learning is taking place from many different angles. It is pushed for parents to get involved with their kids by more than just taking them to and from school but to read with them, to practice the math concepts they are taught. Teachers are also encouraged to look at the possible cultural differences and take them into account to develop their lesson plans. So in many ways the teaching of children has changed much from the previous generations. Early childhood Education More responsibilities come along happiness and pride of becoming parents. Children depend on their parents and also need their love and protection. Parents also have to decide what type of care giving they want for their kids. Daycare and stay-at-home are two different kinds of care giving parents may choose for their offspring. These are different in many ways, but at the same time they both benefit children. Studies have shown that daycare can be useful and stimulates a child’s intellectual and social development. Children get interaction with kids their same or different age and staff at daycares usually is trained in early childhood development. Furthermore these facilities are certified, and offer different types of educational games for children. Children’s experience at the daycare also contributes to their development (Chilman, 1993). That is by acquiring better language and cognitive skills as they grow up. On the other hand, daycare may not be affordable to everyone, since the cost is usually really high. As Chilman (1993), continues to explain in her study the lack of quality affordable child care causes numerous absences from work. She also mentions that daycare may not be available for sick children, children with special needs or infants. Staff members at daycares also have to care for more than one child at a time, therefore children may not get the attention they need while being there. Daycare children might not get to know their parents that well, especially if the parents have a real busy work schedule. Most parents would like to be their children’s primary caregivers and stay home to care for them. Being a stay-at-home parent brings satisfaction and pride by knowing their child is getting the attention and quality of care needed. The parent gets more time to bond, and witnesses each developmental milestone the child is going through such as, saying the first word, or taking the first step. Some professionals have found out that stay-at-home mothers have been shown to provide better care than working mothers (Shpancer, Melick, Sayre & Spivey, 2006). Even though the parent caring for the child at home can have playtime and bring out toys, the child still needs to interact with other kids their age and socialize with them. The mother or father may not have the special training or use the proper toys for the child to play with. Another disadvantage of this kind of care giving is that the parent has to stop working in order to care for their child. As Chilman (1993) illustrates on her findings career drives may be postponed by one or both parents for a short period of child care. This could affect the family financially and emotionally since the parent is not fulfilling his or her career goals. In short, it has been shown that daycare gives the child the opportunity to socialize with other children, and caregivers, but they also need the attention and nurturing care of their parents. Reference: Baumrind, D. (1967). Child-care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 75, 43-88. Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence, 11(1), 56-95. Chilman, Catherine S. (1993, July). Parental Employment and Child Care Trends: some Critical Issues and Suggested Policies. Social Work 38(4). Maccoby, E. E. , & Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent–child interaction. In P. H. Mussen & E. M. Hetherington, Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development (4th ed. ). New York: Wiley. Maccoby, E. E. (1992). The role of parents in the socialization of children: An historical overview. Developmental Psychology, 28, 1006-1017. Au Shpancer, N. , Melick, K. M. , Sayre, P. S. , & Spivey, A. T. (2006, February). Quality of Care Attributions to Employed versus Stay-at-Home Mothers. Early Child Development and Care 176(2). http://psychology. about. com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/parenting-style. htm Parenting Styles, The Four Parenting Styles Pulled from web Feb 1, 2012.