Daycare Center Philosophy and Your Child
Years ago people would drop off their kids at the daycare center on their way to work and they hoped their kids had a good time and were polite and didn't get into trouble while they were there. When parents were deciding which daycare center to send their child to they were mainly interested to know if their child would be safe at the daycare center, as well as finding out if the staff was friendly and how much it was going to cost. These days' parents want to be informed of the philosophy of the daycare center their child will be spending time at.
Various Philosophies
You might walk into a child daycare center and hear the manager of the center discuss their child development model which combines the theories of Piaget, Erikson, Montessori and a few others. Some will espouse the daycare center philosophy that children learn best through play.
Managers at other daycare centers will let you know the children are treated with respect as individuals and allowed to make most of their own decisions. Some parents find the daycare center philosophy appealing which emphasizes developing the children's self esteem, ability to solve problems, developing independence and learning from the choices they make while at the center.
A child development center located at a community college in the United States has claimed their daycare center philosophy and curriculum emphasizes providing the children a balance of individual and group activities which helps the children develop their self esteem, their cognitive skills, creativity, awareness of the environment and what they call social emotional skills. They also take into account the cultural and ethnicities of the children.
The daycare center philosophy of some centers follows the Piagetian approach which emphasizes the need to have an environment as well as a learning experience that is designed for the individual child's needs and also allowing the child to become involved in activities he finds to be intriguing. This particular daycare center philosophy creates an environment which provides the child the freedom to explore whatever he desires within reason and to constantly experiment during his stay at the center.
Playful Activities
It has been observed that a child can develop and learn best by being involved in playful activities. While being involved in fun activities a child is often put into a position to make choices, solve problems and discover his level of competence.
When they set limits at the daycare center the limits are for the good of the children and not to make things easier on the adults. If you are searching for a daycare center for your child you might want to review the daycare center philosophy being implemented at the various centers.
