Breauna Crowther

U3 Essay

Question

If you were considering leaving your three year-old child in a child care facility (family day care or child
care center), what would be your major concerns? Why? Would your concerns be different, if your child
were an infant? Explain. Would you prefer an academic or a child-centered preschool for your child?
Why?

Answer

If I did put my 3 year old in a daycare number one thing I would want to know how they discipline the
kids when they do something wrong. Why this is my first concern is growing up our neighbor has had her
own daycare and I had known some kids throughout the years that went there. And a lot of them always
told me how hard and mean she was and I know when kids usually say that about adults they are just
frustrated and angry that they did something wrong. I thought that was the case until multiple of the
kids throughout the years told me the same thing over and over. They told me that she would yell at the
kids if they did anything wrong. Which I would not appreciate someone doing to my 3 year old kid who
did something wrong. I would want them to help my child understand what they are feeling and why we
don't act that way, and telling them what they can do to make the situation better.

My neighbor also had some of her grandkids in her day care and there was some favoritism. As some
kids were playing with a ball or on the swing one of the grandkids would come over and cry saying the
kid wasn't sharring where they didn't even ask. And of course she would get mad at the kid not the
grand kids. I would want to take my kid to a place where there wasn't any discrimination. "Strangers of
every income, ethnicity, and nation seek to protect children while fostering their growth"(Berger, 2019,
pg. 217). We all want the best for our kids in every place they go. Even if my 3 year old was more of an
infant they soak everything in so if they are in an angry environment it can affect the child for the rest of
their lives and their development. I want them to soak up of how to help people and what it is like to be
kind the importance of sharing and being able to see the joy you get when you and others are having
fun!

With putting my child in preschool I would say it would depend on the kid and their age. In our textbook
they told us that children around the age of 3 learn best with hands-on then lectures (Berger, 2019, pg.
187). It also says "Early familiarity with numbers and shapes predicts school achievement later on. As you
read, Head Start programs have shifted over the past decades to be more teacher-directed, largely
because national policy directives from the government have advocated that change—to the distress of
many developmentalists"(Berger,2019,pg. 187) I feel like there is almost like this spectrum one side being
child-centered (hands on) the other academic (lectures). It seems that all kids need both but some need
more than the other, for example my friend is big on hands on but she does sometimes where you just
tell her as well. Basically so overall it just depends on the kid and every kid needs a ballance of both. As it
is said in this nice quote,"Finding the right balance between child-centered and teacher-directed learning
is needed so that all young children learn in the manner that is best for them"(Berger,2019,pg.187)
 Reference

Berger, K. S. (2019). Invitation to the life span (4th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.