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Sound Off on Hours in Care
May 4, 2005
"To listen well
is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well." - John
Marshall
Sound Off on Hours in
Care
We received this inquiry from the director of an early chlidhood program in
Indonesia about how many hours it is appropriate for children to be in group
settings. Please read her message and then click on Sound Off
button at the end to share your views. We acknowledge that all answers
are tied closely to cultural norms, so your response will be assessed based
on your setting.
If you could help me with a general query I would appreciate some feedback.
I live in Surabaya, Indonesia and we have set up a small nursery school which
has been running for 3 years, I am not a teacher but have 4 children of my own,
2 have been through the nursery school that was set up by a group of mothers
and is run as a parent corporation. The number of children at the school is
16 with 1 supervisor and 4 assistants, the children are aged between 18 months
-3 years. Our dynamics of the group are 5 children at 18 months (limited to
this) the rest (11other children) are between 2 years to 3 years. At the
moment they go to the school Monday to Thursday from 8.00am to 11.00am.
My question for you, is this time considered adequate or would they be able
to cope with an extra day of 3 hours. Some mothers would like to increase to
5 days a week. I am a little concerned that they are already having enough time
at school, given that the children will commence school at 3 years of age.
I would appreciate any comments on what is a reasonable amount of time at school
for this age. Have there been any studies that I could refer to in regard to
this, I have had quite a lot of trouble finding any significant and specific
information on school time for this age group from websites.
Sound Off
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Comments (80)
Displaying 5 of 80 Comments [ View all ]YWCA of Canberra
Canberra, ACT, Australia
Hello to friends in Indonesia
Brief comment about your situation and the dilemma:
I am assuming that the children in care have a stimulating programme / activities and a safe and fun environment at the service provided. Considering the age I will suggest to increase the lenght of stay on the exsisting days - say to 4 hours each of the 4 days.
Rationalle: at this age children need frequent carer attention to fullfill their physical needs ie. feeding, nappy changing, sleeping routines of each individual child etc. thus leaving minimum time for additional activities to promote overall development ie. singing, stories, physical activities, puzzles, blocks, painting and many, many suitable fun activities.
I'm not sure if this would fit into the cultural values, practices and lifestyle but it may be worth considering.
Best wishes from
Canberra
beechwood school
haddonfield, nj, United States
Three hours a day at that age seem appropriate. Four days are fine. According the family five days would be okay but not my first choice.
Education Development Center, Inc.
Newton, MA, United States
That is a great question, and one we in the USA might do well to reconsider. I think there will continue to be a growing need for more days and hours of child care provided for the growing demands of working parents. So the issue from my perspective is what the quality of care is for those children, however long they are in care. We have not reached a level of quality, in most cases, that is needed for young children, especially infants and toddlers, to build strong attachment, a solid sense of security and the opportunity for brain development to occur that is influenced by relationship. That ultimately affects all levels of development, from building language to social skills, motor and cognitive development. That being said, I believe that young children should be with their parent as much as possible, with that time shifting as the child gets older and becomes naturally more social and able to handle social settings and experiences.
Valley Opportunity Council
Holyoke, MA, United States
The issue for what I guess is the majority of US families is early education & child care for parents who work out of the home. The hours of the parents' jobs determine the hours of care and education.
Whether those hours, sometimes long, are ideal, remains to be seen. In a good center, with good professional early childhood teachers, child care can be a growthful, enriching experience, regardless of the hours in care. A shorter day program, with less qualified staff, is less desirable.
So quality of staff, to me, is a more important public policy issue than time length of the program.
Child Care Center, Inc.
Miami, FL, United States
I once worked in a program in which we had children attending -5 mornings, -3 mornings and -2 mornings a week.
We got to know and understand the childrren best who came five morning a week. It took longer to get to know the childrren coming three days a week. It took "forever" to get to know the children coming two days a week.
From this perspective only, five days a week is best.
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