Child Care From a Licensed Center Is Better than Babysitter - Essay Example

CHILD CARE FROM A LICENSED CENTER IS BETTER THAN BABYSITTER Choosing appropriate child care for a child can seem to be as overwhelming as helping a teenager choose a college or university. There are myriad factors to be considered and options to be evaluated to ensure the best care for the child. Parents care is beyond compare and the most appropriate guardianship a child could ever need in growing. The problem is that parents also need to ensure the future of the child which prompts them to put a great deal effort on their careers. It thus becomes imperative to acquire assistance for child-rearing activities while parents are away or just simply to have a helping hand to give more attention to all the needs for growing up. In contemplating the kind of assistance parents should resort to for child care, it is essential that the requirement of a safe and happy environment that fun, educational and nurturing is met. Baby sitters are often among the top choice of parents in their decisions on which kind of help they would embark for their child. Though this is the case, it does not in any way conclusively suggest that it is the best practice. I would argue that child care from a licensed child care center is undeniably better than care from a baby sitter which is also fondly called as nanny. A child care center provides care for groups of children. They often provide entertainment and activities for all of the children to take part in. In child care centers, the space and equipment is designed strictly for the intended use of the facility (www.childcarehelp.org). Children tend to be grouped with others their own age and activities can be designed to meet the needs of each classroom of children. Most caregivers in a center are required to have education in child development or early childhood education, and all staffs are required to have annual in-service training in child development. Licensed centers have met a set of standards and are monitored on a regular basis by regulating agencies to have a check on the practices employed. Back up arrangements are available if staffs are ill or absent. In terms of baby sitting, there are essentially two different forms of nanny care. Live in nanny care means a nanny or a baby sitter moves into the house on a full time basis though there are part time nannies that do not need to live with and move to the house of the child. In exchange for a bed, food and allowance they will look after the child or children while the parents go to work (www.babycenter.com). A live out nanny, on the other hand, will live in their own home and come to the house as and when arranged to look after the children. Either form of nanny would be considered an employee of the family (www.nannysource.com). The individual care offered to a child is the primary reason that many people select this service for their infant care needs. Parents are also able to have almost complete control over activities, feeding times and any other factor of the child's daily lives. Obviously in home care is the most expensive form of day care or any other care that is available but does offer a one on one service in exchange. There are a lot of disadvantages of babysitting though parents may think that it is the best care since there is a one to one interaction. Nanny care is unsupervised and our parents must do careful screening of any potential caregiver. The most glaring disadvantage is the expense, because, after all, our parents are paying someone's salary, and they are likely to be working a long day. Nanny care is the most expensive form of child care that I think our families could have, with most of us paying 18K - $40K per year for nannies (www.nannysource.com). Nannies are in high demand and there is a lot of competition in the marketplace for the qualified nanny. Lack of socialization may be an issue for an only child. Not all child care logistical problems are magically solved by nanny care. There may be issues on how to cover days when the nanny is ill or if there are weather emergencies which I have experienced and made my parents scramble to look for an alternative personality in which to care for me. A nanny who leaves the job will leave our parents in a lurch and emergency backup plans must be considered. Our parents engaging a nanny become employers. The nanny needs supervision and direction like any other employee. Your parents like mine also assume certain employment tax and insurance obligations. Families like some of the relatives I know personally that our parents typically pay taxes and insurance in the amount of 10% over the nanny's gross salary. Another down side is the lack of a formal registration process for our nannies. Unlike child care centers that are licensed, probably our mother is the one who screen applicants for baby sitting. Whilst the secure atmosphere of home is appealing, our parents would like us to spend more time playing with other children to learn how to deal with people that I would say point blank that nanny care lacks which I refer to as problems in socialization. And the fact that the nanny is alone in the house means that it is more difficult to keep a check if our mother has any niggles or worries. It is not easy to be certain whether our nanny is doing the duty assigned since most of the time nobody keeps a watch. Since the interaction is one to one, the attitudes of the nanny and the kind of education that is imparted to us in our childhood may not always be good. This again relates to the problems of screening. But all of these are irrelevant if you can't find a nanny - for that is the big disadvantage. Baby sitters are in short supply, and it can take time to find a perfect match. If it is fortunate to have a good numbers of nannies out there seeking for employment, the quality of service that would be provided is not sure. Our parents would definitely like to benefit from the advantages of licensed child care centers. These centers are planned and implemented to provide and offer a formal, structured environment. All licensed child care centers are inspected for licensing purposes, caregivers are supervised in which many classrooms or activity areas have more than one teacher or handlers, and a director oversees the entire operation. Our parents could feel easily comfortable not unlike with nanny care where calling to check up will be the only to pacify worries. Taking care of a child can be frustrating especially that growing children often throws tantrums. The kind of uncertain attitudes that children could show to baby sitters could affect the performance of child care. Nannies may find it stressful to handle a child being so obnoxious and uncontrollable. The training of nannies is not the kind of training people from licensed child care center have that could help in dealing with difficult situations from tantrums to sociability problems of the child. Another advantage is that licensed child centers have clear cut rules for parents to follow such as pickup and drop-off times so parents know exactly what is expected of them. A licensed child care center is more affordable than a nanny. An advantage on the part of our parents is that they could have the opportunity to meet other parents who may be able to lend support and babysitting time. There is definitely stability in arrangement compared to a nanny because the center agrees to watch over your child regardless whether a teacher is sick or tardy or even tired of working for you. Our parents could choose a licensed child care center so they would not have to work around someone else's sick days and vacation. Staff members at licensed child care centers are trained in early childhood education so they know what to expect from a child developmentally and are able to nurture the growing skills accordingly. As there is a monitoring process, it is assured that staff of licensed child care centers has the capacity to adapt to child needs. Licensed child care centers include a nice mix of activities during the day to teach different skills, such as singing, dancing, and storytelling. Our mom probably would like the fact that as we are still a child we spend the day doing projects and honing skills in a structured setting. It is also not just play because there is learning going on. Many of the instructional projects in licensed child care centers are a good mix of left- and right-brain activities, usually made of simple objects like blocks or beans or vinyl letters for creativity, but presented in an organized, structured, and methodical way. The biggest advantage of licensed child care centers is that kids like toddlers can benefit from the chance to socialize with other children, which they may not get to do as often or at all when a nanny cares for them at home. Socialization is a very useful tool in us as kids to be independent since they will try to trust their instincts and their abilities in dealing with practical activities especially that it involves other people. Our parents would definitely agree that they would want to see their children grow up in a great environment with acquired independence. As socialization progresses, self-esteem are reinforced since exposure to dealing with others would enhance personality of children. Child welfare should always be the goal in choosing for assistance in child rearing tasks. The highest welfare could practically point out to comparison of benefits as opposed to costs and the benefits of an alternative as opposed to the other. The benefits that a licensed child care center provides far outweigh that of the care of a baby sitter. I bet your parents did like to have the best care for you when you are a kid. References: Licensed Child Care Centers. Retrieved September 26, 2007 from Child Care Help website http://www.childcarehelp.org Nanny Care. Retrieved September 26, 2007 from Baby Center website http://www.babycenter.com Caring For Your Child. Retrieved September 26, 2007 from Nanny Center website http://www.nannysource.com Read More