The Potential Negative Impacts of Daycare | Part 3
Sep 07
Behavioral Issues As A Result of Daycare
One of the areas that we need to process is the behavioral impact of daycare. Our children are like little sponges learning how to do things by observing everyone around them. Especially impactful is what other children their age do or how they behave. Many parents can testify that potty training their younger child was easier because they had a role model in their older sibling. I even had one mom tell me that her 14 month old daughter taught her self to use the potty because big sister had just learned. Because of this studies by the NYU School of Medicine and by NIH(National Institute of Health) state that children who spend most of their day in daycare were three times as likely to exhibit behavioral problems in Kindergarten as those who were cared for primarily by their mothers.
There are several reasons because there are so many children for workers to focus on it is difficult for them to be consistent in discipline. There is just no way for them to “catch” everything, nor do they have the time to specifically deal with every child for every infraction. Because of this there can be an every man for himself mentality in the children or he who screams the loudest gets heard.
One of the ways that daycare workers are inherently different from parents, other then the obvious, is their role is to be a manager not a trainer. Therefore, they will not take advantage of the teachable moments that are there because they role is to be a manager of the class. A final reason there are behavioral issues is sometimes a parents guilt, or the “I haven’t seen you all day mentality” tends to dilute our discipline at home.
We have just scratched the surface of this topic, listen to today’s podcast for more insight.
The Potential Negative Impacts of Daycare | Part 2
Sep 06
The Emotional Issues Linked to Daycare
There are some emotional issues that come up when placing your child in daycare which need to be addressed. The earlier the child is placed in care the greater the impact of these issues. Research has stated that it can diminish bonding with the mother, which can lead to emotional issues in the future. It states, ”infants’ emotional development may be disrupted with the attachment process is undermined by the repeated extended separation involved in placing an infant in fully time daycare. “
Emotional stability is created and maintained in the home environment. The current societal mentality seems to be pushing parents to be facilitators of their children rather then nurtures. If your children spend all day out of the home it can feed this mentality, as you are rushing to get home from work, pick up your child, get dinner, everyone cleaned and to bed, only to do again tomorrow. This hectic schedule doesn’t leave a lot of time for the nurturing of young children.
Lastly we need to remember that we as parents are the ones who’s responsibility it is to mirror God’s unconditional love. We are the ones who are to applaud the character and effort of our children not the performance. This is very difficult to do when we are constantly rushing because we have to truly and deeply know our children.
Listen to today’s podcast for more insight on this topic.
The Potential Negative Impacts of Daycare | Part 1
Sep 05
The Decision To Place My Child In Daycare
For the somewhat controversial topic of daycare we first need to mention that there are many families out there today, especially in this economy, which have no options as far as daycare is concerned. For the families that do have an option the impacts of putting your child in daycare must be weighed. Any family who uses daycare must be prepared for some of the challenges it brings.
Today we need to look at the question of why many place their children in daycare. Like we stated previously many families have no options, single parent families and families hit hard by the current economic state are examples. For parents who do have options what are the reasons for choosing to place your child in daycare? Some of the reasons that have been stated are, to socialize my child, to use my degree to further my career and make a difference, to give my child a PreK schooling experience so they can get ahead in school, and finally putting a child in daycare always makes good financial sense. Many of these are myths, which we are going to spend time this week breaking down so you as a parent can feel you are making an educated decision about daycare. As we stated previously if there is no option due to your circumstance then you will be able to face possible issues head on because you are prepared for them.
Listen to today’s podcast for more insight on this topic.
Performance Focused Parenting | Part 5
Sep 02
It’s Never Too Late!
What do I do if my child is older and I am just processing this now? It is never too late to begin this process. You may have a little bit of extra work ahead of you as you set different family priorities and patterns. It is well worth the effort.
The first thing that needs to be done is, to evaluate the things that need to be added to your schedule and things that need to be cut. Are there some activities, even though they have always been done, that need to be cut so there is family down time? For example, maybe a family devotion time needs to be added, so your family may have to get up and to the breakfast table together.
Next because the children are older they need to be made aware of what the changes are and why. So a family meeting needs to be held. Don’t be discouraged if your kids don’t embrace the changes right away. Remember the goal is to train them for adulthood.
Setting the right priorities for your parenting is always worth the work it takes!
Listen to today’s podcast for more insight on this topic.
Performance Focused Parenting | Part 4
Sep 01
Raising a God-Honoring Adult
We discussed yesterday about the importance of having a parenting curriculum or a plan for raising your children. The most important thing on your list of goals for parenting is raising a God-honoring adult. This will be the filter through which your children live out their adult lives.
We have discussed the “Four E’s” of parenting in the past but they apply to this goal as well. The first “E” in the training process is example. We as parents need to model what it means to be a godly adult. This is so important for our kids to observe because it makes what they learn in church real. When we do mess up, we need to take the time to admit it and apologize.
The next is expose. We must expose our kids to the Bible. Make sure that you are not too busy to take time out for family devotions. Make exposing your children to kids their age who share their beliefs a priority. Church and kids ministries are also important in exposing your children to learning about who God is.
The third is experience. Help your children walk through what it means to be a Christian. What are the choices that they need to process through the filter of being Godly? Modesty is one of these issues as is how they treat others. Many of these daily issues we can be there to help our kids’ process through the experience of what it means to be a Christian.
Finally is encouragement. We need to be on the sidelines of our children’s lives cheering for the choices that they make. More than ever it can be difficult to be a Christian in school and stand up for what you believe in. We need to go crazy with praise when our kids make the right and some times difficult choice.
Listen to today’s podcast for more insight on this topic.
Performance Focused Parenting | Part 3
Aug 31
The Parenting Curriculum
How ridiculous would it sound if we went to our child’s open house at school and their teacher had no lesson plans for the year? Even if the teacher explained the plan for the year being to watch what the other teachers do, then sit over coffee and discuss what worked and what didn’t. We as parents would be incensed that there was no plan for our child’s education. But how many of us do this with parenting our children?
We fly through life dropping our kids off at school and activities and our parenting style appears to be trial and error. When we are so busy life seems to fly by even faster. It would be such a tragedy to drop our child off on a college campus or watch them go out the door as adults and have regrets about our parenting. One way to make sure we are able to do our best to train our children is to have goals or a parenting curriculum. Take the time to process through the areas your child needs to be trained in before adulthood. There are several places to start. You can start with thinking through the areas that you wished you had more training. Another great place to start is the book of Proverbs. This is a book written from father to son and has some wonderful insight. Make sure that you sit down during one of you parenting staff meeting with you spouse and think through your goals for parenting. This way you can help to make family and parenting a priority and not just get caught up in the busyness of life.
Listen to today’s podcast for more insight on this topic.
