Should I send my gifted child to childcare?
Monday, 23 May 2011 00:04
The Sydney Morning Herald conducted a long investigation into childcare, which led to a number of articles about the state of childcare in NSW a couple of weeks ago. They were not the type of articles that would bring comfort to a mother who is sending her child to childcare.
The articles were about the woeful health and safety standards, lack of qualified staff, and other problem areas in many children's services. Would these issues have a special effect on gifted children over and above the effect on every child? I think they would, as gifted children thrive on one-on-one stimulating conversations with adults, insist on deep and meaningful relationships with adults, are inquisitive, and require challenges and stimulation. We now know that the best outcomes for children in care occur in high quality services. However, poor quality care can have detrimental effects, such as emotional and behaviour problems, and of course lack of appropriate programming, according to research. High quality care requires qualified early childhood teachers (with Bachelor degrees in early childhood), high staff to child ratios (less children and more staff), consistency of staff members, and good program provision, whereas in poor quality services staff turnover is high, programs are poor, and early childhood teachers are as rare as hens' teeth. The articles in the SMH were therefore disconcerting. You can find the articles at the following links:
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Did you know?
| "I learnt so much about gifted children, backed up by very interesting research
which gave me a better understanding of the needs of gifted children and how
best we can nurture their strengths, skills and habits." An educator attending a NSWAGTC seminar. |
NSWAGTC Blogs
The blogs appearing on the NSWAGTC site are designed to provide colour, news and subjective views about the many issues and concerns facing gifted children and their parents, care-givers and educators. Some of the blogs are associated with formal roles of the NSWAGTC, such as the President and the Webmaster. These allow the persons filling these roles to note to members any current news and changes. Other NSWAGTC blogs are written by individuals with experience of gifted children from one or more perspectives - for example Cate's Blog is from the viewpoint of a primary school teacher and parent of gifted children. These blogs are written solely by the person identified and represent his or her views, rather than necessarily those of the NSWAGTC. Comments are invited We invite comments on our blog entries, by both financial members and registered users (free). Click here to register. Comments may be reviewed and those considered inappropriate will be deleted. New blogs? We would also be delighted to consider applications from potential bloggers provided that the applicant accepts that this will be subject to a review process and may well be declined for any number of reasons which may not be shared with the applicant. Applications, which should include a resume and a vision for the potential blog, and suggestions for new blogs, can be sent in the first instance to the webmaster. |
