The Benefits of Brain Research in Childcare

Child development centers are very integrated into the scientific, economic, and social fabric of the community. What are your thoughts on brain research and the relationship to child care?

Brain research is the act of scientifically finding out the actions and activities of a human brain when exposed to the particular environment. In the childcare, brain research is essential as it enables the researchers and childcare givers establish the best methods to enhance learning and productivity among the children with minimal stress. According to Schiller, (2001), the experiences of a child in the first three years of life influence significantly in the development of the brain. He suggests that the environment in which the child grows in can determine the level of critical and analytical intelligence. It is, therefore, imperative for institutions to invest more in research about the brain to establish the best environmental experiences that can be tailored to enhance intelligence such as diet, exercises, curriculum and how to handle children with various abilities among others. The investment can proof to be cost effective as a human resource can be readily available when they reach adulthood (Calman, 2005).

The future excellence of a child deeply relies not on the ability to memorize facts but on the ability of one to exhibit imagination, innovation, and creative intelligence. On the other hand, no type of conditioning can force one to be creative apart from experience and practice which are to a larger extent attributed to motivating environment which can only be realized through brain research to know where intelligence enhancement thrives best (Stephens and Scott, 2006)

The article clearly advocates for high-quality education in pre-school as its long term and short term positive impacts lead to massive success if an individual academically. There is a necessity to perform need assessment before establishing an institution or a class for a specific group of learners in order to identify the factors affecting those particular students and lay down strategies to provide an ideal environment for their learning. Additionally, this will enable an institution to make policies and set goals required in the smooth running of the school and proper handling of learners in various circumstances (Cesarone, 2001).

The initially set goals for students is to complete their studies successfully with high grades without dropping out of school, becoming employed and to avoid conflicts that may lead to being jailed. The policies, therefore, put in place to address the matter include providing pre-school teachers with better terms of employment, investing more by allocating enough funds for child education and employing more qualified staff who can provide adequate knowledge transfer to the minors (Cohen, 1991). However, for the benefits of these measures to be determined, it requires a long duration until the child is able to complete their education successfully at mid-twenties in most cases. As a child development center Director I can use this information to enhance the staff, proper policies, environment and provision of all the requirements required to improve the quality of education of the institution hence high performance and subsequently high demand of the institution by the consumers. 

Investing in High-Quality Education in Preschool

Upon review of the required readings below and additional literature sources, propose one strategy that may be effective in building strong, financially sustainable, childcare facilities

To ensure sustainability of an institution financially, several strategies can be considered by the administration prior and during the setting up of the institution. Marketing is one of the major strategies that can be employed for this purpose. Proper management constitutes factors such as acceptable financial management, equitable and justifiable use of resources, adequate staffing, and motivation of the staff. With all these factors, marketing and sustainability can be achieved due to the expected high performance of the institution (Simmons, 2011). Proper financial management will result in the reinvestment and expansion of the facility, leading to more income generation and continued sustainability. With financial management, the employees’ satisfaction will be high and will develop a personal initiative to deliver to best of their abilities for recognition and reward which provides motivation and morale among the staff. It also leads to positive competition between each other in the performance of their duties, consequently contributing to the overall good performance and sustainability of the facility.

With proper pay and motivation, the facility will be in a position to maintain their staffs with the accumulated experience they have hence further improvement of the facility over time. Moreover, the administration will have ease in recruiting highly qualified additional staff since most will be attracted to the terms of work of the institution and possible self-development in the profession. 

Develop a recruitment and enrollment program for special needs children.

Describe primary policies for evaluation of a center’s special needs recruitment

In the recruitment and enrollment program for the special need children, various factors must be considered and meeting the set criteria. First, all learners must undergo through an identification exercise which includes physically, socially and aspects such as medical conditions. In the physical identification, their height, weight, body deformities, motor skills present and absent, hearing abilities, visual abilities, and personal hygiene among others must be notes. The family and social histories of the learner should be taken comprehensively to ascertain the psychological status of the student and their background and possibly provide proper counseling and education. Additionally, learning disabilities and medical conditions present should be noted. Moreover, a standardized evaluation process using appropriate assessment tools to identify handicapping conditions is used for early detection and continuous monitoring and management of the learner. There should be neither age limitations nor time of the year when the learners cannot be enrolled. However, only those with disabilities are eligible for the recruitment and enrollment into the facility. Assessment tests can be administered to ascertain the proper clustering of the learners according to their needs and abilities for ease of management and handling (Jack, 2016).

Strategies for Building Strong and Financially Sustainable Childcare Facilities

Policies of evaluation of center’s special need recruitment should be based on the availability of special education teachers, counselors, competent institution administrators, healthcare workers to provide emergency care, psychology experts, speech and physical therapists and collaboration with law enforcement agencies (Inclusion of children with disabilities or other special needs, 2016).

Discuss two types of evaluation programs and apply these concepts to a child care development center. Discuss potential pitfalls of the evaluation process that you identified above.

Evaluation of the program is essential in order to get an informative feedback that can be used to improve the services of the institution and subsequently meet the specific goals set by the institution. Outcome-Based Evaluation model can be used to evaluate the program. It mainly focuses on the success of achieving the predetermined objectives. It enables the management to understand to which level certain policies, procedures and protocols are useful towards meeting the demands of both teachers and the learners. One of the pitfalls that can be experienced with this model is that it might take long before the process is done hence no necessary changes can be made before evaluation. This may negatively influence meeting the objectives since required adjustments are not made in time (Stufflebeam & American Evaluation Association, 2001).

On the other hand, Process-Based Evaluation model can be used in the assessment of the program. It entails evaluating the program while it is underway and using the data collected to forecast on the viability of the program and its objectives. Whenever necessary, adjustments are made before the end of the program. The disadvantage with this evaluation model is that the assessment data that is collected at any particular time may not be adequate to be used in the proper making of decisions by the facility administration (Stufflebeam & American Evaluation Association, 2001). 

Reference

Calman, L. J. (2005). Early childhood education for all a wise investment. Retrieved fromhttps://web.mit.edu/workplacecenter/docs/Full%20Report.pdfCesarone, B. (2001). Starting and operating a child care center. Childhood Education, 78(1), 56.Retrieved from ProQuest September 2013. Cohen, J. A. (1991). Keeping kids at work. Management Review, 80(1), 26 Retrieved fromproquest Sep 2013. Jack, M. (2016). Inclusion of Children with Disabilities or Other Special Needs. Caring ForChildren with Special Needs. Retrieved from https://www.childaction.org/families/publications/docs/guidance/Handout48 Caring_For_Children_With_Special_Needs.pdfInclusion of children with disabilities or other special needs. (2016). Retrieved fromhttps://www.childaction.org/families/publications/docs/guidance/Handout48-Caring_For_Children_With_Special_Needs.pdfStufflebeam, D. L., & American Evaluation Association. (2001). Evaluation models. SanFrancisco: Jossey-Bass.Schiller, P. (2001). Brain Research and its implications for early childhood programs. RetrievedFrom: https://www.southernearlychildhood.org/upload/pdf/Brain_Research__Its_Implications.pdfSimmons, J. (2011). â€ÂA sustainability resource for childcare providers Pobal, early educationchildcare unit with the support of the city/county childcare committees. Making it all add up, 1, 4–32. Retrievedfrom https://www.laoischildcare.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Making-It-All-Add-Up-Sustainability-Resource-for-Childcare-Providers1.pdfStephens, R., & Scott, E. V. (2006). The birth2work white paper ensuring workforce skills of thefuture: the birth to work pipeline. Retrieved from https://birth2work.org/sites/www.birth2work.com/files/Ensuring%20Workforce%20Skills%20of%20the%20Future_0.pdf