Childcare Activities Research Articles

Study Protocol: The Effect of a Fundamental Motor Skills Intervention in a Preschool Setting on Fundamental Motor Skills and Physical Activity: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial

Fundamental motor skills (FMS) are the building blocks to specialist movements that are used throughout one’s life in all forms of physical activity (PA) and sports involvement. FMS are acquired through a combination of active play and structured exercise programs. The preschool years have been identified as the critical time to develop FMS Active children experience health benefits such as decreased systolic blood pressure, depressive symptoms, weight gain, and improved concentration, academic performance and bone mineral density. Links have been identified between FMS proficiency and increased PA levels. This study aims to develop and deliver a structured FMS program for preschool aged children (age 3-5 years) in a childcare setting and determine whether it is associated with a change in PA levels and anthropometric measures. A randomized cluster control design will be employed. PLAYFun is a 12-week, games based FMS program aimed to provide children with the chance to learn, practice and develop their FMS within a preschool setting. Participants will be recruited from 4 childcare centres and will be eligible if they are aged 3-5 years and do not have developmental delay/chronic conditions that inhibit participation in PA. Centres will be randomized using concealed allocation. The control group will continue to receive usual childcare play activities while the intervention group will receive a supervised FMS intervention 2-5 sessions/week for 30 minutes duration in addition to usual childcare activities. Outcome measures will be measured pre-, post and 12-weeks post intervention. Intention to treat analysis will be used and effects on the primary outcomes will be calculated by difference between mean group scores accounting for baseline scores. The authors believe the childcare setting may provide the ideal environment to emphasize the development of movement patterns that will be used throughout life and potentially enhance participation in physical activity.

O cuidado e educação das (os) bebês em contexto coletivo: a construção da experiência da auxiliar de apoio à educação infantil na interação com bebês e professoras

Este artigo tem por objetivo analisar como a Auxiliar de Apoio à Educação Infantil constrói sua experiência na interação com bebês e professoras, durante as atividades de cuidado e educação em contexto coletivo. Dentre a complexidade de ações que constituem as atividades com bebês no berçário, destacamos as práticas de cuidado. Focalizar tais práticas justifica-se: a) porque o cuidado está no cerne da definição da Educação Infantil; b) na atuação com bebês, as práticas de cuidado têm uma centralidade ainda maior; e c) sendo as ações de apoio às professoras a atribuição das Auxiliares, focalizar tais práticas nos permite compreender os sentidos por elas construídos. O método de construção e instrumento de registro dos dados utilizados foram, respectivamente, a observação participante e o diário de campo. Os resultados permitem identificar elementos da relação entre as Professoras para a Educação Infantil e a Auxiliar de Apoio à Educação Infantil que influenciam a compreensão sobre a indissociabilidade entre as práticas de cuidar e educar bebês em contexto coletivo.

Sustainability of rainwater harvesting system for the domestic needs: A case of Daugha Village Development Committee, Gulmi, Nepal

Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) system for the domestic needs in Daugha Village Development Committee (VDC), after its installation in 1996, has become a “unique water culture” with altogether 1,238 water harvesting jars and storage tanks of varied sizes at present in 663 households. The paper presents the sustainability of the RWH implemented 18 years back at the household level of Daugha VDC, Gulmi District. Various participatory tools like household interviews, key informant’s interviews and field observation along with water quality test of the stored water were carried out. The sustainability of the rainwater harvesting system was assessed based on the four key sustainability dimensions- Technical, Socio-environmental, Institutional and Cost recovery. The core factors and sub-factors were given weightage following the Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) method. Daugha community has accepted RWH as an appropriate and effective alternative to meet the domestic water demand making the systems life savior, where water drudgery was at the peak and mostly women and children shared the responsibility of water management. On an average, 6.35 hours per family per day is saved because of installed RWH system in their homestead which is being utilized in some economic, social and child-care activities by the women. However, the best utilization of saved time for economic growth through various Income Generating Activities (IGAs) and mobilization of local funds to improve income level of the people seems lacking. Similarly, capacity and skills of local people to upgrade and improve their RWH systems have been observed as a gap. RWH systems have imparted very positive effect on sanitation and hygiene front. Significant progress was seen in terms of construction and use of toilets, increased knowledge about the importance of sanitation and hygiene issues, and changes in sanitation and hygiene behavior in the communities. This has resulted in decrease of water borne and water washed diseases recorded in the local sub-health post. These indicators portray the strong technical and socio-environmental acceptance of the system. In contrast to this, the study revealed that institutional and cost-recovery dimensions of sustainability are weaker, which pulls overall sustainability of RWH system under “sustained but at risk” when compared to sustainability ranking practiced by WaterAid.

A Study on Child Care Consulting Efficiency Plans of Child Care Centers for Children with Disabilities - Focusing on Perceptions and Needs of Child Care Staff

본 연구는 장애아전문 어린이집 보육컨설팅에 대한 원장, 특수교사, 보육교사, 치료사의 인식과 요구, 컨설턴트의 역할과 자질에 대한 요구를 알아보고 분석하여 구체적이고 실효성 있는 장애아전문 보육컨설턴트를 양성하고 보육컨설팅을 현장에 알맞게 적용하기 위해 실시하였다. 이를 위해 서울, 경기, 인천지역의 장애아전문 어린이집에 근무하는 309명의 보육교직원을 대상으로 설문조사를 실시하였고 보육컨설팅에 대한 보육교직원의 인식을 알아보기 위해 빈도와 백분율을 산출하고 교차분석을 실시하였으며, 보육컨설팅에 대한 보육교직원의 요구를 알아보기 위해 빈도와 백분율을 순위별로 산출하였다. 또한, 장애아전문 보육컨설턴트에 대한 요구를 알아보기 위해 빈도와 백분율을 순위별로 산출하였다. 이에 따른 연구 결과는 첫째, 보 육컨설팅에 대한 인식은 갖추고 있으나 컨설팅에 대한 개념을 확립하고 있지는 못하다. 둘째, 보육컨설팅은 1년 단위로 실시하고 학기 초에 어린이집과 보건복지부, 지자체가 부담하여 개별화보육계획안 작성 방법, 수업 방법 및 기술 등의 내용으로 진행하고 간단히 온라인으로 보고하는 형식을 요구하였다. 셋째, 장애아전문 컨설턴트에 대한 요구는 10년 이상의 외부 초빙 원장이나 교사로 장애아보육에 관한 전반적 지식, 통합적 관점의 분석 및 진단 능력, 교직원을 존중하고 경청하는 태도를 지니고 장애아보육(치료)활동 전반을 이해하는 사람을 요구하였다. 본 연구 결과는 장애아전문 어린이집 보육교직원들의 보육컨설팅에 대한 방향성을 제시하고, 현장에 알맞은 보육컨설턴트를 양성하는데 기여하고 장애아전문 어린이집 보육컨설팅에 대 한 자료로 활용할 수 있다는 데 의의가 있다.This study was conducted to cultivate specific and practical child care consultants for children with disabilities and apply child care consulting to child care centers for children with disabilities properly by examining and analyzing principals, special education teachers, child care teachers and therapists’ perceptions of and needs for child care consulting of child care centers for children with disabilities. For achieving the study purpose, a survey was conducted targeting 309 child care staff working in child care centers for children with disabilities in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon. In order to examine child care staff’s perceptions of child care consulting, frequencies and percentages were calculated and for looking into child care staff’s needs for child care consulting, frequencies and percentages were calculated by rank. Also, frequencies and percentages were calculated by rank as well to investigate their needs for child care consultants for children with disabilities. The study findings are as follows. First, although the subjects had the perception of child care consulting, the concept of child care consulting was not established. Second, the subjects wanted child care consulting to be implemented yearly and demanded to report the methods of drawing up individualized child care plans, the methods of teaching and child care skills briefly online, with the support of child care centesr, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and local governments in the beginning of the semester. Third, in relation to the needs for consultants for children with disabilities, the subjects needed visiting principals or teachers of ten years’ experience or over, who have general knowledge of disabled child care, capabilities to analyze and diagnose from an integrated perspective, respect and listen carefully to teaching staff and understand overall disabled child care(treatment) activities. This study has significance by suggesting the direction of child care consulting of child care staff at child care centers for children with disabilities, contributing to cultivating child care consultants that fit into the field of special education and care for children with disabilities and providing data for child care consulting of child care centers for children with disabilities.

어린이집 평가인증 3차 지표 실행에 따른 교사의 성장과정 -보육활동과 상호작용 중심으로-

어린이집 평가인증 3차 지표 실행에 따른 교사의 성장과정 -보육활동과 상호작용 중심으로-

Gender Differences in Single Parents’ Living Arrangements and Child Care Time

Although seemingly identical in their circumstances, research has found single fathers to engage less in child care than single mothers. Guided by both a structuralist and a “doing gender” perspective, we examine gender differences in single parents’ child care time and whether the presence and gender of coresident adult kin moderate this association. Our sample drawn from the 2003–2013 American Time Use Survey (N = 10,985) consists of non-cohabiting single parents aged 18 to 64 who live with at least one own child under age 18. We first found that single fathers spent slightly less time in all types of child care except play than single mothers. Either coresident adult female kin or adult male kin, or both predicted single parents’ spending less time in child care activities, particularly management. Living only with adult male kin also predicted single parents’ lower time spent in teaching. Lastly, gender differences in single parents’ child care time were larger in any child care, play, and teaching when living with both adult female kin and male kin than when living without any kin. The presence of both female kin and male kin may relieve the parent of tasks gender-appropriate to the related household members. Additional research about the contexts of gender differences in single parents’ child care enriches our understanding of parenting by men and women.

Testosterone is Associated with Perceived Constraint in Early Fatherhood

Paternal care is facilitated by a decline in testosterone levels following the transition to fatherhood. This process is considered to mediate a trade-off between mating and parenting, which may allow fathers to focus future resources on childcare activities. Previous studies revealed associations between testosterone levels and direct paternal care, but its relation to fathers’ subjective appraisal of the paternal role is still unknown. This cross-sectional study investigates associations between salivary testosterone concentrations and satisfaction with the father role measured by perceived constraint and enrichment due to fatherhood during child development until adolescence. A sample of 182 healthy fathers of various ages (M = 38.93, range: 25–62) with at least one child under the age of 18 was considered for this analysis. All subjects had biological children with their current partner/spouse only and lived in the same household with their partner/spouse and offspring. The presented data demonstrate that testosterone levels are positively associated with perceived constraint due to fatherhood, but only in fathers with young children. These findings suggest that high testosterone levels could temporarily be contradictory to paternal role satisfaction, due to potential role conflicts, while low testosterone may buffer some of the constraining aspects of caring for young children. Alternatively, these findings could indicate that less convinced fathers might maintain higher T levels across the whole period of fatherhood as a consequence of lower psychological role commitment.

Our Children, Our Hope: Voices of African American Mothers Living with HIV and Rearing Uninfected Children

ABSTRACTParenting school-aged children while living with HIV has been associated with significant consequences for African American mothers. This article presents and discusses the results of a qualitative study that examined the parenting experiences of HIV-infected African American mothers rearing young children. A sample of 8 inner-city, African American mothers of uninfected preschool-aged children were interviewed individually. Interview guide questions explored day-to-day childcare activities from the mothers’ perspective. Five themes emerged: role of mothering, doing it all, less time for self, fear, and hope. Findings can be used to guide the development of programs to support HIV-infected mothers rearing young children.

The effect of childcare activities on cognitive status and depression in older adults: gender differences in a 4.4‐year longitudinal study

Although involvement in childcare activities seems to promote better physical and mental health in older adults, its impact on cognitive status and depression has not yet been fully elucidated. We aimed to analyze the association between engagement in childcare activities and cognitive and psychological status over a 4.4-year period in community-dwelling older adults. Two thousand one hundred four subjects older than 65years without severe cognitive impairment at baseline were categorized according to the frequency of their involvement in childcare activities (everyday, occasionally, never). The participants' cognitive status and depressive symptoms were evaluated at baseline and after 4.4years. During the follow-up, 269 (12.8%) new cases of cognitive impairment and 229 (10.9%) new cases of depression were registered. Men engaged in childcare showed an almost 20% lower risk of cognitive impairment and cognitive decline. Women demonstrated similar results, except for those occasionally involved in childcare, who had a higher risk of cognitive decline compared with women who never engaged in it. The risk of developing depression was reduced in men involved daily (OR=0.44, 95% CI: 0.30-0.62, p<0.0001) and occasionally in childcare, who also demonstrated a lower risk of exacerbating depressive symptoms compared with subjects who never involved in it. The onset of depression was reduced in women occasionally engaged in childcare (OR=0.68, 95% CI: 0.56-0.82, p<0.0001), but not significantly in those daily involved in it. Involvement of older adults in childcare activities seems to lower the risk of cognitive impairment in both genders and to prevent onset or worsening of depression particularly in older men. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Association between father involvement and attitudes in early child-rearing and depressive symptoms in the pre-adolescent period in a UK birth cohort

BackgroundMuch of the research on parenting and its influence on child development has emphasised the mother's role. However, increasing evidence highlights the important role of fathers in the development, health and well-being of their children. We sought to explore the association between paternal involvement in early child-rearing and depressive symptoms in 9 and 11 year-old children. MethodsWe used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort recruited in the southwest of England. The outcome was depressive symptoms measured using the short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire (sMFQ) score. The main exposure was father involvement measured through factor analysis of fathers’ responses on their participation in, understanding of, and feelings about their child's early upbringing. Scores on factor 1 measured fathers’ emotional response to the child; scores on factor 2 measured the frequency of father involvement in domestic and childcare activities; scores on factor 3 measured fathers’ feelings of security in their role as parent and partner. ResultsChildren of fathers with high scores on factors 1 and 3 had 13% (OR 0.87, 95%CI 0.77–0.98, p = 0.024) and 9% (OR 0.91, 95%CI 0.80–1.03, p = 0.129) respectively lower adjusted odds of depressive symptoms at 9 and 11 years. For factor 2, there was weak evidence of a 17% increase in odds of depressive symptoms associated with 1 unit higher factor scores at both ages (OR 1.17, 95%CI 1.00–1.37, p = 0.050). LimitationsIn these observational data, the possibility of residual confounding in the association between the exposure and the outcome cannot be ruled out. ConclusionPositive psychological and emotional aspects of father involvement in children's early upbringing, but not the quantity of direct involvement in childcare, may protect children against developing symptoms of depression in their pre-teen years.

Field survey on the sound environment of childcare facilities in Japan: Analysis of sound generation accompanied by children's activities

Today's childcare facilities in Japan have problems in their sound environments such as bustling noises, and it is pointed out as a result of lack of sound absorption and awareness of the sound environment of people in the field. On the other hand, the sound environment is actually different depending on age and type of activity, but detailed examination has not been done. In this presentation, for the purpose of setting up an acoustic environment according to the development of children and the aim of childcare activities, we report the results of surveying sound environments focusing on group size, age, activity space, and activity contents. We investigated the sound environment and childcare activities in five childcare facilities with different facility type, scale, and operation type. It was observed that children's sounds changed with the development of language and behaviors. The characteristics of sound environment differ depending on actual activity situation and spatial property, and special acoustic contrivance was necessary in the free play scene because different activity sounds were mixed there.

Gender, Socioeconomic Status, and Time Use of Married and Cohabiting Parents during the Great Recession

Using data from the 2003-14 American Time Use Survey (ATUS), this paper examines the relationship between the state unemployment rate and the time that opposite-sex couples with children spend on childcare activities, and how this varies by the socioeconomic status (SES), race, and ethnicity of the mothers and fathers. The time that mothers and fathers spend providing primary and secondary child caregiving, solo time with children, and any time spent as a family are considered. To explore the impact of macroeconomic conditions on the amount of time parents spend with children, the time-use data are combined with the state unemployment rate data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The analysis finds that the time parents spend on child-caregiving activities or with their children varies with the unemployment rate in low-SES households, African-American households, and Hispanic households. Given that job losses were disproportionately high for workers with no college degree, African-Americans, and Hispanics during the Great Recession, the results suggest that the burden of household adjustment during the crisis fell disproportionately on the households most affected by the recession.

Examining fatherhood in Greece and Italy

ABSTRACTThe present study examines Greek and Italian fathers’ perceptions of different aspects of fatherhood, namely, responsibility in undertaking childcare activities, emotional expressiveness within the family as well as their accounts of what it means to them to be a father. Three hundred and eleven fathers from Greece and 291 from Italy responded to the Parental Responsibility Scale, the Self-Expressiveness in the Family Questionnaire and the Fathers’ Perceptions of Fatherhood Scale. The results indicated that fathers from both countries agreed that childcare responsibilities should be undertaken by both parents. Further, Greek fathers were found to be less expressive of negative emotions than Italian fathers. They also valued negatively the feelings evoked by fatherhood and the impact of fatherhood on their life and work and considered that the strain evoked by fatherhood is less intense than that valued by their Italian counterparts. In both groups, positive self-expressiveness within the family was found to affect positively their perceptions of the meaning of fatherhood and parental responsibility, but this prediction was stronger for the Greek group. The reported findings provide a comprehensive picture of Greek and Italian fathers’ perceptions of what being a father means to them and broaden our understanding of the role of father within the family.

실습일지에 나타난 예비유아교사의 교육실습 및 보육실습 내용 분석

The purpose of this study was to investigate the contents of pre-service early childhood teacher's practicum experience in kindergartens and child care centers through the analysis of practice teaching journals. The subjects of this study were a total 52 practice teaching journals of 26 pre-service early childhood teachers who completed their practicum in kindergartens and child care centers. This study analyzed the type of teaching practice management, the type of activities, and the contents of journal writings. The findings are as follows; First, pre-service teachers experienced a similar ratio of the type of teaching practice management in both types of teaching practice. Second, pre-service teachers performed more group activities in practicum in kindergartens, but more choice activities in practicum in child care centers. Third, the journal writing contents of pre-service teachers in both types of teaching practice mainly addressed the operating of educational and child care activities, and the execution of observing young children. But some categories of teacher's competency were hardly addressed. The results of this study could be used as basic data for designing early childhood practicum programs.

The Relationship between Working from Home and the Time Parents Spend on Child Care

A substantial amount of literature discusses the adverse effects of maternal employment on children’s obesity, cognitive development, and other outcomes. This study uses data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) to investigate a potential solution: working from home. Parents who work from home contribute significantly more time to child-care activities than parents working outside the home. At-home workers spend 176.4 and 132 more minutes per day on total child-care time, respectively, than those who commute to work. Working from home offsets the reduction in total primary-child-care time associated with maternal and paternal employment by 62.6 and 54.5 percent, respectively. Secondary child care contributes more than 80 percent of the increase of total child-care time. Using the amount of selection on the observables as a guide to the amount of selection on the unobservables, I find robust associations between working from home and the time parents spend on physical care; secondary child care; and total primary, secondary, and total child-care time.

Father involvement in early child-rearing and behavioural outcomes in their pre-adolescent children: evidence from the ALSPAC UK birth cohort

ObjectiveTo explore the nature of paternal involvement in early child-rearing adopting a social developmental perspective, and estimate its effect on behavioural outcomes of children aged 9 and 11 years.SettingThe data...

Variability in daily activity-travel patterns: the case of a one-week travel diary

Understanding temporal rhythms in travel and activity patterns has been recognized as an important issue for the effective management of urban congestion. Research issues related to this topic concern the degree to which travel behaviour varies from one day to another, the differences between weekday and weekend travel, and the determinants of variability. Thanks to a seven-day travel diary collected for 707 individuals in the city of Ghent (Belgium) in 2008, this study goes further by studying this variability according to various time periods within the week and by analysing interpersonal and intrapersonal variations according to the varying attributes of activity-travel patterns. Different variance indicators and the sequential alignment method are applied for the measurement of variability of travel-activity behaviour. Moreover, the influence of individual characteristics on these variations is examined. The overall picture of a large intrinsic variability in travel behaviour (i.e. trip or home-based tour generation) is confirmed. There is more difference in the number of trips per day for a given individual depending on the various days of week than there is between individuals per se, not including the weekend period, and this aspect is reinforced when considering home-based tours. Unlike the case of trip generation, there is greater difference between persons in their daily time allocation to various activities than between days for a given person in general, either during working days or during the weekend. This is also the case for daily activity sequence. Finally, the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on intrapersonal variability is weak, whether for daily trips, tours, time use or activity sequence. The large level of intrapersonal variability in daily trip numbers already demonstrated in the literature is confirmed. Systematic day-to-day variability is shown to have an extremely low share in intrapersonal variability. The global picture is that intrapersonal variability is large while systematic day-to-day variability is marginal. Moreover, a striking result is that socio-demographic characteristics are mostly unable to explain the level of intrapersonal variability. The results reveal that individual behaviour is neither completely habitual nor completely random. On the one hand, intrapersonal variability is more important than the interpersonal one as regards daily trip numbers for the realization of mobility needs. On the other hand, activity time allocation and sequencing show an inverse trend, which can be linked with the habitual part of behaviour and the social role of the individual (through e.g. work, childcare and other activities).

Impact of Mother's Time Allocation on Child's Health

The time parents devote to caring for their children is an enormous and component of society's investment in human capital. These investments may be at risk mainly due to the growing proportion of women entering the labor market. This paper investigates the determinants of mother's time spent in childcare activities and the impact of mother's time on children's health and nutritional status, using data from surveys undertaken in the Bicol region of Philippines for the years 1983 and 2003. It focuses in particular on the effects of mother's childcare time on children's health status in order to evaluate the importance of the under-appreciated maternal time input.The paper presents a theoretical model as well as an empirical analysis of the time mothers spend in childcare activities and its impact on child health. However, the estimation for mothers' childcare time is endogenous and there may be measurement errors in the available indicators for mothers' childcare time and child health. Two stage least squares method uses instrumental variables to solve the estimation problems that lead to substantial misunderstanding of the true effects in the model.The results suggest that the only statistically significant variable effecting mothers' time on childcare activities is mothers' height. The results from the second part of the study investigate the relationship between mothers' time in childcare activities and children's health, using child height as the indicator of child health. The empirical results show that the only positive and significant impact on child‟s health is mothers' height. This study then sets out to investigate the effects of mother‟s time allocation in childcare activities on child's health outcomes. It concludes that the overall effect is not very significant. Child health outcomes are mostly related to their genetic health endowments.

A visão da mulher sobre a paternidade e as atividades de cuidado desempenhadas pelo homem

Este estudo objetiva analisar a concepção feminina a respeito da paternidade e o compartilhamento de responsabilidades relacionadas ao cuidado com os filhos. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva de caráter quantitativo que contou com a participação de cem (100) mulheres internadas no Alojamento Conjunto de um Hospital Universitário de Curitiba. Os resultados encontrados apontam que as mulheres solteiras possuem pouco auxílio do pai nas atividades de cuidado com a criança e que elas tendem a assimilar o papel masculino. As mulheres em relações estáveis ou casadas alegam reconhecer a importância do pai, embora, na maioria dos casos, restrinjam o repertório de atividades desempenhadas. Aponta-se a necessidade dos profissionais de saúde fomentarem junto às mulheres o compartilhamento do cuidado com o pai de modo igualitário, não apenas complementar à maternidade.Descritores: Paternidade; Cuidado da criança; Desempenho de papéis.

Parental roles and needs in neonatal intensive care: a review of Portuguese guidelines

The scope of this article is to analyze the parental roles and needs included in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit guidelines. Thematic content analysis was conducted of 33 guidelines (28 consensuses and 5 documents directed to parents) freely available on the Portuguese Pediatrics Society website in August 2014. These documents deal mainly with information needs, child care activities performed by the parents and the respective responsibilities in decision making with respect to the health of children. Furthermore, parental and family characteristics were mentioned as risk factors for prematurity and perinatal diseases. The psychosocial consequences of parenthood experienced in Neonatal Intensive Care Units, as well as the adequacy of their environmental characteristics to parental needs, were less frequently touched upon. Issues related to the safety and comfort, confidence of parents in healthcare and social support were rarely touched upon. The results reflect sociocultural norms associated with intensive parenting, which is exclusively child centered, highly emotional and performed under the guidance of health professionals. The important aspect is to issue and disseminate guidelines that foster the integration of family-centered care in the dynamics of Neonatal Intensive Care Units.