Browsing by Subject "omahoitajuus"
Now showing items 1-2 of 2
-
(2016)Attachment relationships to primary caregivers are one of the key aspects that make a difference when considering small children's overall emotional development. The effects of attachment have been studied widely and they have been acknowledged to have great influence in children's socio emotional development. Concurrently with the primary attachment relationships formed at home a child can have secondary attachment relationships with people who regularly take care of them. So children might also form secondary attachments to day care nurses. In Finland 63% of all under school aged children and 53% of all two year olds attend to day care. Full-time day care is physiologically stressful for most toddlers and early commenced long days in day care outside the home can predict anxious, unadapted and aggressive behaviour to rise in later years. All this taken into account it is obvious that the early care in day care and attachment relationships within are very meaningful to little toddlers. Based on scientific literature we know that by focusing on caregivers' sensitivity, homelike care environments and high quality of the overall care we can support the formation of secure attachment relationships and reduce the stressfulness of day care. In Helsinki University's Kenguru- project a primary nursing design was made to assist the actualization of these factors. This study is a part of that project. The aim of this study was to investigate if having a primary nurse design in day care will promote secure attachments towards the primary nurses. The hypothesis was that primary nursing design will increase attachment formation in day care. It was assumed that the children who got a primary nurse to look after them would make stronger bonds toward their caregiver than the children who didn't have a primary nurse to care for them. Attachment relationships were rated twice during the year with the Attachment Q-sort that has been found to be a reliable measure of attachment between a dyad. Study group consisted of 97 children in 14 different day care groups. The results showed that the primary nurse design did not have an attachment promoting effect throughout the whole group of children. When the subgroups were studied further one could see that it was the subgroup of the old children who had already been to day care that had a decrease in their attachment. All other subgroups had attachment relationship scores staying the same throughout the year. The results shown in this study are largely limited as there were only two groups where the primary nurse design could be executed as planned. Nevertheless this study gave some reference that small children under the age of three could really benefit a primary nurse design and being cared for in a smaller group. This supports the notion that children under the age of three could benefit homelike day care in smaller groups. Further studies are needed to really comprehend the influences of primary nurse design to children's socioemotional development in the long run.
-
(2015)Small group size is considered to be the best option for groups of children under three years old. More and more children in day care centers also spend time in small groups. Small group activities are seen as a structural solution of the challenges the large daycare groups face. The new Early Childhood Education Law will require the wellbeing of children to be taken better into consideration when forming daycare groups in the future. The purpose of this study was to examine the toddlers parents and educators conceptions of group size as well as issues related to small-group activities and the concept of primary nursing in daycare under the age of three. The aim was to find out how small group activities and the use of primary nursing is justified and how these arguments reflect the quality of early childhood education in the groups of children under three years of age. This is a qualitative research using theme interviews as the research method. The study includes interviews of nine educators working at a day care center in groups of children under the age of three and interviews of three parents who had their toddler in day care treatment. The results of the survey suggest that groups at toddler day care treatment are formed primarily on the basis of structural factors, even though the children would benefit more if their needs and pedagogical perspectives would be taken into consideration. However when forming small groups the pedagogical and individual needs of the children were given more weight, though structural factors played a significant role as well. The study suggests that parents will appreciate the small treatment groups. Similarly, the educators in day care centers consider the small groups facilitating the implementation of high-quality early childhood education.
Now showing items 1-2 of 2