Role of Family in Early Childhood Education and Care

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
Role of Family in Early Childhood Education and Care
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1EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
Introduction: Childhood is one of the most vital periods for each and every child all
around the world. This period is considered to be vital for the child because they need the
supervision and cooperation of the parents and the other relatives as well. Majority of the
learning phase of the child is during this age. Early childhood can be defined as a stage which
begins before the age of the schooling age. Early childhood is the time when the maximum
development and growth takes place. The development of child also includes the intellectual,
emotional, social and physical development. If the early experiences of the child include good
experiences, then then it promotes the resiliency of the child development during this period. The
good quality early life experiences include helping the families so that the requirements of the
child can be fulfilled (Garner et al., 2012). This study will emphasize on the role on the family
on the child care and child education.
Role of the family in development and care- Family plays a vital role in the child
education and development. There are several studies and researches that have found out this
result. Educators and the researchers consider parents as a vital part in the childhood education.
Parents are thus considered to be the best and the first teacher for the child. When s child
develops from an infant to a teenager and finally into an adult, a child undergoes a series of
changes that includes all aspects of the personhood and it includes the social, emotional,
intellectual and physical (Lauricella, Wartella & Rideout, 2015). Thus, the appropriate role of the
parent and the family member is to provide support, engagement and also access to the different
activities that will help a child to master all the skills that are necessary for their development.
The specialists in the child development have found that since the birth, children experiments
and learns from such experiences. A parent must provide a safe and stable environment that will
help them to productively and safely explore and learn from the different environment. Physical

2EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
development is just one aspect of the child development and child development also includes the
social-emotional development, language development, intellectual development. Child
development and parenting are the two important aspects that go hand in hand. The development
of a child is interrelated and thus cannot be defined within the tight categories. Here, the
parenting style plays a role and helps a child to learn in an innovative way by accepting the
failures and at the same time overcoming them (Milteer, Ginsburg & Mulligan, 2012).
Research has shown that the parental involvement is a key factor in improving a child’s
academic performance, achievement and it includes the overall attendance and behaviour. The
role of the parents is the single best major factor in earlier years of a child and it influences the
development of the child as well. If the learning is of good quality, then it contributes much
more to the social and intellectual development of the child in comparison to the parental
income, education and occupation (Cheung & Pomerantz, 2012). Children are not capable of
attaining the self-dependence and in the early stages of care they require protection and care.
However, with the passage of the time the child becomes self-reliant and independent. It is also
equally important to mention that it is necessary for both the parents to equally contribute to the
education and development of the children. Studies have found that the roles of both the parents
are not similar and some families the specific roles of the mothers and fathers differ. It has been
seen that the fathers generally spend leisure time with the children and they keep a track of the
things that will be required and provide the same (Bariola, Hughes & Gullone, 2012). Whereas,
the role of mother is to fulfil everyday necessity of the child. Thus, it can be said that the role of
the father is to provide financial support and the responsibility of the mother is to provide
support to the child who include the mental and physical support. An important fact is that in
more than the 60 percent of the families, the parents have an equal share in making important