Introduction
United States of America is the only remaining superpower in the world after the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic. It has remained the leading economy in the world despite the recent economic recession. The average living conditions of Americans is well above average and the rate of unemployment has been kept on the check currently standing at below eight percent (Frank, 2011). American citizens are known for creativity and innovativeness, which are the factors that have seen the country experience massive economic growth. As Seglin (2003) notes, the country is the most attractive nation to non Americans, a fact that has seen many people from different countries come to this land either as temporary visitors who come to learn or work, or permanent residents of the United States.
The country is home to various people from various races. The whites, Latin Americans, the Indian Americans, Black Americans, among others are some of the residents of this nation. All these groups had their own cultures when they came to America several centuries ago. Because of the interaction of these individuals, their cultures were integrated to come up with what is currently referred to as the American culture (Badaracco, 1997). The Americans are very responsible people, especially when it comes to the issue of parentage. However, the current society has both men and women in formal employment. Because of this, children are left without proper care back at home. This has increased the demand for childcare centers in the American society (Frank, 2011). In such centers, parents who are employed can drop their children and come for them in the evening. This allows them time to meet their professional duties within the day before they can resume their parentage duties in the evening.
Problem Statement
The United States of America has been known for its innovative and very hard working population. The country has some of the richest people in the world. The infrastructure is well developed and the security system is well maintained (Frank, 2011). All these developments can be attributed to the American hardworking culture. However, this positivity comes at a cost. Most of the American families have both parents in formal employment. Although this would increase the level of income for such families, their children are always left without proper care. The parents would not be available to monitor the development and meet the needs of their children as might be necessary.
Because of this, there has been need for such institutions to provide care services to these children in absence of their parents. According to Frank (2011), the need for childcare centers has been on the rise as most families have both parents in formal employment. It is upon the realization of this that this project was incepted.
Objectives
This project will be based in the city of Oklahoma. This was settled on after it was named one of the cities in the United States with the highest number of parents in gainful employment but not willing to hire house helps (Leach, 2010). As this scholar notes, this could either be attributed to the cost of hiring such house helps or security reasons. The following are the objectives of this project:
- Provide childcare centre for children aged between six weeks to twelve years.
- Provide formal education to children of this city within the age specified above.
- To nurture talent in children who are housed in this center, which would make them self reliant in society
- To offer solutions to parents who may not be in a position to take care of their children, either because of their tender age or because of limited financial strength.
- To promote a community that is responsible and very secure, both to the locals and to visitors who come for business or any other purposes.
By achieving the above, this project hopes to offer parents who are in formal employment solutions as regards to childcare. The project will offer them a place where they can leave their children in the morning and come for them in the evening.
Project Strategy
This project has a well-laid method hoping to achieve the above named objectives. This project targets children aged between six weeks to twelve years. The least age is six weeks because we do not have specialized systems that can facilitate care for a child under this age. The age limit of twelve would help ensure that children taken to this facility are able to go to school and get formal education that would help them shape their lives once they come out of the facility. The project target Latin Americans, Native Americans and Caucasians. The project will bring together individuals from different ethnic groups.
These children will be grouped according to their ages. There will be four groups in this project. The first age group will be those aged between six weeks to two years. The next group will include children aged just above two years to four years. The third group will incorporate children aged just above four years to seven years, and the last group will include those aged between eight years to twelve. In each group, there will be specific activities that will be carried out, as stipulated below.
Six Weeks to Two-Year Old Children
This is the first group of children in this project. They are of tender age and therefore, they need special attention from caretakers. This project targets thirty children in the first phase. Educators may not have much to do with this group because of their tender age. However, caretakers will have a great responsibility in ensuring that these children get the attention required. The services that this group will receive include special feeding program. Children of this age need to be provided with a special diet, especially those aged six months and below. This is to ensure that they get all nutrients necessary at this crucial developmental stage. Another exercise that this group will receive is massage. Berk (2009) says that children of this age need tender massage to enhance proper blood flow in their bodies and increase their sensitivity to external stimuli. Others will be helped to crawl, as those who are about one year will be trained to walk. Those who are approaching two years will be encouraged to talk. The caretakers will majorly do these activities.
The above activities are very important for children in this group. This stage is very important in the life of a child. Frank (1983) explains that these activities are necessary in ensuring that such children develop all senses. The best way through which a child of this age can communicate with the outside world is through the sense of touch. As Jean Piaget notes in his theory of cognitive development, a child needs to communicate with the people around it, just as an adult would (Berk, 2009). Because they are not able to talk coherently, the only way one can communicate to them is through touch. According to Rosenstock and Rosenstock (1985), they would respond to this by a smile, giggle or a cry in case the stimulus is negative. The stage is referred to as sensory motor stage. This theory holds that at this stage, children gain knowledge as regards to his or her surrounding through physical actions
Children Aged between Two to Four Years
This is the next developmental stage in human growth and development. This project targets about twenty-eight children in this group. A child in this stage of development learns how to walk and run properly. This stage is very dangerous for a child. This is because the child can easily use all its four limbs, unless he or she suffered from a disease or injury that incapacitated any of the limbs (Leach, 2010). On the other hand, a child is not able to know which item is dangerous when touched. Again, the caretakers will have a great duty in ensuring that they are closely watched and any item that may cause physical harm to them is eliminated. Some of activities at this stage would include practicing how to walk and run. This will also include practicing how to talk properly, being informed of the items within the immediate environment and their importance or dangers.
As Stewart and Allhusen (2005) note, a child of this stage has very sharp memory. The child is very sensitive to activities that happen around him or her. In many occasions, their characters will be shaped by what they see happening around them. This theory describes this stage as the symbolic function sub stage. Their learning highly depends on symbols. Educators will therefore consider using signs to pass knowledge to these children.
Children Aged Between Four To Seven Years
This is the third developmental stage of a child. The project targets about thirty-two children in the group. This is the stage where children start developing a clear understanding of their environment (Frank, 1983). They are well aware of the activities around them. They can express themselves properly using words and they understand external stimulus. Both educators and caretakers will have a role to play in ensuring that these children develop as normally as those who are with their families.
The caretakers will have to step into the role of the parent. A child of this age is always inquisitive (Berk, 2009). When they start learning about parentage, both educators and caretakers should be in a position to explain to them the reason why their parents cannot be with them at daytime and the importance of being at the center. The educators will have the responsibility of offering formal education while both educators and caretakers will teach them morals. Educators will also organize for recreational activities such as sports to keep them physically fit. Another important duty that educators, and to some extent caretakers will undertake would be to identify talents that these children may be having. This may be in form of ability to play a certain game, ability to sing, special interest in art or any other talent that may be worth nurturing.
According to the cognitive theory, this stage is categorized as Intuitive Sub Stage (Frank, 1983). Children at this stage want to know every little detail that is around them. The concerned individuals in this project will be in a position to answer these questions, especially why they are not living in a normal family set up. This will help in ensuring that the child grows to appreciate daytime care centers.
Children Aged Eight to Twelve Years
This is the final stage within the mandate of this project. This project targets about forty-two children in this stage. Children at this stage are able to apply a sense of reason in their actions. They understand consequences that their actions might have. At this stage, much of responsibilities move from caretakers to educators. At this level, children are most likely to be in junior high school. Educators will therefore ensure that they provide them with the right knowledge that would help them pass their exams. As this is the last stage of the child in this project, there will be an effort to ensure that all necessary skills that would help such a child in the society are imparted. Educators will therefore ensure that talents that were noted in the previous stages are developed further. As Tanke (2000) observes, this is the stage where a child shapes his or her future.
Educators will therefore ensure that these children are exposed to all aspects of life that would help them make a wise decision as to the direction they want to take in their lives. Another issue that would be addressed by educators and caretakers is discipline. The society outside the institution may not be as friendly as that within. The most important tool that all grandaunts of this institution will need to acquaint themselves with is discipline in everything they do. Discipline will be instilled through various means, especially through dialogue. They need to be informed of what is expected of them as they enter the society (Wellington, 2001).
As stated in the cognitive theory of development, this group involves two stages of development that is, the concrete operational stage and the formal operational stage (Lynn, 2011). At the concrete operational stage, the child is able to perform most of the logic problems. However, they are not in a position to handle hypothetical tasks or abstract concepts.
Ethical and Cultural Issue
This project targets individuals from different backgrounds. These individuals are brought into a single unit of one big family. It will be the responsibility of the implementation team of this project to integrate all children into this family. It may take time, especially those taken at advanced ages in life. This is because they have learned much from other institutions and making them appreciate their new status in life may not be an easy task. It is also important to understand cultural diversity of children brought to this institution. Educators and caretakers will help balance the culture that these children could have adopted to the culture required in this facility.
The project will observe some ethical issues. The first concern that will be addressed will be the society within which the project will be operating. The society must not be subjected to any negative effects due to the presence of the project. For this reason, the implementation team will ensure that no form of pollution is released into the environment. Ethics will also be maintained internally. The treasury will regularly ensure that all financers and other parties involved are regularly updated on the expenditures of the project. The project manager will ensure that no finance meant for the project is channeled elsewhere.
Evaluation
Success of this project will be determined by growth in the number of children and the ability to sustain them within the year of operation. Evaluation will be done after every year of operation to determine the level of growth and the population it will be able to sustain in the following year of operation. The management team will be responsible for evaluation but professional bodies that will be hired by the management will do the auditing of accounts. This will help enhance credibility.
Future Funding
The project is expected to be self-supportive by the end of its third year of operation. By the beginning of the second year, the project management plans to open its formal education to the public at a fee. This is expected to finance the project operational costs. By the end of the third year, the management expects that this project will obtain enough revenue from children enrolled from the public to finance its projects. Because the project will continue taking more students under sponsorships, it will open the door to any donor who will be interested in supporting this other sector of the project.
Conclusion
Children undergo several stages in their lives, as they develop to become adults. The stages are very important as they have value to the child’s growth. Every stage has various activities that need to be observed to ensure that the child experiences successful growth. From the tender age, a child becomes sensitive to physical touch. Its sense of hearing is also relatively developed. The best way to communicate with such a child would be through tender touch and some soft words such as song. As this child goes past two years, he or she learns how to walk and talk. At this stage, attention changes as the caretaker would have a close observation of such a child to ensure that he or she does not touch dangerous objects within his or her immediate environment.
Children between the ages of four to seven have a different need. They are actively engaged in games, which is good for their development but it might disorganize their studies. As a caretaker and educator, it is important to help such a child balance between the two. As the child advances to the age between eight and twelve years, their vision in life become clear. They need to be guided on how to make choices that will affect their lives. This project will therefore aim at achieving the above by establishing a center that will have children from different backgrounds from the age of six weeks to twelve years. Through this project, it is hoped that parents who lack time to be with their children at daytime will have a solution to this. Each stage of the project is to be supervised and managed by a professional. This would enhance quality.
References
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Frank, I. (1983). Childcare: Emerging Legal Issues. New York: Routledge.
Leach, P. (2010). Child Care Today: Getting It Right for Everyone. London: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Lynn, J. (2011). Start Your Own Child-Care Service. New York: Entrepreneur Press.
Rosenstock, J. & Rosenstock, M. (1985). Child Care: Options for Working Parents. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Seglin, J. (2003). The Right Thing: Conscious, Profit and Personal Responsibility in Today’s Business. New York: Spiro Press.
Stewart, A. & Allhusen, V. (2005). What We Know About Childcare. New York: Harvard University Press.
Tanke, M. (2000). Human Resources Management for the Hospitality Industry. Albany: Cengage Learning.
Wellington, A. (2001). Health Insurance Coverage and Entrepreneurship. Journal of Contemporary Economic Policy, 19(4).