Nurseries and their role in early development

Dubai: A generation or two ago, parents believed that the child’s first and prolonged contact needed to be with the parents and family. What the child could learn in such an emotionally secure haven could not be compensated elsewhere. Today, the opposite is true. As soon as a child turns two, parents begin planning to send the child to a nursery.

The UAE has many nurseries. Some double up as day-care centres to accommodate the needs of working parents, others are meant to develop the emotional, social, motor, spatial, verbal, numerical and many other capacities of the child.

Gulf News spoke to nursery owners and child psychologists to assess the impact of pre-school training on a child.

Bernadette King Turner, owner of Yellow Brick Nursery in Dubai, believes the parental decision to send their two-year-old to a nursery has unquestionable value. “Sadly, most people underestimate the abilities of babies and young children to learn,” she says. “At birth, a newborn baby’s brain weighs 400 grams; at age three, it weighs 1,200 grams and at 18+ it grows only another 200 grams to reach the total adult brain weight of 1,400 grams.

“There is a phenomenal growth rate of neurons’ branches called ‘dendrites’ connecting during the first three years of the human being’s life. Therefore, the early years are the most important years in a human being’s life. Each dendrite connection is made as a result of learning, experiencing plus understanding and, most importantly, by being loved — love makes learning happen. If a young child is exposed to stress through their parents’ ‘dramas’, learning can be greatly delayed.”

Janet O’Keefe, director, Jumeirah International Nursery, said, “The young mind is wonderfully malleable and pre-schools offer the foundation for a child’s education. There are various areas of learning and development that shape educational programmes in pre-schools. Communication and language; physical development; and personal, social and emotional development are particularly crucial for igniting a child’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.”

Srividhya S., principal of Balloon Nursery in Sharjah, believes children can benefit a lot from nurseries. “Indoor and outdoor activities in nurseries stimulate the child’s holistic development and ensure the child is socialising and playing with children of the same age. Such activities enhance their capabilities to interact with others and perhaps this is the reason why children at nurseries are often found to be more confident and independent, and not apprehensive about accepting differences.”

One of the biggest advantages of a nursery is that the children are constantly monitored by teachers and the management, an advantage that is absent with maids looking after young children at home, she says.

In the latter situation, often monitoring the maid’s behaviour and attitude takes precedence for parents, with the result that the child’s behaviour during the day usually takes a back seat.

Also, nurseries help children get used to a routine, a discipline many parents have a problem enforcing at home, she says.

“The foundation laid during the nursery phase not only shows young children the importance of having a timetable, it also helps them pace themselves to stay alert and active when the situation requires it,” says Srividhya.

But what are the consequences for parents of leaving their young baby for long hours at a nursery? Does it not challenge the conventional wisdom of the importance of early bonding? King Turner says nursery staff are trained to give the child complete love and care on their premises. But on the issue of baby-parent connect, it is up to the parents to continue keeping up with the invaluable bonding that begins even before the baby is born. “A baby-parent bonding is intricate and absolute, which naturally happens throughout the nine months of gestation and is further and more strongly developed within the first hours and days of the baby’s birth. The mother’s heartbeat and the father’s love and connection are the real bonding factors for the newborn baby,” she says. “It is up to the parents to be sure that they continue to share loving quality time with their infants and young children to keep their relationship strong and loving.”

Emma Addy, business support manager, British Orchard Nursery, believes parents need not suffer from the guilt of leaving a child at the nursery as it is very healthy and equally important for a mother and child to get some time on their own. “The early years experience enriches the child mentally, socially, emotionally, behaviourally and physically,” she says. “During this phase, a child requires adequate stimulation, proper guidance and nutrition to reach his or her full potential and become a productive part of a rapidly changing environment which cannot be accomplished to such an extent at home due to the limited resources and lack of qualified help.”

“Bonding is a process, not something that takes place within minutes and not something that has to be limited to happening within a certain time period after birth,” says O’ Keefe. “For many parents, bonding is a byproduct of everyday care-giving. Parents may not even know it’s happening until they observe their baby’s first smile and suddenly realise that they are filled with love and joy.”

Bonding is a complex, personal experience that takes time, she says. “A baby whose basic needs are being met won’t suffer if they’re put in a nursery. As parents become more comfortable with the centre, the baby and the new routines become more predictable, parents will feel more confident about all of the amazing aspects of raising the little one away from them. Most infants who are cared for in day care develop an attachment relationship, usually with the primary caregiver. This relationship is central to the child’s development when reunited with their parents after a temporary absence. Youngsters who emerge from infancy with a secure attachment stand a better chance of developing happy, competent relationships with others,” she says.

But what if parents do not wish to send their child to a nursery? Will the child suffer a developmental setback?

“The biggest disadvantage for a child not attending a nursery is the delay in personal, social and emotional development,” says O’Keefe . “With iPads and other electronic gadgets given by parents to keep children busy, children also suffer from delay in physical development, as well as a delay in developing communication and language skills,” she says.

According to her, studies have proved that children who start nursery at an earlier age settle into new environments quicker and adopt a more positive approach to education and learning.

“If a child stays home with a nanny then the child will learn from the nanny and the level of education received will depend entirely on the nanny’s level of education and understanding of early childhood development,” says King Turner. “If a child stays home with mum, the child will learn what the mother offers, which is probably not the same as the child would learn from attending nursery described as a ‘mini community’ of friends of the child’s same age, sharing and enjoying their days together and following the age-appropriate learning for all areas of development.”