Abstract
Childhood development may be evaluated on the basis of the environments within which they grow. In this case, the mainly considered places for bring up children are orphanages, foster care centers, as well as family homes. Each of these places of growth may have unique influence to the development of a child.
The differences that may be defined in this case are differences on the principles of bringing up children in the different sets of children homes. Although, orphanages are the most common homes for abandoned and orphan children, they are the most challenging environments of bringing up children.
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In orphanages there is poor physical development than in foster care and family homes following lack of adequate resources needed for growth of children. On the other hand, foster care and family homes are exposed to massive parental and governmental support that would ensure proper physical growth.
Following the reliability of physical strength in mental development, it is clear that there will be excellent cognitive development among children in family homes and foster care than in orphanages.
Social development is equally relevant where it mainly depends on the environment within which children are brought up. Also, orphanages trail in delivery of proper social development among children compared to foster care and family homes.
On the other hand, parental care is part of childhood development with most orphans lacking proper parental care. However, children in foster care centers and family homes are exposed to proper parental care.
Therefore, foster care and family homes would be the most preferable environments of bringing up abandoned or orphan children. This is following their ability to monitor closely the development that a child undergoes.
Introduction
Orphanages, foster care centers, and family homes are well known of taking care of young ones and families as a result of various issues that may befall them at their tender age. However, the challenges that various children face determine whether they end up in orphanages or in family homes and foster care. Extensive differences exist between orphanages and family homes as well as foster care. Orphanages may be defined as residences set aside for the care of orphans whose parents are dead of they are not willing to take care of them. When parents die and there is no one to take care of the children, they usually end up in orphanages. Foster care is a system where a young one is placed in an institution, private home or group home of a caregiver who is certified. On the other hand, family homes may be defined as a residential area where a family stays together with parents and children making the family (McCartney & Phillips, 2006).
Depending on the differences that exist among the three forms of home, children in the homes experience unique challenges as well as benefits. Each of these homes has exclusive effects on the childhood development. Children in orphanages are exposed to poor development elements while the ones brought up in family homes and foster care experience minimal challenges that may influence their childhood development in a negative manner (Salkind, 2002).
Physical development
It is renowned that orphanages are homes for abandoned children or orphans. One of the effects of orphanages is lack of proper physical development among children. Although, these homes are usually set up by individuals with the willingness to secure the wellness of the children it may be difficult to manage the children accordingly. Some of the orphanages are extremely overcrowded. Therefore, it becomes extensively difficult to feed all children. Sometimes the children are extremely tender and require extensive care in terms of proper feeding to supplement the breast milk which they lack. Therefore, there is need to critically keen on the kind of food that these children get. In most cases, orphanages lack volunteers to provide the needed food to substitute the breast milk (Scannapieco, 2007). Since the nutrients in the breast milk are extremely critical in a growing child, lack of them means retarded growth for the child.
On the other hand, physical development among children in family homes and foster care centers is commendable. Foster care centers are usually set aside by groups or an individual with the legal support by the government to take care of abandoned children, as well as for children who are taken to the caregiver following the willingness of their parents. In these centers, children are exposed to proper feeding since the caregiver gets financial support from the government, as well as parents who pay fee for the accommodation of their children (Scannapieco, 2007). Therefore, food is set aside depending on the age of a child with the youngest being exposed to food that will substitute the breast milk. This means that children will have an opportunity to grow healthy as they can access balanced diet all the time.
Family homes are the best in monitoring child’s physical development. This may be influenced by the close monitoring of children by their parents. Parents are usually concerned of what their children take in any meal. They have to ensure that their children are consistently fed on the right kind of food. Breast milk is readily available among children brought up in family homes since the mother is near her child. Therefore, proper physical development will be highly evident in a child. Therefore, family homes and foster care are the most preferable centers to bring up children for full physical development compared to orphanages.
Cognitive development
This refers to mind development. This is an extremely critical element in determining whether a child is developing in the right manner. It is usually characterized with change in behavior as the child can easily differentiate between wrong and good. The environment within which a child is brought up is a major determinant of the thinking extent of a child. Orphanages, foster care centers, and family homes have unique effects on cognitive development of a child (Miller, 2005).
Orphanages are renowned of their ill effect on the cognitive development of children. In most cases, children are brought into orphanages at extremely tender ages. This means that there massive challenges in the mind of a child without parents to offer their care. Since most of the orphanages lack close attention for every child within their exposure it would be extremely difficult to determine whether a child is in the right track in terms of mind development. Different children will tend to develop in different ways. Therefore, it becomes extremely hard to determine which child develops accordingly (Miller, 2005). Also, physical development influences cognitive development. Following the complexity in physical development among orphans, proper cognitive development among the children becomes difficult.
However, the case is different among children brought up in foster care centers and family homes. These care centers are exposed to massive support form governments and individuals. In foster care centers caregivers are paid to monitor the progress of the children. This means that any change in a child will be realized (Van Londen, Juffer,& van IJzendoorn, 2007). Children will be exposed to various people such as cognitive experts, who will be extremely useful in determining the extent of development among the children. Family homes are a form of residential areas where parents have close interaction with their children (Gallagher, 2009). Therefore, it is extremely easy to monitor any form of cognitive development.
Influence on behavior
The behavior of a child is an extremely fundamental issue in the development process of a child. The behavior of a child is mainly determined by the environment in which the child grows. As already discussed, orphanages, foster care centers and family homes are extremely different. Although, each of the environments has influence on how a child behaves, it would be wise to analyze the most negatively influential environment (Davis-Kean, 2005).
In most cases, orphanages are not selective on the kind of children to adopt and which ones to leave. This exposes them to various kinds of children in terms of variant codes of behavior. Following variant origins for the children in orphanages, children will be attached to different behaviors tied to their families. Following the close interaction among the children and their innocence in behavior they will easily borrow from each other on various forms of behavior (Barnett, 2006). It is at this point, that a child who was meant for good morals ruins his or her character following influence by his or her peers.
On the other hand, foster care centers may have different influence among children. Following the extensive support of these care centers by various stakeholders, children morals are considered paramount. They recognize that children have to be taken care of accordingly without ignorance of any element of growth. In this case, they consider the morals of a child extremely fundamental. Therefore, there is need to expose children to the best kinds of behavior that will keep them relevant in the society (Carr, 2007). This means that children in foster care centers will be morally upright and they will have positive influence towards each other. Therefore, proper behavioral development will be witnessed.
Also, family homes will have exclusive influence to the behavior of the children. Interaction is a major element of influence in behaviors. Therefore, the kinds of people that one interacts with determine his or her behavior. In family homes are mainly exposed to their parents and siblings. Therefore, they will copy behavior of their parents. In most cases, parents expose their children to positive behaviors, which render them adorable in the society (Barnett, 2006). Therefore, there would be proper behavioral growth among children brought up in family homes than ones brought up in orphanages.
Social development
Proper social development is determined by possession of excellent interaction skills nurtured since childhood. Therefore, in the growth process children should be exposed to various elements such as confidence building, proper communication and listening skills. Environment of growth is extremely useful in determining this major element of growth (Askeland, 2006). Various environments in which children are brought up have unique influences on developing social skills among children.
Orphanages being the most common forms of homes for bring up children have massive influence to the social development of children. In orphanages, there lack proper control of how children interact. Since the children are mixed regardless of their ages, there is no proper way of controlling the levels of interaction among the children. In such an environment, older children may dominate the young ones. Since there is no close attention paid to the children, there is likelihood that the young ones will not have a chance to develop independent social mind but will depend on reasoning by the older ones (Barnett, 2006).
On the other hand, foster care centers are well structured homes for young ones and their influence is different. Following the willingness of the government to support foster care centers, excellent performance of the homes is a guarantee. There will be various programs that will have been introduced in bid to improve social skills for children (Askeland, 2006). Social games will be brought up that will be critically essential in bringing the children together in terms of thought as they play. Courtesy will be considered a major element in the process bearing in mind that this is one of the main elements that is equally fundamental in developing social skills (Pollak etal, 2010). Competitions will be set to ensure children understand how to behave at various instances such as during moments of defeat, as well as loosing moments.
Also, family homes may be extremely fundamental in determining how children adapt to the social world. A family is made of parents and siblings. These are two different groups with each member of the family being unique in behavior. Parents and children are in different social stages. Therefore, their code of conduct is different from their children following exposure to various social situations where their traits are tested (Carr, 2007). However, children mainly copy the behavior of their parents as they grow up. Therefore, a child growing up in a complete family will adopt exclusive social skills from brothers and sisters as well as the parents. Therefore, family homes would be fundamental in nurturing proper social development in a child.
Parental care
In the growth and development process of a child, parental love and care is extremely vital in determining the afterlife of a child. Therefore, places where children grow up may influence the wellbeing of a child (Hamilton, 2007).
Orphanages are mainly filled of abandoned or orphan children. It is a challenging environment of growth among children as they never experience parental care, which is usually vital in defining proper development of a child (Askeland, 2006).
Foster care centers are exposed to the willingness of parents to take their children there, which is a major indication that most of the children are exposed to parental care (Askeland, 2006). Therefore, children in such environments develop faster than in orphanages.
Family homes are renowned to offer the best form of child care since parents are close to their children. Therefore, children brought up in such environments are assured of proper care, which will determine their growth and development.
Education
It would be wise to note that education is an extremely critical element of development among children. At a tender age children needs to be exposed to the right form of education. Education is major determinant of cognitive development of a child. Therefore, it needs to be taken with all due seriousness to define how well children get prepared to handle various challenges in life. In childhood development, education is considered an extremely fundamental element. The institution that a child attends is equally critical in defining the kind of education children acquire. Children in orphanages may experience extremely poor education than children brought up in foster care centers as well as family homes (Scannapieco, 2007).
Orphanages are characterized with lack of adequate facilities to support education excellence. There are no proper systems to ensure all children at schools without any form of delays. Following lack of proper systems and knowledge of children ages, it becomes difficult to introduce children to schools at their tender age. Therefore, some children are denied early chances to attend schools, which mean their development will be influenced (Luijk & Juffer, 2008). At some point, some children do not even go to school, which marks extensive difference with the children who attend school at their young age.
On the other hand, children in foster schools and family homes are exposed to well formulated school systems that extend their childhood development. There is proper care for children in schools following availability of a reliable system (Carneiro, Meghir, & Parey, 2013). The government ensures there are proper foster care centers as well as family homes to make the lives of the young ones enjoyable through proper development.
Language development
Language is an equally fundamental social element that needs to be taken with all necessary seriousness. However, language development in a child needs to be taken with all due keenness. Children need to be exposed to the right languages, which will render them meaningful in the society as they communicate with each other. Different children care centers contribute differently towards the language that children get understand (Barnett, 2006).
Orphanages are usually filled with extremely many young children. Although, they mainly contain small children, the presence of older people guarantees the children some knowledge. Following the willingness to learn the young ones will have to copy most of the things they hear. This means orphans will have proper influence on their language (Davis-Kean, 2005). Lack of proper keenness in orphanages denies children proper language development.
However, foster care centers and family homes are extremely vital in language development in a child. This is following continuous interaction with parents and specialists in foster care centers and family homes. Therefore, children in foster care centers and family homes develop excellent language skills than the case of children from orphanages (Belsky etal, 2007).
Conclusion
Child development is an extremely long process since it is not clear whether there is a point at which development stops. However, the growth of a child may take different forms; behavioral, cognitive, social and physical. These forms of development may be determined by various factors such as environment of growth and exposure to the most supportive development elements. The mainly known environments where children may be brought up are orphanages, foster care centers, as well as family homes. Although, each of these places of children growth has effects on the development of a child, orphanages have main challenges in ensuring proper development of children.
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