This document discusses various options for childcare and their pros and cons. Stay-at-home parents provide free care but one parent must leave their job, which can cause resentment or boredom. At-home daycares have a higher child-to-adult ratio and allow socialization, but are expensive. Childcare centers have structured schedules but limited spaces. Afterschool programs at YMCAs help with homework and confidence building in a professional environment. Overall, the best option depends on each family's needs and preferences.

1.  Alyssa Allen
 Chris Boyer
 Garrett Dunnebeck
 Jamie Maddox-Gunn
 Nicole Natividad

2.  Resources available in most every community:
 Police protection
 Fire protection
 Child Care
• Head Start
• Schools
• Private
 Hospitals
 Welfare
 Support Groups
 A strong community is a key factor in the socialization of our
children.

3.  Types of Children’s Clubs
• YMCA
• Boys and Girls Club
• Summer Camps
• After School Club Programs
 Children interact with others who are interested in the
same subjects as they are. Allows children to form
social groups outside of the club.
 Positive Effects
• Children are about to socialize with other children their
age
• Children get close to counselors/directors of the club that
they attend
• Engage in many types of activities
• Provides a social network for the children.
• Some clubs encourage education as their main focus.
 Children Socializing With Children Their Age
• Children learn to form bonds with other children who are
their own age. They learn how to play with them, and
how other interact with each other. It is very important for
children to engage in play with their peers.
 Counselors/Directors
• The counselors/directors at these programs influence
children in a very positive way. They act as great role
models for the children. Sometimes these are the only
positive role models that children get in their life. They
look to them for answers that they cannot find anywhere
else. They can confide in them with their secretes, and
grow to trust them more and more.
• This is especially important for children who do not have
any other role model in their life. A child needs someone
to look up to and to learn from. They need someone who
can guide them in the right direction in life, and teach
them how to do good. Roles models have a very
important role in socialization for children.

4.  Activities
• Homework help
 Children are able to look to their role models for help
with their homework.
 Education is strongly encouraged in clubs such as
book, math and science clubs.
• Sports
 Team building is formed during sport activities.
• Arts and Crafts
 The children are able to explore their creativity
through arts and crafts.
 They also learn to share and use their imagination.
• Games
 Interactive games are played with their role models
and their peers.
• Imagination Play
 Children are able to explore their imagination by
playing games such as house and dress up.
 Provides a Social Network for Children
• Children are able to form social groups with their peers.
• They find children who are interested in the same
activities that they are interested in
• They can maintain these friendships even outside of the
club

5. I attended many types of children‟s
clubs/camps while growing up. One example
was a day camp that I attended in
Sebastopol, when I would come up here to
visit my grandmother ( I did not always live in
Northern California). I found that this was
really helpful for me while growing up. I made
many friends and had a long of adult role
models to look up to. I am glad that I was
able to attend this camp, as well as other
places that I attended. I feel like it really
helped me learn how to get a long with
others, and get my self involved in activities
that I liked, even outside of camp.
There are many activities that are
available at clubs and camps. These sorts of
places help a child socialize with other
children their age. Children can learn how to
play with others, and even learn how to play
on a team while playing sports are these
places.

6.  Helps to build trust with each other
• Trust is the basis for any group, as it allows them to
communicate successfully and work together in future
team exercises.
 Helps children learn teamwork ….Children learn how to socialize
with others regardless of race or class (socioeconomic status)
 Part of a Team
• Sports foster identity and friendship. “Sports participation
helps create a social identity,” Ann Rosewater wrote in a
2009 study published by Team-Up for Youth. She cited
previous research where “high school youth participating
in organized sports activities viewed sports as providing a
place to meet other young people „who had at least one
shared interest.‟” Indeed, a Wheelock/Boston Youth Sports
Initiative 2010 study said “that quality sport programs can
help to develop and maintain healthy relationships
amongst youth.”
• Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/532903-
what-is-the-role-of-sports-in-socialization/#ixzz2RoIlW8Tj
 Kids involved in sports usually do better in
school
• Frequently noted benefits of kids' involvement in sports
and physical education include improved fitness and lower
risk of obesity. Although not mentioned as often, research
increasingly points to academic benefits for kids with some
regular physical activity. Additionally, it's important to note
that this advantage is not limited to kids taking part in.
 Team Sports
• With the opportunity to learn good sportsmanship, team
sports, for children of any age, can foster socialization
skills. By acknowledging the core foundations of being a
good winner and loser, showing respect to competitors
and showing encouragement, teachers and coaches can
use team sports to teach children socialization skills.
Team sports are also a powerful tool in teaching children
how to resolve conflict among themselves by learning to
sort out issues that may occur on the playing field by
communicating differences.
• Read more: Games That Teach Children How to
Socialize | eHow.com
http://www.ehow.com/info_7943069_games-teach-
children-socialize.html#ixzz2RoJyUnJK
 Improved Concentration
• Howell Wechsler, director of the Division of Adolescent
and School Health for the Centers for Disease Control,
reviewed 50 studies examining the effect of school-based
physical activity on academic performance and
discovered that half of the studies showed positive
associations and virtually none of the research
demonstrated any negative impact. Multiple studies
demonstrated that even relatively short spans of physical
activity helped to increase the duration and intensity of
concentration following such activities, including those in
which the students never left the classroom.]Fitness and
Test Scores.

7.  Fitness and Test Score
• A study by James Pivarnik and colleagues at the
American College of Sports Medicine discovered that
middle-school students who performed best on fitness
tests -- gauging aerobic capacity, strength, endurance
and body composition -- also performed better
academically. The study, which included 317 students,
showed that the fittest kids scored nearly 30 percent
higher on standardized tests than the least-fit group.
Moreover, the less-fit students received grades in their
core subjects that were 13 percent to 20 percent lower
than their fitter classmates.
 Demands of Sports
• Writing on the website Oregon Live.com, Wendy Owen
observes that students who play on sports teams learn
leadership skills, responsibility, discipline and time
management that carries over into the classroom. She
quotes high school football player Zack Hickman, who
points out that his sport requires to him to use his head
and demands that he's always learning from his
experiences on the field -- feeding expectations and
habits in school.
 Maintaining Eligibility
• For some students, sports can provide motivation for
improved academic performance. Tom Welter, executive
director of the Oregon School Activities Association,
concedes that not all athletes are natural students;
however, the grade requirements to stay eligible and play
the sport they love drives them to overcome obstacles in
the classroom and improve performance, establishing a
work ethic that can serve them well for as long as they
remain in an academic setting.

8. I choose to do after-school
sports because I think it is
important for children to learn
socialization skills to help them
later in life. I also think it helps
them to make new friends,
learn responsibility and
discipline which helps them do
better in school. It also is a
deterrent from them going into
gangs and hanging around the
wrong crowd, which we all
know is NOT the lifestyle we
wish for our children to live.

9.  Positive effects on kids who attend church
• Attending church weekly has many positive effects on
children, regardless of the religion or denomination
• Stephen Covey says research shows that shared
worship is one characteristic of healthy, happy families.
• The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should
go, and when he is old he will not depart from it”
(Proverbs 22:6) The Barna Group research shows that
adults who attended church as children show lifelong
[positive] effects.
 Community building
• Having a strong spiritual faith from an early age means
children will be more optimistic and less subjective to
depressive disorders later in life according to Eric Jeffs
• Children are comforted with the knowledge that they
have a supportive community that will not judge them and
be supportive in times of trouble according to Jeffs
• Children learn how to socialize and form healthy
relationships with other children and adults
 Healthy Children
• Many churches advocate fitness and a healthy lifestyle
• Children learn about the negative effects of
smoking, drugs and drinking alcohol
• Children learn they have a safe community to turn to
when faced with peer pressure and have positive adult
role models
 Music
• Children experience a wide variety of music
• Children who are involved with music have shown
greater skills at language and math according to Jeffs
• Singing together, not necessarily in church but also as a
family brings unity
• Stephen Covey says worshipping together creates
context, unity and mutual understanding, much in the
same way that a family mission statement does.

10.  Morals
• Churches provide activities for children that build morals
and values
• Through storytelling, discussions and games, children
learn respect of their parents and families
• Children learn responsibility at an early age by being
given small tasks to do such as preparing lessons,
passing out refreshments or leading prayers
 Sonoma County Church influences
• Crosspoint Church in Santa Rosa has Awana weekly and
a preschool
• Hessel Church in Sebastopol has Awana weekly and
children‟s church activities
• Awana is a Christian Ministry for children from 2 years
old to High School with qualified adult and student
leaders. Children spend up to 2 hours per week meeting
new friends, playing games, and a Bible Study in over
12,000 Churches across the U.S. for the past 60 years.
• Church of the Nazarene in Santa Rosa has a pre-school
• St Rose Church has a pre-school and kindergarten
through 8th grade school

11. Church has had a positive effect on both my son
and me. When my son was just 2 years old, things were not
good at all in my marriage. I had been to see an attorney and
was seriously contemplating a divorce. The problem was, how
would I care for my son as a single Dad? I was sharing my
miseries with my lifelong friend Maurice when he invited me to
a Promise Keepers event in San Diego. I was skeptical as I
never had much to do with church, but I trust Maurice totally, so
I made arrangements to go to San Diego for the weekend. I
heard a speaker on Friday night that made so much sense to
me, my heart was changed. I came back and started meeting
with some men in a Bible study and eventually was baptized
the next year.
As my son grew and I became active in the church,
one of the pastors told me that they were starting a children‟s
ministry called “Boys and Girls Brigade” (which is similar to
Awana) and asked if I would lead a group. We discussed the
responsibilities and I was all in; except for one thing. The
grades for the boys group were, 1st and 2nd grade and my son
were in kindergarten. An exception was made and we started
our weekly meetings. My son and I were involved in Boy‟s
Brigade for the next 7 years; it was a great time! We met
weekly, played games, studied the Bible and made some great
friends. We even went camping, swimming, hiking and
attended the annual Boy‟s Brigade rally at the Coast Guard
training center in Pt. Reyes. At the rally, we competed in
archery, scavenger hunts, Bible verse contests and feasted on
great barbeque.
For my son and I, church and the activates were a
great experience. My marriage finally did end in divorce, 12
years after I first considered splitting up. In that 12 years my
son and I developed a strong bond that helped endure the
divorce. He will be 20 next month and we still have a great time
together as he is stepping forward as an adult.

12.  Educational Events:
• these events can usually be broken down into two types,
events aimed at bringing together people with the same
interests such as gardening or science and events aimed
more at parents with the intent of showing parents the
different educational options for their children. Examples:
Children's Science Museum, Day Under the Oaks,
Sonoma County Science Fair
 Sports:
• these events may be designed to promote a gym or
healthclub and are sometimes referred to as recruiting
events because they are held in the hope of attracting
more business. Sometimes these events are held
because of special funding and are designed to promote
healthy activity for kids. Examples: YMCA Open House,
Girls Sports Day at SRJC, One Day Football Camp
 Kids Day:
• These special days are held at an event that may not
traditionally cater to kids or a business that may be trying
to attract a certain clientele or an event that may have
received some special funding. Examples: Kids Day at
the Farmers Market, special kids tournaments at Sports
City Gym, Kids Workshop at Home Depot, kids craft
events at Sonoma County Library,
 Parades and Festivals:
• these events sometimes celebrate the community as a
whole or sometimes celebrate a specific cause or special
day. Most of these events will have games and
attractions specifically aimed at kids. Examples: Autism
Awareness Walk, Butter and Eggs Day, Apple Blossom
Festival, Sonoma County Fair
Special Community Events falls within the macrosystem
of Bronfenbrenner's ecological model, effecting the child
and family as a whole. There are several types of special
events offered for children and families through out the
year. Some events are put together for a specific group of
children such as those interested in engineering or those
children with special needs and some events are
designed to attract the whole family. Kids day at the
farmers market has games and special events for
children but also provides nutritional education for
parents.

13.  Stay-at-home-Parents
• This is one of the best ways for a child to be. This is
one of the best child-care options. It is free, but one
parent must leave their job. This is a great option
for the child, but the parent might be resentful.
Many stay-at-home parents have so much love for
their child, but often feel like their time is not being
used to the best. My cousin for example, had quit
her job to make sure she could stay at home with
her child, but now she has a feeling of boredom.
She loves the child, but also feels like she could
use her time to be going back to school to study
law. She misses working but is also happy with her
child. It is one of the sacrifices many parents make
to make sure the baby is raised the way they want.
 At Home Daycare
• A child-care option, which provides your child with a
caretaker and usually more children. This has
higher children to adult ratio, usually 1:6 or 2:12.
This was what my mother did at our home, as I was
a child. This is a great option for mothers of children
who want to be home when their children are at
school, and they can be there when the children are
done with school. This is a great option for the
children‟s socialization process. Before
daycares, children are often playing alone or with
maybe one or two other children. Going to a
daycare, the child can socialize with many children
ranging from 1-5 years old. This can be an
expensive as well.
 Child-Care Center
• Another great option for childcare. This is a more
organized institution. These are often tough to be
accepted into and usually the competition is tough.
The spaces are limited which means smaller group
settings. This may be easier to children to adapt to
socializing with other children. Also, positive role
models for children to look up to. These facilities
often have strict pick-up/drop-off schedules.
 After school Programs
• Programs such as the YMCA provide great care for
children. These kinds of institutions are great for
children of al types of families. These programs
help children of all ages, with age specific programs
to cater to their needs. These kinds of programs
often help children with homework, and help
children gain confidence they need. These
programs have a very professional environment,
which provides a 1:4/5 children. These low students
to caretaker ratios help children get more attention.
They encourage teamwork, responsibility, honesty,
and community.

14.  Nanny
• A child-care option, which provides one child
caretaker to usually have a low adult to child
ratio. This is often a great option for working
parents. Nannying usually provides the
child/children with a role model to look up to.
Since they spend more one on one time, the
child will often look up to the nanny. The
expenses of a nanny are a bit more expensive
because the nanny is watching your child
alone. The nanny will often take the children
outside the home to many outside activities
(i.e.: museums, aquariums, parks) This may
require the family to pay for mileage
reimbursement and fees to do some activities.
 Child-care is a great part of the community no
matter what type of child-care is chosen. Child-
care can directly effect a way a child grows up
and socializes.

15. My personal child-care story is
about my mother‟s daycare. My mother
lives right around from my elementary
school and when it was time for my older
brothers to go to elementary school, she
decided to open up her daycare. She
became a big part of our community
because many of my teachers with
children would leave their children with
her as well. She was a popular at home
daycare that everyone referred her too.
We were always connected with the
school, and with our community. She now
says (now that all my brothers and I have
moved out) that she feels very
disconnected with the community
because she no longer has her daycare. I
am now happy to say that I appreciate her
being there for me when I was younger
and now we have a very positive and
strong relationship. It was a stable
environment that has helped shaped the
way I can socialize today.