Childcare | Writing for Academic IELTS PDF Download

This is a Childcare Essay. In the essay you have to discuss two sides of an argument. The first is that it is better if pre-school children are looked after at home with relatives such as grandparents. The second opinion is that children should be looked after at childcare centres. 

This is the essay question:
Q. Some working parents think that childcare centres provide the best care for children who are still too young to go to school. Other working parents think that family members such as grandparents will be better carers for their children. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Hint:

• You must always make sure you analyse the question carefully before answering it.
• This is important to make sure you fully answer the task.
• In this childcare essay, you must do three things:
  • Discuss looking after children at home with relatives
  • Discuss looking after children at childcare centres
  • Give your opinion
• Remember to also check carefully who is being discussed in the essay. 
• In this case it is children too young to go to school. So you would not be talking about older children or teenagers. 

Sample Answer

• Although it is common for parents these days to place their children that are pre-school age into childcare centres, some people criticise this and argue that children will receive a better level of care from relatives such as grandparents. Personally, I would argue that the best choice is to send children to a childcare centre.
• Those that support care through grandparents cite several reasons for this. Firstly, they claim that this is the safest option due to the fact that they are family members so they can be trusted at all times to put the health and safety of the child first. Another important consideration is costs. Parents will have to pay to place their children in a childcare centre, and with the financial burdens that families face these days, using relatives to care for children would be a considerable cost saving. 
• Despite these benefits, there are clear advantages of using professional carers. First and foremost, staff members at most centres are fully trained in early childhood education so they understand child development and will be able to nurture the child’s growing skills in the best way. Not only this, since there are a mix of instructional activities during the day such as painting, singing, and storytelling, children’s creativity and learning will be developed. Last but not least, children can benefit from the opportunity to socialize with other children, which they might not get to do with a relative caring for them at home.
• To conclude, I am of the opinion that the advantages of using childcare facilities to look after pre-school children clearly outweigh the benefits of using relatives. This is because the environment they are brought up in will result in children who are well-educated, creative and sociable.