Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
Early Childhood Care
Early childhood is the phase of life from birth till 8 years of age, and is commonly divided into two, from birth to three years and 3--8 years, based on the developmental changes that characterize young children in these two stages. Infancy is the period between birth and one year, during which a child is largely dependent upon adults for everyday needs. In circumstances where the mother is employed outside the home, the infant has to be cared for by a substitute caregiver, who may be a family member or a hired person. The location of the substitute care arrangement may be the child's own home or the home of the caregiver or an institution or crèche. Day care and crèches are usually all-day programmes. Teachers and helpers in these programmes need to be especially trained for the care of very young children, their safety, their feeding, toilet habits, language development, social and emotional needs and learning. Teachers, who have to deal with children above three years of age, require different skill sets. A preschool child is so called because he or she is now ready for experiencing some sort of environment beyond that of the family (extra-familial). Even for this programme, a teacher needs to be specially trained as a pre-school or nursery school teacher. Some pre-schools for young children are often called Montessori schools. The developmental psychologist Jean Piaget spent his life trying to comprehend and explain that young children have different ways of understanding the world, due to which, they need a supportive environment to explore phenomena in their own ways. Another important principle to be kept in mind is the fact that any ECCE institution must realise the importance of the cultural context within which it operates and works along with, rather than in opposition to, the family.
