Where care and learning meet

One story we cherish is when a parent shared with us that her child keeps a photo of his educator on his bedside table, right next to the family photos. It was close enough for the child to see before falling asleep at night and first thing when waking up in the morning.

Another parent would tell us how their child spent their weekends carefully safeguarding small treasures: a leaf, a stone, a drawing, things that were too ‘important’ to lose, because the child was eager to show them to her educator and friends. After a few days away from the centre, the children arrive excited, full of stories, or enthusiastic to be held and picked up by their educator.

When we witness these special moments, we feel reassured that the children’s experience is built on connection. We can see how trust, emotional safety and genuine connection create the foundation from which learning naturally grows. When children feel known and valued, they approach their environment with confidence and curiosity, ready to share, explore and engage.

A changing reality

A generation ago, raising a child in Malta was often a shared effort. Grandparents lived close by, neighbours were like relatives and the extended family helped carry the daily load. That sense of community has not vanished, but the conditions surrounding family life have changed dramatically.

Today, with the rising cost of living, for many Maltese families, two incomes are no longer optional but essential. At the same time, women’s participation in education and the workforce has grown significantly, shaped not only by opportunities but also by changing expectations around gender, independence and career. These aren’t just abstract social trends; they are the lived reality for families trying to balance work, study and raising young children.

Families deserve support that respects them as a child’s first and most important teachers

We often make the mistake of putting childcare into a ‘box’, seeing it merely as a safe space to leave a child so parents can work. But early childhood services must be more than a convenient solution. They are environments where relationships are established and developed, confidence is built, and the world beyond the family first begins to make sense.

This places a responsibility on early childhood services to be more than a safe haven upon which parents rely. They must be responsive, enabling and inclusive spaces that work with children and families, not instead of them.

The danger of the ‘straight line’

In the same way that we shouldn’t stereotype communities into narrow boxes, we shouldn’t treat child development as a rigid, straight line. Every child’s journey is individual; some need repetition, others need a challenge, and most move back and forth between the two.

A high-quality early years setting moves away from the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Instead, educators observe and respond to what the child shows interest in, adapting experiences accordingly. This is not simply good practice; it is a sign of respect for the child as an individual.

This philosophy extends to outdoor spaces. Time outside is not a ‘break’ from learning; it is an extension of it. Whether they are digging, climbing or caring for plants, children are learning a sense of responsibility and a respect for the environment that no classroom wall can teach. It’s about realising we are part of something larger than ourselves.

Parents and guardians remain the most important people in a young child’s life, and no service can or should replace that bond. What early childhood settings can do is act as partners; listening to families, sharing observations, and creating continuity between home and the centre. Daily conversations, shared reflections  and mutual trust ensure that children experience care and learning as one connected whole, rather than as two separate worlds.

Practice in early childhood settings should be informed by national frameworks and current research, but these are never meant to remain abstract documents. Instead, they guide reflection, encourage consistency and support educators in making thoughtful decisions that keep children’s well-being at the centre.

Research consistently shows that when early childhood services are warm, responsive and well-run, children thrive and families are better supported to balance work, study and family life.

Values ripple outward

Early childhood services play a quiet but vital role in the fabric of Maltese society. When we teach empathy and cooperation from the start, those values ripple outward, eventually strengthening the entire community.

If we truly want a society that supports children, we must stop treating childcare as a secondary service and start recognising it as a foundation for social well-being. Children deserve to be taken seriously, and families deserve support that respects them as a child’s first and most important teachers.

A child should never feel like they are being raised in separate compartments – one world for home, and another for care. When care and learning are treated as one, children flourish naturally, confidently and without being confined to a ‘box’.

Abigail Church is manager of Child Educare Services at the University of Malta.