What children need - the goodness of FIT (the FIT-concept)

Abstract

Children need bonding and education; they need love, care and support - they need significant others to be trustworthy. According to the FIT-concept formulated by Largo, children develop on an individual basis. Whenever this developmental process corresponds to the expectations of their environment they feel well and develop a healthy sense of self-worth. This means that de-manding too much or too little from a child is not adequate. Children from foreign cultures often do not receive adequate encour-agement and when they are old enough to go to school, it is most-ly too late. A developmental process has to be grounded early enough, in which their families will participate. Parents, schools, local communities, Confederation and cantons have to fulfil their duties in a complementary manner. The focus should be on the relationship to the child, a relationship in which the child is re-spected as a subject.

Keywords Care; FIT-concept; early childhood care and education; equal opportunities; the child as a subject