IS FORMAL SCHOOLING, THAT IS FREQUENCY OF DAYCARE AND PRESCHOOLS, THE ONLY POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO BE ADVOCATED FOR EARLY CHILDCARE AND EDUCATIONAL PUBLIC POLICIES?

Human beings have an enormous plasticity and their children can develop in various ways in the most diverse physical and cultural environments. In fact, those environments are usually organized according to the expectations that the parents and the community have about present and future abilities and roles (Amorim et al., 2000; Rossetti-Ferreira et al., 1999, 2000). The mothers and families thus also present very diverse demands. They request various kinds of support that might help them to care for and educate their young children. This diversity of situations requires always new and creative solutions, able to respond to the local specifics, which might be physical, social, or cultural. For that objective, however, highly experienced and trained teachers and caregivers are required, with competence to plan and implement new and flexible programmes more adequate to each specific situation. This effort should be combined with a reasonable economy of resources. “Alternative”, though, cannot be taken as a synonym for poor, precarious, inexpensive. On the contrary, an alternative programme usually requires a better professional qualification, as the person has to find new solutions, not being able to follow lines already tested by others.