Mannies from Amsternannies!

amsternannies has recently also started using Mannies! We received more and more requests from families who would also love to have a boy as a babysitter.

Our first Manny Kees babysits 2 afternoons a week for a family with two boys and a girl. The children find the afternoons with Kees fantastic and cool. And the parents are also very satisfied and find the variety with many female educators very good for their children.

For these reasons, we at Amsternannies have decided to select more Mannies and use them at the request of parents.

Research shows that from a pedagogical point of view, Mannies make a positive contribution to the development of children.

It is important to continue to pay close attention to the influence that male educators can exert in certain areas and the unique contribution they make to the development of children! 

Benefits that 'close interaction' with male educators for children 

• The perspective from which the child is viewed is broadened; both sexes could complement each other. The role pattern that is offered is no longer exclusively or predominantly female, because female educators behave like women and therefore mainly offer how a woman 'should' behave. So it is especially good for boys to have a male educator for gender role identification.
• The Mannies can also break the stereotypical male image by showing that they can also provide care.

• Female educators are more corrective, restrictive and controlling and will intervene more quickly in 'typical' boy behavior, give little 'space' for expression of this, and mainly reward effort, diligence and compliance (girl standard; as a characterization of 'ideal' child behavior).
• Male educators offer more space for exercise, such as romping, climbing, running (and do not see this as 'difficult' behavior), they offer games and other activities in a 'competition' format (boys want to 'win': it is about their attract and maintain attention). They are therefore more involved in physical play: less control, more stimulation, lots of fun, interaction is more active and challenging, especially physically exciting and unpredictable play.
• Children's need to be stimulated, pushed and encouraged to take risks (male 'educators') is just as great as the need for stability and security (female 'educators').

  Source: Louis Tavecchio, em. professor of PedagogyUvA/em. lecturer . HvA