| dc.description.abstract | The way of life of the indigenous child has changed tremendously due to change in lifestyle, technology, education and general understanding of the developmental needs of the child during the formative years. While the indigenous child was faced with various challenges in his/her upbringing due to perhaps lack of resources, these challenges presented unique opportunities for learning, behavior modeling and resiliency. This paper reflects on the opportunities and challenges of the indigenous child in Kenya that are diminishing due to modern child rearing practices, modern parenting styles, modern education that embraces advocacy and perhaps improved resources. Using cultural-historical perspective, this paper argues that neglecting indigenous ways of bringing up children in our society merely because such practices are seen as “traditional” or “outdated” while embracing in totality the “modern” child rearing methods has perhaps brought erosion of social values, laziness in our children and unemployment among our youths due to lack of creativity and inability to devise strategies for survival. Taking conversational and dialogic style and through individual interview and focus group discussion of twenty early childhood education educators during their in-service training of early childhood teachers in Siaya County, Kenya, this paper might inform parents, teachers, teacher educators and indeed policy makers of the need to embrace some form of indigenous child rearing and education practices aimed at “bringing back” the modern child to hard work, social responsibility and communality rather than individuality. Key words: Indegenous Child, Siaya County, Child rearing practices, opportunities, challenges | en_US |