Most parents feel very suspicious about daycare centers for their kids. There are many news and reports about the negative sides of daycares, yet rarely do the media speak about the daycare benefits for all family members, both children and adults. We would like to change this misconception and bring to your knowledge the main daycare benefits for your family in general.
Daycare benefits for kids
1. Motor skill
The beneficial side of daycare centers is that kids of different ages spend time together. As a result, those who are still on the way of crawling or cruising can learn from their peers by observing them. According to Claire Lerner, who is a child-development specialist at Zero to Three, Washington, DC, such cooperation and learning from the like motivates children to develop faster and without additional help.
2. Discipline and routine
No one likes discipline much, even the adults. Sooner or later, however, we all have to learn it. Kids attending daycare centers get used to the structured days much more naturally. As a result, they have fewer problems with the basic education in primary school. Professional daycares manage a healthy balance of structured time for learning and some routine exercises together with unstructured time spent on playing, exploring, and just being a kid.
3. Independence and confidence
Independence and confidence are the characteristics that get children through the school and help them grow into adults. At home, parents can’t help but guide their children through every step of their life, while in childcare centers educated professionals know how to lead kids yet still leave room for their own independent actions. The ability for a child to set a goal is developing kid’s independence and thinking, while achievement of that goal provides the feeling of confidence. And such goals are set in daycare centers daily both by educators and peers.
4. Academic advancement
A research by the U.S. National Institutes of Health found that young children demonstrate higher academic achievement and cognitive activity as teens if they go through the daycare education. Daycare benefits include a wide range of academic classes in math, languages, logic, music, etc. Possibility to learn all those subjects at such an early age gives children academic advancement at primary school and also more abilities to reach higher in those subjects further in their studies. Moreover, daycare benefits from the existing curriculum for schools and pre-schools and implements gradual leaning throughout the years.
5. Socialization and lower stress level
Children spending a lot of time with their parents experience a high level of stress when taken to the first grade. This is definitely a negative experience many parents have to accept for their kids. However, if you take a child to a daycare even for several hours a day, he or she gets used to being separated from the parent and accepts it as given without feeling lonely or forgotten. This is one of the greatest daycare benefits any child care expert can name.
Daycare benefits for parents
Parents, as well as their children, experience a number of daycare benefits from the same socialization with other parents to the mental break and a possibility to stop for a second and relax.
1. Socialization
All parents at one point or another begin thinking that they are the worst parents ever: they don’t manage their kids, they get them sick, and cannot calm them down in the evening. Sooner or later such ideas start bugging the mind more often. When taking your children to a daycare, every parent has a possibility to talk to other mothers and fathers and realize that they have the same problems. Some parents feel instant relief just from knowing that they are not alone with this kind of problem, while others discuss the same cases and share experience. The University of Chicago found that those few moments parents spend engaging in talk while dropping off their kids lead to lower depression levels and encourage the social engagement.
2. Financial
It might not seem obvious in the beginning, but daycare benefits from a large number of kids by offering much more affordable rates than private nannies. Parents can get their children professional and educated teachers for much more reasonable payment than a neighbor’s daughter as a nanny who has no education or extensive experience whatsoever.
3. Stability
Private nannies get sick and need days-off while many daycares take care of kids even on weekends. In a daycare, there is no day-off because a teacher got sick (as it happens with nannies). It is always open and happy to take your kids for a couple of hours or for the whole day to give their small clients qualitative and engaging time-spending.
4. Peace of mind and a mental break
Some adults get nervous and irritated if they don’t have breaks from their parents’ duties. As a result, the relationship with the child gets worse and the depression comes. Daycare centers give parents a several-hour break to let them rest: sleep, visit a friend, work out or just work. Everyone needs a break and a daycare benefit is in its stability: you always know that your child will be taken care of and you will have some time for yourself.
5. Family-saving place
Yes, choosing the right daycare might be a challenge for many parents, but many studies support that daycare benefits both children and their parents in the long run. A quality daycare center that supports and encourages children can help even the smallest kids set the right groundwork for their later intellectual strides. And while children are learning to interact and problem solve their parents can increase the social engagement and rest a little.
