Is Daycare Good for Children?

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Is daycare Good for children? Truth is, even though bad things happen in daycare sometimes, there is a whole lot of good going on in childcare as well. Daycare can be a gift. Quality daycare can have amazing benefits for child development.

If you want to find anything negative about childcare, it’s easy to find. When something bad happens in a childcare setting, it’s plastered all over the news and everyone jumps on that like white on rice. No one even gives the provider a second thought.

All we hear is CRUCIFY, CRUCIFY, CRUCIFY! Truth is, even though some bad things happen, and that is super heartbreaking, there is a whole lot of good things going on in childcare as well.

Bad things can happen anywhere, home, the store, grandma’s house. Daycare isn’t exempt to accidents. 

Why is no one talking about the good that is done? Why does no one talk about good, honest police officers that protect and serve every day? We hear tons about the few bad ones who make big mistakes. We hear very little about the good guys. I have some officers as friends and let me tell you, they are GOOD cops! Their friends are mostly good cops. We just focus on the negative most of the time in life.

It’s the same with daycare facilities. The negative about them is all over the news, but is there anything good about childcare?

Daycare vs stay at home

There are so many wonderful benefits in childcare settings. Obviously, there is bad care available, just like there are good and bad doctors, good and bad hairdressers and good and bad chefs. It’s important to find a good one. Click here to see how to find a jewel.

Family Childcare is a great mix of family environment and school. If a child goes straight from home where they are comfy and can do pretty much whatever they want to for activities straight to the structured school setting, it can be a difficult transition. A good quality family childcare setting can be a great place to start learning cooperation, social skills, listening, and other skills they will need for school success.

Childcare centers can also be great. There are things centers can do to make the environment more loving and homey. If you visit a center, it should feel welcoming. It should feel comforting. 

Obviously, since I chose home care for my daughter and I have done home care for over 20 years, I tend to think it’s pretty awesome. I know my daughter got THE VERY BEST care she could have for her. I saw a ton of daycare good in the provider I chose. Her provider also was very good to me and helped me feel comforted as a mom. She gave me plenty of great advice as well. She encouraged me to be the best I could be. I will forever be grateful!

There are a lot of expectations for kids at school. Giving your child a good preschool environment is a great way to prepare them for later success.

I asked some of my childcare provider friends what they think are the best things kids learn in childcare and they said hands down, the most given answer was socialization and language development. I totally agree. They also said that not just any environment enhances a child’s learning. A great, loving, developmentally appropriate setting is best for kids birth to 3.

Is daycare good for kids?

• Socialization and language development
• Structure
• Relationships

• Following directions
• Taking turns
• Waiting in line
• Respect
• Manners
• Emotional development
• Appropriate behaviors at appropriate times
• Sense of self-worth
• Confidence to separate from parents
• Strengthened immunity
• Problem-solving skills
• Creativity and imagination
• Basic math concepts and language skills
• Patience
• Responsibility
• Self-help skills
• Culture
• Acceptance of diversity
• Helping others
• Learning parents always come back when they leave
• Empathy
• Tolerance
• Art
• Music
• Fine Motor Skills
• Caring for the environment

Obviously, some of these things can be learned at home, but in a childcare setting, they are exposed to more of it. For the most part, childcare is more structured than home life. Structure and routine are good for kids. Childcare can actually be a very enriching place for a child.

The childcare environment, as I mentioned before, must be quality. There is plenty of crappy care available out there, so make sure your child seems loved and cared for at the childcare you chose for them to get the daycare good your child needs.

These things mentioned above are important, but what is even more important that kids gain from quality childcare? There are things much less obvious at play that you may not even think about. Things that you may think getting from home are a given but aren’t always available in a childcare setting.

Benefits of daycare

This is a place I feel family childcare can excel even more since it’s a comforting, home environment. Quality childcare centers can offer these things as well if they place importance on them. I know many do.

Daycare gives:

• A home away from home
• Friendships with other children outside the family
• Learning to build attachments with other adults outside the family
• Building a community
• Friendships for moms with other daycare moms
• Warm, loving care
• Safety
• Hugs
• Parenting advice from someone with experience with all types of kids
• Nourishing meals
• Love
• Acceptance
• Adaptability

There are some additional benefits to the nature of home daycare or family childcare that don’t come from a center unless they have classes split up by multiple ages instead of grouping them by age.

This is something people don’t think about often. Think about how God designed the family. All of the kids are not born (usually) at the same time, they are different ages. This teaches kids so many valuable things.

• Younger kids learn skills from older kids
• Older kids learn to be nurturers
• Kids have a longer time with one caregiver instead of graduating to another one in a year, so they form a deeper connection and bond with their caregiver.
• In-home daycare, you have the same provider for 9-10 hours instead of having one for the first shift and another for the latter part of the day. This is great for bonding too. Children are able to build confidence because of those bonds.

There are actually so many more benefits about childcare good that I could never name them all. There are so many opportunities for something good to happen. Is there anything good about childcare?

Daycare is not an awful, miserable, horrible place for kids or any of the other things that come to your mind because of how the media has portrayed it. There is so much good. If you can stay home with your kids, that’s wonderful, enjoy it. If you can’t, there are still good choices out there for you. Click here to read about how childcare makes the world a better place.

I know what I am doing is changing the future of the world. My work makes a huge difference in so many lives. I know childcare has many good things to offer if we want to make it that way. Childcare providers rock! Give one a high five today!

Share this article with all of your childcare friends, all of your parent friends, and all of your grandparent friends. Let’s change how people see daycare and shine some light on daycare good.