Many working parents today have a great deal of guilt associated with their children spending their days in daycare. Some of these parents would love to stay at home with their kids, but cannot for any number of reasons. Other parents are devoted to their careers and are trying to find a balance between work and family. Regardless of what your reasons for needing childcare for your kids is, the question remains – is daycare really such a bad choice?
Many parents would prefer to have their children with a nanny if they could afford it, and some would love to find a great private caregiver who will watch the kids out of her own home. Many of these parents feel that they are settling by putting their kids in a daycare and would jump at the chance to have different childcare arrangements.
The fact is that, provided you choose a quality daycare, this is actually a fabulous choice. Here are some points to consider:
Oversight. As parents, stories about in-home caregivers and nannies caught abusing kids on nanny cams haunt us. With a daycare setting, you generally have teachers, administrative staff, and even parents walking in and out of the classrooms regularly. Oversight is in place to ensure nobody flies off the handle or becomes abusive to children.
Socialization. Even from a very young age, children do benefit from socializing with those their own age. They learn how to make friends, how to be friends, and how to deal with various social issues. Often children who spend time in a classroom-type setting such as a daycare provides are able to adjust more quickly on a social level when kindergarten begins.
Education. Kids can learn their ABCs and 123s in any number of environments, including with their parents at home, too. Yet the education-based environment that many preschool-oriented daycare schools provide generally includes a structured, progressive curriculum, circle time, and other features that kids will be exposed to in elementary school. This can give your child a solid head start.
Of course, every daycare is different, and some are oriented more towards a babysitting type of environment while others are geared toward education and hire only teachers with a college degree based in early childhood education. The fact is that some daycare schools may not be so fabulous, but if you choose the right school, you can rest easier each day while you toil away at work in knowing that your children are with friends and in a loving environment where they are being educated and are developing in fabulous ways.