While a primary purpose of daycare and other child care programs for many parents is to allow for the proper care and safety of their children during their work day or other responsibilities, daycare centers provide value in many more ways than just this. They also provide valuable programs, staff and themes that promote vital child development and skills, allowing for your child to not only be cared for, but also being their growth process.
At Smart Kids Development Center, we’re proud to offer a variety of health child themes and programs as part of our child care center, with services ranging from daycare to preschool and after school care as well. Here are some of the additional benefits associated with quality daycare programs beyond simply providing a safe care location for your child.
For starters, daycare and similar programs offer children a chance to develop socialization skills they simply won’t pick up as easily when spending time at home with their parents. Environments where children have to adapt and function with several possible social situations at once are extremely beneficial, especially for younger children who are still learning basic socialization themes.
Not only will your child learn how to make friends and socialize, they will also learn how to resolve conflicts in healthy ways. They’ll also gain the confidence to speak for themselves, skills that are vital moving forward.
For children who are taking part in daycare ahead of kindergarten, this is a great preparation method in several ways. The first is simple willingness: Children are more willing and excited to go to their first day of school if they’ve already had similar experiences in daycare.
In addition, daycare will make children more comfortable when they arrive in school for the first time. They will have fewer social hurdles to climb, for instance, and may have a head start on others who did not attend daycare.
In addition, there are several trends and areas of research that have directly connected daycare attendance with children who become strong students. This is because children are often exposed to major educational fundamentals as part of daycare – things like basic math, the alphabet and other similarly simple theme. This early start on these kinds of areas often promotes rapid development and strong performance in school.
Finally, a bit of a more granular benefit of daycare: Research has shown that kids who attend daycare may be more willing to try various kinds of foods, and may not be as picky with their eating habits. Kids showed a higher willingness to try more nutritious foods when daycare staff join them in eating those foods, plus discussed them and why they are healthy, good choices.
For more on the benefits of daycare to both parents and children alike, or to learn about any of our child care programs, speak to the staff at Smart Kids Development Center today.
