Growing up, my mom worked extremely hard in order to financially provide for my small family. Now that I’m an adult, I appreciate the long hours she worked at the factory so that she could afford to buy food and clothes for my sister and me. Unfortunately, due to my mom’s work schedule, my sister and I were forced to stay at relatives’ homes after school each day. Because we stayed at so many different people’s homes, our bus driver always got confused about the location he needed to drop us off at. On this blog, I hope you will discover the benefits of leaving your kids at a safe daycare facility each day. Enjoy!
If you've just had a baby and are headed back to work, you're likely feeling bad about having to leave your child with someone else while you are earning a living. That's certainly understandable; you want to be with your baby 24/7 during his or her formative years. However, there are several advantages to enrolling your child in daycare, over and above the fact that you are free to go to work.
How daycare benefits young children
1. Fewer emotional issues. Spending time at day care often translates to fewer emotional issues both for the child and for the mother, according to a recent study by JAMA Psychiatry. Mothers whose children attend programs for daycare are also often less stressed than those who have the responsibility of child care all day, every day.
2. Better socialization. Perhaps the most important benefit of daycare for young children is that it teaches them to get along with a variety of different personalities as well as how to share and how to solve problems. These skills can give them a head start and translate into fewer disciplinary problems when they reach elementary school. Moms too can find new friends at daycare, those who can relate to the mother's new role as a parent.
3. Fewer colds and illnesses. Another study, this one by JAMA Pediatrics, found that children who spent time in daycare before the age of 2 1/2 had fewer respiratory and ear infections when they got to elementary school than children who were cared for at home.
4. Higher test scores. Daycare may also help kids later on with their college exams. According to a study by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, teens who spent time in daycare as toddlers scored higher on academic and cognitive awareness tests.
5. More likely to excel at school. Daycare may also lead to a more successful academic career for your child. According to a study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, children who attended a quality daycare center were four times more likely to complete a college degree than those children who were cared for at home.
While day care for your young children may seem like something to be avoided if, at all possible, there are actually a number of benefits to enrolling your child in early group care, not the least of which is fewer emotional issues for both you and your child and fewer infections once your child starts elementary school.
Share21 March 2017
