4 Ways That Child Care Helps Your Child To Develop
Posted on: 11 May 2016
There are more than 32 million children in child care in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau. Is your child one of these millions? Not only does daycare solve your dilemma of what to do with the kids while you're at work, but it also has developmental benefits galore. How can child care help your little one to develop?
Social Development
Child care provides a social situation for children. It means that your child is around other kids all day long. But that's not as far as the social learning goes. Children in day care have the opportunity to learn how to share with others, take turns and navigate conflicts. The daily dose of group scenarios gives your child constant exposure to situations that help her to grow into a social being.
Emotional Development
Young children don't always have the words that they need to express their emotions. Whether they're feeling sad, angry or happy, saying so doesn't always come naturally. Daycare gives your child the chance to explore emotions, and learn the words to express them in acceptable ways. Tied to social development, emotional development often requires the presence of other people. Navigating the social world of daycare means expressing and understanding emotions. Group play situations and other classroom activities give your child the opportunity to see that other people have emotions. It also helps your child to better understand how other people act and react to her own emotions.
Cognitive Development
Unlike elementary school, in a preschool daycare situation you aren't likely to find tiny little desks and a teacher lecturing in front of a class. That said, your child is still growing mentally (and learning plenty). From story time to the art table, cognitive (or mental) growth is happening throughout your child's day. Your child has the chance to make discoveries, explore and experiment in subjects such as science, music, math and more.
Physical Development
Your child picks up a crayon and scribbles on a scrap of construction paper. Seems simple, right? It is. But, it's also an exercise in fine motor growth. As your child goes through daily activities at daycare (such as flipping through a storybook, cutting with safety scissors and building with blocks) she's also working on her motor skills.
Not only is your child building her small motor abilities (these include hand and finger strength and eye-hand coordination), but child care also helps large motor function. When the children run outside on the play yard or dance in the classroom they are developing balance, coordination and strength.
Child care is much more than a place where grown-ups 'watch' kids. It's a true learning environment, where your child can grow socially, emotionally, cognitively and physically.
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