Working parents struggle to find a balance between family life and their career. One of the most important decisions a parent can make is who to entrust their little one to while they are at work. For many, daycare is an affordable option, but is it always the best one? Leaving your child at daycare can affect him in several ways, some positive and some negative.
Increased Stress
According to Heather Turgeon's article, "The Daycare Question," starting in 1991, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD) conducted studies following children from birth to age 15. These studies have shown that kids in childcare centers have slightly higher levels of stress and anxiety. This might be because daycares can be noisy, busy, emotional places with constant interaction with other kids and not enough soothing adult attention. Turgeon writes that this rise in stress levels, however, is linked to classrooms with at least 20 kids, usually a staple of lower-quality daycares. Higher-quality daycares often feature classrooms with as few as six children.
Social Behavior
The NICHHD studies also found that kids with daycare experience were slightly more likely to have behavioral problems by the time they reach sixth grade, according to Turgeon. At the same time, Barbara Solomon from "Parents" magazine writes that daycare provides an important opportunity for young children to socialize with other kids, allowing them to learn about relationships, sharing, taking turns, and other lessons that are imperative before starting kindergarten.
Learning
NICHHD studies also showed that kids in higher-quality daycares had better vocabulary and slightly higher grades in math in early elementary school, according to Turgeon. Well-run childcare centers usually feature daily lesson plans and curriculums, even for children as young as 1, according to Solomon. This doesn't mean that all daycares drill little ones on colors, shapes and numbers, but they take the time to plan enjoyable material that's appropriate to a child's developmental stage. This helps build a love of learning from an early age, which can help kids throughout their school years.
Staff
Your child's experience in daycare depends a lot on her teachers. According to Turgeon, a child's stress level can rise when she has a difficult relationship with her teachers. Some childcare center staff members are trained in child development or education, and they often have creative, interesting ideas and resources that parents might not have at home. Solomon reports that young kids need creative activities to learn, and daycare centers often enable kids to experience things that they can't do at home, such as making crafts, building sand castles or watching fish in an aquarium. Unfortunately though, care giving is often a low-paying job since it's financed solely by parents. This is why the early childhood field has high turnover and typically doesn't attract degreed professionals, especially in lower-cost programs, according to Solomon.
Finding the Right Daycare
Studies and experts seem to agree that finding the right daycare can have a positive effect on your child. This means one with high health and safety standards, qualified employees, small child-to-staff ratios and a loving, nurturing environment. Solomon writes that a high-quality childcare center is filled with a sense of engagement, meaning lots of interesting activities, involved caregivers and organized programs. It's important to visit and consider several different centers to find the right one for you. Turgeon points out that all studies on daycares report that the single most important factor in a child's upbringing is his relationship with his parents. So no matter who watches your little one while you are at work, you, as parents, will affect his life the most.
