A benefit for parents that a quality child care: Top Benefits of Daycare for Parents
Top Benefits of Daycare for Parents
Parents who choose to send their children to daycare often do so in place of in-home care or a babysitter. However, they may find that the children are not the only people to benefit from the enrollment. Often, parents shift some of the burden of responsibility to capable and caring daycare educators, and the whole family is better for the change.
While some parents worry that their child won’t develop as well in this setting, many studies indicate that daycare is highly beneficial. Early interaction with peers fosters important social skills that matter at home. The stimulation of these educational and fun institutions is also beneficial for calmer, happier children coming home to parents at the end of each day.
Child Safety
It might be daunting for new parents to leave their children in the care of others. However, many preschool institutions and daycare centers focus heavily on child safety. Rigorous pre-employment background checks and other security measures, like video monitoring, ensure a safe learning environment.
Parents also benefit from the peace of mind when their children attend quality care centers with strict child safety policies.
Routine Benefits
Pre-K or VPK programs put children in the rhythm of a daily routine. When children begin to understand their schedule, the consistency helps them prepare for the day ahead. The structure also helps parents.
Where babysitters can be unreliable at times, the hours of a care center remain constant in every season. Children with routines at daycare are often also more accepting of consistent home schedules.
Better Communication
Interaction with other children is vital for healthy social development. Life lessons abound when groups of children gather because they learn from the questions, actions, and challenges of their peers. Daycare centers also foster positive interactions and more effective communication skills that parents will begin to recognize and appreciate at home.
Stronger Friendships
Children who have difficulty socializing can feel that pressure in their home life, and no parent wants to see their child struggle or isolate. Frequent interaction in after-school care brings children out of their shells when they find friends with similar interests and personalities. Parents might also find surprising friendships with other parents or guardians that they meet through the care center.
Healthy Independence
The stress that a child may experience in the first days of care is a temporary emotion. Spending time away from the family in a healthy, safe environment is in the child’s favor. After-school programs give children a chance to develop independence and self-governing responsibility.
As children look after themselves on occasion, parents can shed some of the hands-on observation at home and watch their children mature into well-balanced and confident individuals.
Kids ‘R’ Kids Daycare and After School Programs for Children
Before and after school care relieves the need for working parents to find multiple care institutions.
The benefits of daycare don’t stop with the child, and parents will find that home life and relationships improve as well.
Kids ‘R’ Kids provides top-quality daycare with programs for children as young as six weeks in Lithia, Florida. There are also Kids ‘R’ Kids summer programs to keep children engaged in fun and educational activities year-round.
Contact Kids ‘R’ Kids today at (813) 654-7000 to speak with the staff. Alternatively, visit the facility at 5815 Kids Crossing Dr, Lithia, FL 33547.
Why Child Care is Important for Parents
The importance of quality child care for kids is well-known and a point of pride for child educators. But the benefits of great child care extend to parents as well. Access to reliable, affordable, quality child care makes a meaningful difference in moms’ and dads’ lives.
In this post, we’ll highlight the vital role that child care plays in enabling parents to work, participate in their community and take well-deserved breaks.
We’ll also take a look at how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected working parents and go over the most important factors parents need to consider when choosing child care.
Child Care Enables Parents to Work
Parents of young children often face a challenging crossroads: should they place their kids in child care or stay at home for the child’s first years? Both options have their merits and no one choice is right for every family. But for many parents, lack of availability or affordability of child care forces them to take a setback in their careers and reduce family income when they otherwise may have stayed in the workforce.
With affordable, quality child care in communities, it’s a sacrifice parents don’t have to make. Child care services give parents the flexibility to work, make money, develop their careers and contribute to the local and national economy. With reliable child care options, they can keep their jobs, retain ties to their community and form support networks with other parents.
Quality child care is one of the key supports that lets families and communities thrive, keeping more parents in the workforce earning income, employing educators and training kids to have flourishing, productive careers in the years to come.
How Did COVID-19 Impact Working Parents?
In the past year and a half, many things have changed for working parents as the coronavirus pandemic caused drastic shifts in the workforce and lifestyles. With many workplaces, child care centers and schools closed or under work-from-home arrangements, and family incomes often shrinking, parents had to find new ways to ensure kids were supervised during the day.
Parents’ ability to access child care was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in three major ways:
- Changing Child Care Arrangements: In 2020, almost half of child care centers were completely closed for at least some time, and more were under capacity restrictions or other legal limitations. In the face of these barriers to child care access, parents had to find other arrangements when they needed child care.
- Kids Staying Home with Family and Friends: While the pandemic at times meant kids couldn’t attend child care or school, many adults were also at home, whether due to lost jobs or remote work. For these adults, the pandemic thrust them into a new role of providing full-time child care for their own children or those or friends or family — sometimes, precariously balancing child care with working from home.
- Parents Leaving the Workforce: During the pandemic, some parents of young children have left the workforce entirely, as lost jobs and lack of access to child care leave them with few other options.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, access to affordable child care is poised to mitigate these issues and help parents return to their pre-pandemic careers. Community support for child care can increase access so that more working parents can afford care for their children and participate in the rebounding economy.
Having a strong focus on parent engagement helps build meaningful connections with the families you serve.
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How Do Parents Access Child Care Services?
Access to child care is a critical issue for parents, especially those who have low income or need two incomes to support their family. Essentially, there are three options for child care access: being a stay-at-home parent, relying on family members for care or paying for professional child care services.
Many families value the choice to have one parent stay home and care for their child, but other parents prefer to remain in their careers or need two incomes to support their family. For these parents, child care becomes a vital necessity. While some children are supervised during the day for free by a family member, such as a retired grandparent, not every family has this option.
This leaves professional child care, whether in family child care homes or child care centers, as an unavoidable expense for working parents across the country.
But child care services can have costs that take up 50% or more of a wage-earner’s income, placing another financial burden on lower-income families.
Subsidized child care programs bridge this gap, allowing parents to pay less for quality child care and avoid additional expenses or leaving their kids in unregulated child care programs. When access to center-based child care increases, more children require fewer adults to care for them, meaning more parents can participate in the workforce.
How Should Parents Choose a Child Care Provider?
Given the importance of child care and the challenges sometimes involved in accessing it, making an informed choice about child care can be a balancing act. We’ve isolated five of the most important factors to consider when deciding on child care for your kids.
- Child Safety: Safety is the paramount value of wise child care providers and parents alike. Attention to security, childproofing, hygiene, emergency planning and appropriate COVID-19 procedures are signs of a well-run child care center where kids will be safe. Parents should look for a center where children are well-supervised by adequately trained staff, including training in first aid and CPR.
Parents should look for a center where children are well-supervised by adequately trained staff, including training in first aid and CPR. - Location: The location of child care is a key concern for working parents: not only how close it is to work or home, but also its accessibility on public transit or major routes. With commutes already excessive in many American cities, most parents can’t afford to add much extra time to their day to take their kids to child care.
- Quality of Care & Education: The early years are an important time of learning, so to ensure kids’ success, parents should know what signs to look for in a great child care center. Quality child care centers will have low staff-to-child ratios, detailed curriculums with lesson plans, and an enriching child care environment. They’ll offer nutritious meals and plenty of one-on-one attention for each child.
- Cost: While all parents want to obtain the best possible education for their children, cost is a factor that can’t be overlooked. Family-based child care or care from relatives is often the most affordable solution. To offset costs at a center, parents can take advantage of government programs. Daycares can make it easier for parents to keep up with tuition by offering stress-free online or automatic payments.
- Parent Engagement: A bond of accountability and trust between parents and educators is the foundation of a successful child care center. Great child care centers give parents a view into everyday activities and their child’s developmental and educational progress. Strong two-way communication keeps parents informed and reassured, while helping providers meet every family’s needs.
Family-based child care or care from relatives is often the most affordable solution. To offset costs at a center, parents can take advantage of government programs. Daycares can make it easier for parents to keep up with tuition by offering stress-free online or automatic payments.Child care centers are vital community institutions that build bridges between families and provide a much-needed service for parents to work. For 30 years, child care centers across the country have trusted Procare to support their community relationships and improve engagement with parents and families.
Procare’s parent engagement features help you nurture trust and communication with parents with personalized updates and videos, keep them in the loop with schedules and attendance tracking, and let them easily check up on their child’s progress at any time.
Plus, child care security features ease families’ worries and keep kids safe. And with easy automatic child care payments, parents will have one less thing to worry about in their busy day.
Ready to find out how Procare can help your center be there for parents when it’s needed most?
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13 tips for parents, confirmed by statistics
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It would seem, well, what can an economist teach parents? However, if that economist is Professor Oster, that is a different matter.
Of course, harmful advice from the writer Grigory Oster immediately comes to mind, but drive away these thoughts from yourself, everything is serious here.
Emily Oster has analyzed hundreds of scientific papers on parenting issues and is ready to give 13 practical advice to parents.
The life of parents is difficult and full of worries and worries. Every day you face a new dilemma: is it necessary to swaddle a child, is it possible to drink if you are breastfeeding, how long can a child sit in front of the TV?
Doctors, relatives, close friends and strangers, as well as books and the Internet, are all willing to share valuable advice, often contradictory.
As a result, parents no longer understand what to do and whom to trust.
- Mothers who regret having children
- What does it mean to be a good mother in today’s world?
- “The standard of a ‘good mother’ is very hard to resist”
When Brown University professor Emily Oster became pregnant, she was very embarrassed by the many and sometimes conflicting advice.
And then she decided to apply her knowledge in the field of statistics and personally study the medical literature.
The result is her first book, Expecting Better, on the do’s and don’ts of pregnancy.
Since becoming a mom, Emily has taken the same approach with her latest book, Cribsheet. In this book, she offers her own, in her opinion, the best and less burdensome approach to parenting.
Here are some of the findings that Emily Oster has come up with after going through hundreds of studies on caring for young children.
The BBC is not responsible for this advice, so it’s up to you whether to use Professor Oster’s advice or not.
1. Breastfeeding is not the cure-all, as some people think
There is evidence that breastfeeding improves your baby’s health in the short term: they are less likely to get allergic rashes, upset stomach or ear infections.
However, there is no evidence that this will benefit him in the long run.
Breastfed babies are no smarter than their peers. And it’s not at all a fact that they will suffer less from obesity, diabetes or cancer.
However, breastfeeding reduces the risk of developing breast cancer in the mother herself, and significantly – by 20% -30%.
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2. You can when feeding0010 alcohol (but not much)
Milk drinkers have about the same levels of alcohol in their milk as they do in their blood, Oster says based on hundreds of studies.
The baby receives milk and not alcohol directly, so the doses are extremely low.
And although a breastfeeding mother should not abuse alcohol, it is not necessary to express milk after every glass of wine or glass of beer.
If you want to be extra careful not to expose your baby to alcohol at all, you can still have a glass of wine, but then you will have to wait two hours before feeding for the alcohol to be completely processed.
And if it’s two glasses, this period increases to four hours.
3. If you are prescribed antidepressants, you can take them
According to Oster, antidepressants eventually pass into breast milk, but there is no indication that they adversely affect the baby.
Postpartum depression is a serious condition and needs to be treated.
But in any case, if something worries you, it is better to consult a doctor.
4.
Sleep with a baby in the same room?
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be in the same room with their parents for at least the first six months, and ideally up to one year. This helps prevent cases of SIDS – Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
However, Auster points out that already in the first few months, the advantages of living in one room fade away.
If you want to live in the same room as your child, of course, live. And the statistics tend to favor this in the early stages of his life.
However, advising people that they should share a room with a child for a whole year, sacrificing their sleep for no apparent reason, would hardly be right, says Emily Oster.
5. Is it dangerous for a child to sleep in the same bed with parents ?
Almost all studies indicate that this is quite dangerous.
When children share a bed with adults, the infant mortality rate is 20 to 60 times the baseline risk.
So don’t do it.
6. Do I need to swaddle my baby?
Yes. When swaddled, babies cry less and sleep better in the first months of life. But it’s also important to swaddle in a way that allows the baby to move their legs and hips, Oster emphasizes.
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7. When can you have sex again?
There is a generally accepted rule: you can return to sex no earlier than six weeks after giving birth and only after consulting a doctor.
This term is mentioned so often, as if it were a confirmed scientific fact. It’s actually pure fiction, says Oster.
There is no specific waiting period after childbirth. If you have had tears, you need to wait for them to heal.
Your doctor will be able to determine this during the first postnatal checkup (which is exactly what happens after about six weeks).
But you yourself can determine earlier whether everything has healed for you.
8. Vaccinations are a must!
Childhood vaccinations are safe and protect not only your child, but others as well.
9. Let him cry, but learn to fall asleep on his own
Analyzing hundreds of studies, Auster can confidently state that teaching your baby to fall asleep and sleep properly is effective, improves the mental health of parents and does not harm your child.
So don’t feel guilty!
10. Stay at home or go to work?
Children feel better when mothers take maternity leave. However, there is little evidence that parental stay at home has any positive or negative consequences for children.
11. After-school children are no less attached to their mothers
Here the quality of parental relationships plays a role, and the time spent in the after-school group does not affect children’s attachment to their parents.
12. Det yam up to two years is not enough useful TV
But at the age of three to five, children can very well learn from TV programs, says Oster.
However, studies show that watching TV, even at a very young age, does not affect intelligence test scores.
We do not yet have sufficient data on the impact of time spent in front of smartphone screens of other gadgets.
13. Interactive reading with your child is the best
Instead of just reading a book with your child, try asking him questions that cannot be answered in one word: “Where do you think the mother of this bird is? How is Puss in Boots feeling now?
What kind of parents raise happy and successful children
August 12, 2021Life
Moms and dads who raise cheerful and capable children have a lot in common.
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All parents want their children to stay out of trouble, do well in school, and create something good and useful as adults.
Unfortunately, there is no guide to raising a happy and successful child. But psychologists have been able to point to the factors that predict success. And all of them concern parents and families, which have much in common.
They teach social skills to children
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Duke University followed more than 700 children from across America for 20 years to find a link between developing social skills in childhood and success at age 25.
Long-term research has shown that those children who are able to cooperate with their peers, understand their feelings, are ready to help another and solve problems on their own, graduate more often, receive a diploma and get a permanent job.
Those who in childhood had difficulty establishing contact with others were much more likely to get into unpleasant situations in adulthood, in general had a higher chance of being arrested and could not boast of a high social status.
“This study shows that parents should help children develop social skills and emotional intelligence.
These are some of the most important skills a child needs to be prepared for the future,” says Kristin Schubert, program director at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funded the research. “From an early age, these skills determine whether a child will go to school or go to jail, get a job or get addicted to drugs.”
They expect a lot from their child
Using data from a national survey of 6,600 children born in 2001, Professor Neal Halfon and colleagues at UCLA were able to find that parental expectations have a huge impact on what their children will achieve in the future.
“Parents who expected their child to go to university in the future seemed to lead him to this goal, regardless of family income and other factors,” said the professor.
This is confirmed by the so-called Pygmalion effect, described by the American psychologist Rosenthal. Its essence lies in the fact that a person who is firmly convinced of any fact unconsciously acts in such a way as to obtain real confirmation of his confidence.
In the case of children, they unconsciously try to live up to their parents’ expectations.
Mothers work
Psychologists have found that the daughters of working mothers go to school already having the experience of independent living. In the future, such children earn on average 23% more than their peers who grew up in families where their mothers did not work and devoted all their time to home and family.
Sons of working mothers tended to be more caring and housework oriented: the study found that they spent 7.5 hours more per week caring for children and helping around the house.
“Situation modeling is a way to send a signal: you show what is appropriate in terms of how you behave, what you do, who you help,” says study lead author Kathleen McGinn, professor at Harvard Business School.
They have a higher socioeconomic status
The higher the parents’ income, the higher the grades of their children – this is a general pattern. This data may sadden us, because many families are not able to boast of high income and opportunities.
Well, psychologists say: this situation really limits the potential of the child.
Sean Reardon, a researcher at Stanford University, points out that the statistical difference in the success of children from rich and poor families is only increasing. If we compare those who were born at 1990, and those born in 2001, you can see that this gap has grown from 30% to 40%.
Aside from complex costly measures, the socioeconomic status of the family itself motivates children to achieve more academically.
They have completed higher education
Research has shown that children born to mothers during adolescence are less likely to finish school and go to university.
A 2014 study led by psychologist Sandra Tang found that mothers who graduate from high school and college are more likely to raise a child who also graduates.
The responsibility for a child’s aspirations rests at least in part on the shoulders of the parents.
Psychologist Eric Dubow found that a parent’s level of education at the time their child turns 8 determines the next 40 years. This means that the success of the child in the future largely depends on him.
They teach their children math from an early age
A 2007 analysis of 35,000 preschoolers in the United States, Canada, and England showed that early development of mathematical abilities becomes a huge advantage for a child later on. Why this is so is not very clear, but the fact remains. Children who understand numbers and simple mathematical concepts from an early age learn to read faster.
They develop relationships with their children
A 2014 study found that children who were treated with understanding and respect in their first three years of life not only perform better academically, but are also able to form healthy relationships with others. By the age of 30, most of them are more successful and educated people.
Parents who are sensitive and attentive to their child give him the sense of security he needs to develop further and explore the world around him.
They are less stressed
Research suggests that the amount of time mothers spend alone with their children between the ages of 3 and 11 makes little difference to their development. But active, intense and compulsive motherhood can be devastating.
When a mother is under stress from trying to balance work and family, she is a bad influence on her children. The fact is that there is a psychological phenomenon of “contagiousness” of emotions. People are able to catch each other’s feelings, just as they catch a cold. Therefore, when one of the parents is morally exhausted or sad, this gloomy feeling is transmitted to the child.
They Value Effort Over Fear of Failure
For decades, Carol Dwek, a psychologist at Stanford University, has conducted research that has found that children (and adults) can evaluate success in two ways.
The first one is called fixed thinking . People who think this way evaluate their abilities, intelligence and talents as a given, as something that can no longer be changed.