Child care is a necessity for most parents, as many families require two incomes to be financially stable. Some parents, however, make the choice to combine working and supportive home life for the benefit of their family. And, single parents usually do not have the ability to raise their little ones and work at the same time.

Yes, parenting is a challenge, and the inability to do it all can certainly be a stressful situation for many parents. The good news, though, child care is a viable option for parents that are working or have busy schedules. Daycare offers long-lasting social, economic, and academic benefits for children and their parents.

How Childcare Is Beneficial To Younger Children

We get it, putting your little one into child care can be nerve-wracking. Surely you have a list of concerns, but would it make you feel better knowing that child care is very beneficial to the development of your little one? Various child care studies have shown that children, including infants and toddlers from the ages six months to four years, can benefit from the environment quality child care provides, including its instruction, structure and social lessons.

In this blog, we going to share seven ways that both toddler and infant child care can be beneficial.

Schedule and Routine

As a parent, you know how essential your schedules and routines are. What you may not know, though, is that your young children can benefit from learning structure and routine each day at a daycare center. Following a routine schedule can even help children sleep better, follow healthy nutritional patterns, and learn how to listen and follow instructions.

Social Interaction

Younger children’s self-confidence and socialization skills are typically developed at a very early age. During this time, encouraging social interaction, friendship, and learning experiences through a variety of activities is essential in their social development. At a child care, young children have will have a more impactful experience. Not to mention, they are likely to benefit from interaction with adults other than their parents, which may help children with anxiety from being left in the care of other family members or babysitters in certain occasions.

School Preparation

Before you know it, your children will be ready to attend school. Many daycares for infants and toddlers will introduce the children to activities that promote active thinking and experimenting to figure out how things work, while also assessing progress to help children reach their highest levels of development in preparation for kindergarten and beyond. According to a U.S. National Institutes of Health study, young children showed a higher cognitive and academic achievement scores as teens if they spent time in high-quality daycare as young children.

Sensory Stimulation

Infants, toddlers, and young developing children are all seeking sensory information because they are constantly learning through movement and sensory exploration. A quality child care will promote learning and playing experience that incites the senses and encourages exploration.

Development of Language and Communication

As both infants and toddlers learn to communicate, a quality daycare program can be the perfect environment for them to learn how to learn how to speak and express emotions. Children who develop strong language and communication skills at a younger age are more likely to arrive at school ready to learn. Additionally, strong language and communication development can decrease the likeliness of children having difficulties learning to read and makes them more likely to have higher levels of achievement in education.

Cooperative Play

Play is an essential part of child development. It’s how children learn. Play develops the skills young children need to advance their emotional, social, physical, and cognitive abilities. Through both structured and unstructured play activities during child care, infants and toddlers will be more capable to learning how to kindly share and cooperate with each other in a positive, encouraging child care environment. Team building skills are important to the healthy development of children including learn to be collaborative and having positive feelings of self worth.

Although choosing daycare may be a heart-pounding task for many parents, there are clear advantages of childcare for younger children that will benefit your little ones over the long term. Finding a quality daycare center where young children are supported, engaged, encouraged, and exposed to a positive attitude can help infants and toddlers begin building a foundation for later intellectual strides.

If you are in need of toddler or infant child care in Columbia, MO, you can rely on A World of Discoveries. Our child care center currently has openings for both infants and toddlers! If you are interested in learning more about our infant and toddler child care services, contact us!