Mom Wanting to Know the Benefits of Daycare

Brendan,

My 2 1/2 year old is in daycare full time, and has been since 4 mos. The first year was hard for me, but it gets easier. Also, we changed his provided at 15 months and it made a world of difference. He LOVES school now. He asks to go. He has friends. They do more with them at the daycare than I could do with him on a daily basis at home. They are learning songs, doing crafts, playing games, dancing. Feeding themselves, washing their hands, learning other skills. They are very social. Brendan talks like a lot of 4 year olds. He shares, he demonstrates concern and emotion.

Even if I could stay home full time now, I don't think I could keep him home full time. He misses school when we are home for a week at a time.

Don't feel bad. There are definate benefits if your child if placed in a GOOD daycare.

Putting your child in day care is never an easy decision. I have a 4 year old and a 21 month old. They have both been in daycare except it is a lady out of her house. The good things about it are they still get a lot of love there. They get social interaction with other kids and learn to share. They are also exposed to children of other races which I think is important these days. There are a lot of benefits to it. You just need to make sure you are comfortable with where they are going............other than that they do learn a lot and get to play with other kids. Good luck

The most important thing, in my opinion, is the socialization with other kids their own age, as well as ones older and younger. It really helps them learn how to interact with one another without all the tantrums (although, I admit we still get our fair share of those), or shyness.

I've noticed that the children really learn more from one another than they do from us in certain areas. In the last 6 months, we've had 4 children learn to pull up, stand up and start walking by observing the others techniques.

Table manners are another thing... For some reason, it seems easier for certain types (personalities) to learn utensil handling etc from watch their friends do it along with our help and supervision.

The downside I see most often is cold/flu. No matter how careful we are, once one child has one and comes to daycare, it's almost a guarentee that the others will catch it within days, as well as the rest of the workers.

I run a small daycare in my home and I think that the children really become like siblings. They really love the other children. My son looks for the kids on wknds and evenings when they are gone.

I do all kinds of fun and educational things with the children all day. They have so much fun and learn social skills and how to interact in a group setting like circle time.

If you find a good daycare your child will really enjoy it.

Admittedly, my son is in full time day care because my income is important to our family. But, after having him in full time day care for about 4 months now, I can say that there are absolutely things that I value about the center.

First, I know that my son's primary care givers are affectionate and warm towards him, and he responds very well to them (he's 6-1/2 mo. old now). Second--and very importantly--he really enjoys the stimulation. The center that he goes to runs on a somewhat loose schedule--in other words, they feed him when he's hungry and change him when he's wet--but they factor in time for one-on-one time reading to him, helping him with activities like painting with his hands and feet, and playing with different toys.

He loves to watch the other children play and I think that he is also growing to be independent and curious--and comfortable in a wide variety of settings.

I feel lucky in that my workplace is close enough to his day care so that I can drop in during lunch, or if I'm at a meeting close by. And, his grandparents and my husband do the same on occasion.

And, there ARE a couple of downsides--one, I do miss the time that I could have with him if I were able to be at home with him on a part time/full time basis. And, he tends to have more colds than he might if he didn't go.
But all in all--I think that we made a great choice and that our son is happy.