5 Important Benefits of Childcare & Early Learning
As a parent, you want to do everything that you can to give your child the best possible start in life. From the food that they eat, to the love that they receive, and the environment that surrounds them, those first few years play a formative role in how your child learns, grows, and views the world around them.
As new parents juggle their work responsibilities with those of raising one (or more) children, it can be hard to know if, when, and how enrolling your child in childcare and early learning is the right choice.
For those on the fence or not quite sure how childcare fits into their child’s early development, we’ve put together a list of 5 benefits of childcare for children for early learning and development.
1. Develop Social Skills
Developing social skills and interacting with children from similar and different backgrounds is an important step in your child’s development. Children enrolled in childcare and early learning develop critical social and emotional skills that carry them through their early years. By engaging with other children in a classroom environment, children develop problem-solving skills, conflict resolution, empathy, and fundamental teamwork skills that have a lasting impact on their development.
Structured activities and play time teach children about the merits of collaborative play. From the fundamentals of learning to share play equipment and learning utensils, children begin to piece together fundamental social skills that foster positive peer interactions. These pre-social behaviours form a guiding principle for how children learn and interact with children as they progress from childcare and early learning into their first years in primary school.
2. Learning to Separate
Learning to separate from parents and caregivers is one of the most challenging, yet important, benefits of childcare for young children. We’ve all seen those first day blues. Whether it’s at the school gates, or at the gates to their first day at daycare, learning to separate is never easy – nor linear. This separation is not only an important step for children, but also for parents.
For children, separating from their primary caregiver is one of the most beneficial aspects of early childcare. It prepares them for the transition to school where developed social skills, independence, and self-reliance can empower the best possible early-school experience.
3. Develop Literacy and Numeracy Skills
Early learning isn’t about mastering the times tables or writing their first poem – those milestones will come much later. For children at early learning centres, those first years are a critical time to learn basic numeracy and literacy skills that can make the transition to school that much easier. Children in a structured learning environment are more likely to develop foundational numeracy and literacy skills in collaboration with their teacher and peers. Games and interactive learning are used to develop number recognition, vocabulary through puzzles, as well as other collaborative learning activities.
By virtue of interacting with their peers, children are also much more likely to develop their language and problem-solving skills that are transferable to academic development. For childcare learning, the name of the game is fun. Childcare educators work to create a fun and rewarding environment that encourages children to challenge their thinking and develop essential cognitive skills.
4. Enjoy Structured, Consistent Routine
Children are creatures of routine. Routine is just one of the many benefits of childcare and early learning for children. Through routine, children build self-confidence, social skills, self-control, and communication skills that empower them to take the next step towards school. Whether your child is at day-care for the entire working week, or just one or two days each week, this routine and consistency helps your child to learn about the virtues of structure.
For parents, the routine and consistency afforded by childcare helps in the return to work, but also in restoring a sense of normalcy to those aspects of your life that have changed since welcoming new additions to your family. For children, the routine of childcare and early learning helps to manage expectations, learn structure, and build emotional resilience by spending time with peers and educators. Through consistency, those early morning good-byes become more manageable for children knowing that this is just one phase of their week.
5. Practice Respect and Tolerance
Children enrolled in childcare learn about the essential virtues of patience, respect, and tolerance. Childcare creates a learning opportunity for children where they interact with children and adults from different cultures and backgrounds in a new space. Exposing your child to a variety of different perspectives, cultures, and backgrounds are all essential for improving their understanding of their place in the world.
Through group activities, learning, and play, children learn to consider the feelings of others, share resources, and cooperate. It’s important to remember that children are a product of their environment. The more that they are exposed to different environments and forced to overcome new challenges, the more that they grow as an individual. Practising patience, respect, and tolerance are fundamental to your child’s development and future success in school – and beyond.
Final Thoughts
Enrolling your child in childcare or day-care is a tough decision for any parent. Whether your child is enrolled to start school in 2025, or not until 2027 or later, childcare offers a range of important learning and development benefits for children. For parents wanting to give their child the best possible start, childcare is a great way to expose your child to early education in a fun and caring environment that fosters inclusivity and acceptance.