4 Surprising Benefits of Daycare or Preschool
No matter how much you love your job or your child’s teacher, it’s never easy to say goodbye to your children when dropping them off at daycare or preschool.
However, take heart, for an array of studies show that high-quality daycare benefits your child in a variety of important ways -- into adulthood and beyond!
Check out these surprising perks of high-quality daycare, all backed by research, and breathe a little easier at drop-off tomorrow.
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Childcare improves your child’s social, emotional and cognitive development.
In an early education or preschool class, your child will participate in activities that require them to take turns, share, adjust to routines, and even face small conflict. They are exposed to a greater variety of social situations, and tend to be better communicators and exhibit more advanced social skills and fewer peer-related difficulties. While many children must wait until Kindergarten for these experiences, a child in daycare or preschool will have already mastered (or, at least, practiced) these behaviors. -
Children in high-quality daycare are better prepared for school.
A 2016 study found that by age 5, children who attended high-quality formal childcare programs had substantially stronger reading and math skills relative to similar children who attended informal, home-based care settings. In 2006, the National Institute of Childhood Health and Human Development found that children in high-quality daycare had better language and cognitive development during the first four-and-a-half years of life. Even better, the benefits remain at least through the age of 15.
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Children in a quality daycare are more likely to graduate college and earn higher incomes.
Children enrolled in high-quality early childhood programs are 80% more likely to attend college and earn 33% higher salaries, according to readynation.org. A study led by FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that infants enrolled in a high-quality daycare program were four times more likely to have earned a college degree. They also had significantly more years of total education than their peers.
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Children in daycare have stronger immune systems and are less likely to get sick in elementary school.
While it’s nearly impossible to prevent your child from ever getting sick, there’s good news for what comes later. Childcare classrooms expose your child to a lot, but they actually build your child’s immune system for later on. Children who attended daycare less likely to get sick as they get older. Do you know what that means? Less time out when attendance is taken in grade school!
Bottom line? Children in high-quality childcare settings gain better social and behavioral skills that give them a leg up in life.
At The Sunshine House, your child will build a strong educational and social foundation – with all the fun of childhood mixed in. Our programs focus on school readiness, social, emotional and intellectual development, and what every child needs – love and care!
Did You Know?
Research proves that children who experience quality early learning are more likely to graduate from high school, attend college, and are more competent socially and emotionally.
Family Reviews!
"We feel like everyone here is part of our extended family. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and I am so lucky to have chosen these amazing people to be a part of ours. I would recommend this center 100 times over." – Laurel Crowe
