Five Things about Daycare Management You May Not Have Known
Childcare Attendance Software & Daycare Management Software
Most people agree that quality childcare is crucial for little ones. Whether you place your child at a childcare center, stay at home to take care of your child or have someone to care for your child at your or their home, the quality of care will affect the child for a long time. It is most parents’ wish that their child can spend their days in a stimulating, safe, and nurturing environment growing up, but many realities of American life work against that desire.
#1 Daycare is prohibitively expensive
The average annual daycare costs across the United States is as follows: for infants its $11,896 ($991 a month), for toddlers $10,158 ($847 a month), and for preschool-age children it’s $9,254 ($771 per month). Depending on where parents live, the cost can be higher or lower. In New York, it can be as high as $25,000 to $30,000 per child per year.
Unbelievably, having a child in a daycare center full-time, costs about the same as the annual tuition and fees at public college.
Despite the high cost to parents, childcare workers only earn an average of $11.65 per hour according to 2019 figures.
#2 Children who go to daycare do better than children who are cared for at home
A study in France that tracked 1,428 French children from the time they were one year old until they turned eight, found that daycare children are better behaved and socialized than children who are cared for at home.
Daycare has proven to have a positive impact on children’s readiness for school, as well as their social and behavioral skills, which improve their chances of success later in life.
#3 Children in daycare get sick more often, but in elementary school they are healthier
It seems that children who attend daycare centers get sick more often than children who stay at home. Research in Canada found it’s indeed the case.
A study of 1,238 Canadian children aged five months to eight years, found children who attended childcare centers at an early age were 61% more likely to get ear and respiratory infections with a fever than children who didn’t attend these centers. However, for some reason, this changed once children enter elementary school. Children who attended daycare contracted less illnesses compared to the children who did not attend childcare centers.
#4 In rural America childcare is practically nonexistent
Only a third of families living in rural areas have access to childcare with the rest having very limited access. In truth, there is only one opening for every three young children, and in some cases, none at all. The problem is especially severe for babies and toddlers.
#5 Daycare centers are not just babysitting
Childcare businesses have become much more than babysitting solutions. The first five years of a child’s life are crucial for the development of language and cognitive skills, and parents are demanding that those who take care of their kids know this and provide the appropriate stimulation from an early age. Daycare centers that provide high-quality programs to children during their early childhood years play an integral role in the academic and professional success of the children they care for. These children are also less likely to have problems with drug abuse and criminal behavior later on in life.
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