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The TSL Kids Crew Blog
Quality child care in the United States has become not only expensive but increasingly difficult to find. While most child care programs are aimed at infants, school-going children still require quality care and that is where a good after school child care program comes into play.
There are many benefits for both parents and kids who participate in after school child care programs, ranging from improved health and safety to improved performance and productivity. As a matter of fact, many kids find after school child care programs excellent places to go and unwind and prevent them from engaging in unproductive activities. Let us look at some of the benefits of after school child care programs: 1) It leads to improved academic performance and achievement - these programs have been proven to improve the academic performance of participating kids. They report higher resilience when it comes to spending more time on their studies compared to children who don’t. It must be emphasized that these programs encourage a non-traditional way of learning and foster an unsupervised learning experience. This means that the child grows to become a responsible citizen who can learn on their own without waiting for their parents or teachers to tell them what to do.
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Clinton once said that it takes a good community to effectively raise a child. That sounds so true today especially for parents that are in search of quality daycare for their little ones. From the parents, to the administrators, to the religious leaders, to the caregivers, to state licensing agencies, there are many people involved in shaping the future of the child. It is not a surprise that finding a good program is a chief concern for many parents. A good child care support program should be affordable, safe and one that allows their kids to grow socially and intellectually. That said, it is a major undertaking to identify a great program, one that meets all your high standards.
What is quality child care? Choosing the right child care is not an easy task. There are a number of options you need to look at when it comes to choosing the right child care program. Here, we are going to discuss the available options so that you can make a quality decision:
1) Daycare center Currently, there are more than 2.6 million children that attend daycare in the United States. These facilities are licensed and have met various government safety standards and regulations. As such, you can expect them to have qualified professional caregivers. The good thing with daycare centers is that they accept even infants that are 6 weeks old. The cost ranges from $4,000 to $15,000 depending on the facility and state. Daycare centers are perfect for busy parents who do not have time to look after their kids. Moreover, the centers are equipped with child care programs that are meant to foster the growth of your child. The only downside is the high cost. Even if you pay for the most expensive daycare, there are no guarantees that your child will receive quality, personalized care. What is differentiation in child care?
It is simply a method of teaching which involves employing various teaching techniques to instruct a diverse range of students, with varied learning needs. In a daycare center, you are likely to find a heterogeneous group of students with different abilities, interests, flexibility and academic level. You are required to use different instructional strategies to teach the students. The goal is to ensure that every student has mastered essential skills and knowledge without disadvantaging anyone. Differentiation including special needs children At any quality, child care center, you will find different kinds of children with different abilities, needs, interests and educational level. As a child care giver, you should encourage the parents to share with you vital information of their children and what disability, if any, they might have. By working together, the parents of the child and the professional can ensure that the child gets the best daycare services. Many adaptations you will make for the benefit of the children will range from simple to complex, depending on the specific needs of the children. School is a very important component in the lives of kids and youth because it shapes their future lives and how they interact with other people. However, what many parents don’t understand is that school takes up less than 30% of the child’s time. Now, the question is, what do you do with the other free time? Parents are most probably still at work by the time children are released from school. That means children could remain inadequately unsupervised for a significant amount of time throughout the week.
That is where the value of a quality, well-executed after school program comes in. When children are not properly supervised for an extended period of time, they might end up getting themselves into a lot of trouble. After all, they are children and are very curious and inquisitive about the world around them. Just imagine what your pre-adolescent child could do from 4 p.m. when they are released from school and 7.00 pm when you return home from work. A great after school program is the solution to ensure they are safe, challenged socially, physically and mentally. You most probably want your kid to grow up socially-aware, emotionally intelligent and confident. Therefore, it is important to foster your child social skills early on. It turns out that summer camps are great when it comes to fostering the listening, caring, sharing and cooperation skills of your child. These social skills are critical as your child grows to become a productive member of the society.
So how do summer camps improve your child’s social skills? They unplug your child from technology Kids are fast becoming slaves to technology. The value of personal communication and interaction has greatly been hampered by technology. Children and adults alike would rather post on social media than meet physically. They make it possible for children to unplug from technology such as apps, TVs, social media and the internet in general and interact with other children thus enhancing their social skills. In an age-integrated child care environment, the issue of inclusion is very important. Here, you are dealing with children of different needs but of similar ages. So, specialized instruction and support is needed. According to the federal law, disabled children, too, have equal rights to access child care facilities without being discriminated against. Therefore, even special needs children can access child care facilities and enjoy the relationships they find there.
If done correctly, integration can be very crucial when it comes to developing relationships among special needs children and their peers. Child care providers, as well as parents, play a critical role in ensuring this is achievable. What are the advantages of integrated child care? There are many benefits, both for the parents, and for all of the different children. Some of the benefits that can be derived from an integrated age environment include:
Despite the urgent need for parents to bring up their children themselves, there are situations whereby the parents are forced to seek out a child care service in the surrounding area. This makes it possible to continue attending to your job or daily commitments normally and pick your child at the end of the day. A good day care complements good parenting.
Raising a child who is prepared to face emotional, physical, and academic challenges is not easy and always sought the assistance of a good day care provider. In these institutions, they know what is important to develop your child's learning abilities and develop both psychologically and physically in a healthy way. The below-outlined points explain what is important your child receives in a good day care program. Brain development - It has been scientifically proven that 90% brain growths occur between the ages of zero to five. Those people who are around your kid determine how that growth takes place. Taking your child to a quality day care means he/she is around people who knows well about child development and will offer maximum support to ensure a balanced brain development. School readiness - A quality child care prepares your kind to be ready to start attending schools. These quality day care teach children how to socialize, play together, improves their communication skills. All these are skills which will help your child adapt and get along well with other kids when he/ she goes to school. Depending on which age bracket your child falls in, there are a bunch of activities to do in an after school program. These programs are mostly meant for kids who are unable or cannot go home direct after school. After school child care programs offer a wide variety of activities to children. These facilities are run by people who are well acquainted with the development process of a child and what they need to develop their cognitive abilities. You might be wondering what do your kids do in after school child care program, and you have every right to be concerned. Well, there might be a variety of activities which they do there. This depends on the policies of that particular institution but the majority of the activities they do include: 1. Snack art - Since children love snacking, they will understand better if taught some things using the snacks themselves. They can form various shapes using snacks, for example, draw trees, flowers, different shapes like triangle, circle, etc. all these snack art activities will stick better in the child’s mind rather than when shown how to do them using a book and a pen. If you live in Albany and you are wondering what to do since you have not yet got a nanny to babysit your child, you are in the best place as by the moment you are done reading this; you will have known there are many child care programs no matter the age.
A majority of day care facilities and institutions offer almost all or a majority of these programs in their system. Child care programs in Albany include: The Ideas Written About In This Blog Are Based On The Personal Opinions And Philosophies Of The Contributor Who Has Taught Elementary School For Twelve Years And Has Run A Recreational Childcare Business Since 2009. |
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