Skills Children Can Learn In Childcare

Early childhood development programs have been created to help parents in teaching various communication, cognitive, social, and developmental skills to their children. These skills are crucial to nurture young minds to become more responsible and successful adults in the future.

Entrusting children to qualified childcare professionals can be advantageous not only for children, but also to their parents, who need to work full-time. Most dual-income families have conflicting working schedules, making child-rearing difficult. Luckily, childcare services are now available, and they come in different types that parents can choose from. 

What Is Childcare?

Childcare, otherwise called as daycare, pertains to the care and supervision of children. It may include one or more children aged two weeks old up to twenty years old. Childcare is a complex topic, covering a broad spectrum of institutions, professionals, and activities. Also, it involves tackling cultural and social aspects. For these reasons, this child development component should not be neglected. 

Here are the general types of childcare:

• Informal Childcare: This is also called familial caregiving or home-based care. This type of childcare involves siblings, legal guardians, and parents. One good example is the eldest child taking care of his younger siblings. 

• Formal Childcare: This is a type of paid childcare services rendered in major childcare institutions. Professionals are sought in formal childcare. These formal childcare settings include licensed childcare centers such as loloschildcare.com. They also include preschools, foster homes, and orphanages. Paid caretakers also belong to formal childcare services. 

Types Of Formal Childcare

Formal childcare services are paid services, either by the parents or subsidized by the government to help low-income families. There are many types of formal childcare, which include the following:

• Childcare Center or Long Day Care: Children who are under school age are adapted for childcare services or early childhood education. Childcare centers can be run by community organizations, local councils, private operators, employers with parent employees, and non-profit organizations. In childcare centers, early childhood developmental programs are offered and meals are also provided.

• Family Day Care: This childcare service is for children who haven’t started schooling yet. Educators and caretakers provide developmental and care activities in their homes, open for other people's children. Childcare services provided in family day care can be tailored according to the needs of the family, even outside working hours, such as overnight care.

• Pre-school Or Kindergarten: This is a planned children’s educational program before the commencement of formal schooling. The children’s ages range from 3 to 5 years old. Pre-school can take place in a wide range of settings, such as a multipurpose building, a school, in a community setting, as part of a long day care center, or a visiting or mobile service.

• Casual Care Services: Childcare services may be on a casual or regular basis. Parents can take advantage of this service when attending appointments, shopping, or during emergency situations.

• In-Home Care: This refers to childcare service provided to children in their homes by qualified in-home care educators. It’s usually subsidized by the government for families that cannot access mainstream childcare options due to variable working hours, geographical isolation, and complex family needs. 

• Nanny: In general, nanny duties are restricted to childcare. While nannies often don’t have any formal training, they usually have a good deal of childcare experience. Nanny sharing is possible, wherein two or more families can hire a nanny to take care of more than one child. 

• Babysitter: A babysitter provides part-time or irregular full time custodial care. 

Skills Children Can Learn In Childcare

Now that you’ve learned what childcare is and its types and services, it’s time to know the skills that children can learn in childcare. Because children go through fast growth and development, they need professional childcare services to ensure they grow as healthy adults. 

1. Language Development

Language is an important tool that children use to make connections, including understanding meanings, sharing feelings, and expressing their needs. It’s a useful tool to connect with other people, like their parents. They also use it to process new information, solve problems, and understand society’s expectations. 

Children learn and develop their language skills through listening, rhymes, self-reflection, and writing among other skills. Childcare providers help young children:

• Learn new words

• Learn to pronounce words

• Learn the sounds of letters

• Read and love books

2. Early Literacy

Literacy is the base level of early childhood education. It teaches children to learn the primary or first language to help them follow instructions and build other skills. Childcare educators develop effective literacy programs, reflecting the children’s developmental stages and interests. 

The skills imparted include verbal and visual identification of numbers and the letters of the alphabet. Also, it includes print awareness, phonological awareness, and building vocabulary. All of these helps prepare young children for the more robust elementary school literacy requirements. 

3. Inhibitory Control

A preschool classroom is physically engaging. Children experience a good combination of standing, dancing, sitting, and other activities. Such environment introduces children to different settings. Childcare services inculcate good learning habits to children, most especially the ability to communicate properly to the teacher and other children and focus on individual work.

4. Motor Skills

In a childcare center or preschool, children can quickly develop gross and fine motor skills. Fine motor skills refer to the ability of a child to make small muscle movements, including the hands and wrists.

On the other hand, gross motor skills pertain to the abilities that allow children to do things using their arms, legs, and other large muscles. Complete body movements promote gross motor skills.

Some of the activities provided that can help improve fine motor skills are the following:

• Writing letters 

• Drawing shapes

• Forming words

• Using tools (such as scissors and crayons), and using a PC computer.

• Social and emotional skills

Gross motor skills can be developed and enhanced with the following childcare activities:

• Dancing

• Playground play

• Hopping

• Bubble and balloon play 

• Riding scooters, toy tricycles, and pedal cars 

• Trampolines

• Obstacle courses

5. Social Skills

Children need to develop social skills in preparation for adult life. During daycare experiences, children learn socialization techniques in early play, sharing, forming friendships, taking turns, and problem solving. All of these things form the child’s foundation for establishing relationships with friends, family members, and colleagues. 

Also, social skills help children make wise career choices in the future with the influence of toys and play during childhood. Toys have immense impact during childhood, possibly influencing future job occupations. The future jobs of children will contain qualities they learned from playing toys. 

Early social skills must be fine-tuned, honed, and expanded. During childhood, the socialization building blocks start to take shape. Interacting with adults and other children in a well-supervised, structured, and safe daycare setting helps children build critical social skills quickly. 

Take a look at the following daycare benefits that help children improve their social skills: 

• Help hone a child’s communication skills.

• Teach children the importance of taking turns and sharing. 

• Provide practice to play well with others, make new friends, and be part of a team.

• Teach conflict-resolution, compromise, and problem-solving techniques.

• Encourage children to show compassion, cooperation, and inclusion.

• Ease separation anxiety.

• Teach children to listen to and respect non-parent authority figures.

• Allow children to adjust to daily school-like routines and schedules. 

6. Problem-Solving Skills

It is important for children to learn how to resolve conflict and cope with setbacks with creativity and grit. Childcare providers help children understand the concept of problem-solving using toys and other fun activities. These activities will better prepare your child to face complex interpersonal and academic issues. 

Early childhood classroom teaching involves individual and group activities, which uses sequenced steps. Children should learn how to identify problems, seek appropriate solutions, make the right choice, and evaluate the result. 

The current situation, which involves the pandemic crisis, can have a tremendous impact on children too. In-home childcare can help them express their feelings to reduce childhood stress due to school closures and better prepare them to live in the so called new normal.

Brainstorming provides children communication, cooperation, and negotiation skills. They learn how to express their individual ideas. Trying out a solution helps a child develop empathy, land to an agreement, and take accountability for every decision. In this way, children learn from their mistakes and become independent checkers of their actions. 

Here are some activities where children can learn to develop their problem-solving skills:

• How to make figured using clay and slime

• Basic baking and cooking 

• Learning how to count 

• Hide and seek

• Simple scenario problem-solving

7. Independence

Children are always on a quest to attain independence. It can be observed in children who insist on removing their diapers or who are trying to dress or spoon-feed themselves. Sending your child to a childcare facility provides plenty of opportunities to gain independence. For one, your child will eventually overcome separation anxiety or fear of being separated from you or the child’s primary care provider.

With greater independence, your child will develop skills to increase self-esteem and self-worth. Childcare activities help increase a children’s tolerance to frustration to better strengthen their coping mechanisms. Freeplay helps promote independence. Children are given freedom to play with the toys they want without undue pressure.

Here’s how childcare institutions can help promote children's independence:

• Set Predictable Routines: Establishing a consistent daily routine through childcare nurtures children’s independence. In this way, children are able to anticipate their day, better equipping them to take responsibilities. In a daycare, childcare workers set a time for children to enjoy art, play, eat, exercise, and nap. 

• Children Are Allowed To Choose: Child educators allow children to make choices, such as choosing their favorite color, toys, or food. By doing so, children feel more empowered. Children are usually given two or three options. After which, they’re praised for making a good choice. 

• Children Learn To Help: Children learn to help others in a daycare center. As they gain independence, they’re able to develop a sense of control and prevent tantrums. Child educators provide different scenarios such as doing household chores, assisting old people when crossing on the road, and helping their parents. They’re then asked how they can help others,

Childcare Workers

The training and education requirements of childcare workers vary from one state or employer to another, ranging from no formal education (like nannies) to early childhood education. In some states, they require childcare workers to have at least a high school diploma. Those with an early childhood education or any postsecondary education credential usually qualify to take higher level positions.

Here are the important things to look for when looking for a childcare worker or institution for your child:

• Licensure: Many states are now requiring childcare centers to be licensed, including childcare workers in private homes. Licensure would require the staff to pass a background check, submit a complete immunization record, and undergo and attain a minimum training requirement. You might also require a childcare worker to be nationally recognized by having a Child Development Associate or CDA credential. 

• Training: Childcare institutions require childcare workers to have extensive first aid training. It is best to hire someone who is a CPR-certified childcare worker, who will know what to do if a child suddenly choked or collapsed. Also, look for one with advanced training in child learning environments to promote better early childhood education. 

• Experience: Choose an experienced childcare worker for your child. Experienced childcare workers know how to handle stressful situations because they’re already used to it and know what course of action to apply in various scenarios.

• Pay: The median hourly pay for childcare workers in May 2019 was US$11.65. It is important to talk with your prospective childcare worker about the pay rate to avoid any issue. As much as possible, obtain a written contract or agreement, which you can also reference when it’s time to make a payment.

Conclusion

Childcare services range from informal to formal childcare institutions, such as childcare or long daycare. With the different activities provided in these institutions, children learn a lot of things. They tend to develop better language, communications, problem-solving, motor, and social skills. Childcare professionals are usually trained and licensed to provide the best childcare services, helping parents with child-rearing and enabling children’s proper growth and development.