The Advantages of Child Care Centers

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“In 2002 63% of children under age five were placed in some type of non-maternal child care setting” (Peng and Robbins, 1). This large percentage is due to the fact that many families especially child bearing women have no choice but to work in order to support their growing family. Therefore the parents have the option of enrolling their children into a type of non-maternal or family based childcare facility. Even though this may what’s more convenient for most parents, there’s still a lot of thought that goes into deciding what center will offer your child the most, developing wise. “Experts agree that the first three to five years of life lay the foundation of each individual’s personality, belief systems, and ways of seeing and being in the world” (Olds, 8). So, many parents would agree that finding the right center for their child is a very big deal.

One type of childcare that many are familiar with is non-maternal. “Non-maternal care is defined as the care of a child by someone other than the child’s mother for at least 10 hours a week on a regular basis” (Peng and Robbins, 9). The purpose of all, if not most childcare centers is to provide children with the appropriate care and education that will prepare them for the next level of education. Seeing as “six out of every ten mothers of children under age six are employed” there is definitely a need and possibly a demand for childcare centers (Lynn, 2). There is, however, one big mistake people often make when thinking of childcare. Childcare and daycare, no matter how similar they may seem, are not the same. A daycare is simply there to take care and watch over the child, while childcare centers act more as the school before actual grade school by prepping kids ...

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...s. Childcare is by far the best choice for any parent who wants to give their child the best opportunity available for them at such a young age.

Works Cited

"For Parents - Care Choices - Advantages / Disadvantages." Child Care Resources of King

County, Washington | Information and Referral Services for Child Care in Seattle. Web.

25 Apr. 2011. homes.htm>. Lynn, Jacquelyn. Child-care Service. Irvine, CA: Entrepreneur, 2001. Print.

Olds, Anita Rui. Child Care Design Guide. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. Print.

Peng, Duan, and Philip K. Robins. "Who should care for our kids? The effects of infant child

care on early child development." Journal of Children & Poverty 16.1 (2010): 1-45.

Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.

Queen, Patricia. Personal Interview. 7 April 2011

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