Importance of Day Care in Kensington

In Kensington, a majority of children under the age of 5 attend daycare. After their families, it is an environment that has the most influence on their learning and development, especially if the child care setting is good. This is how quality educational childcare contributes to the development of toddlers.

The different types of childcare services

There are two types of child care in Kensington: educational child care recognised by the Kensington Ministry of Families under the Educational Childcare Act and unlicensed child care. Licensed educational childcare providers have an obligation to provide an educational program for children. Others can also provide an educational program for children, but they are not required to do so.

Licensed educational childcare services include:

·         Early childhood centres (CPE).

·         Subsidised and unsubsidised child care.

·         Family childcare services Licensed by a coordinating office.

Unlicensed childcare services include

·         Family childcare services not Licensed by a coordinating office.

·         Community organisations, such as drop-in centres, that provide temporary child care.

·         School daycare services.

·         Day camps.

The effect of quality child care on learning

Before five years of age, children’s brains develop rapidly. Thus, toddlers are very receptive to stimulation that is to say to the different experiences they live each day (e.g., playing, being rocked, talking with their parents, going for a walk in the park, etc.). The moments spent in an educational daycare service add to the stimulation offered by the family. This is why they can also have a positive effect on the development and learning of toddlers.

Several studies have, in fact, demonstrated the benefits of educational childcare on children’s learning and development, especially for toddlers from disadvantaged backgrounds and for those with a difficult temperament. For example, it seems that children from bad backgrounds who have attended a quality educational childcare service (e.g., daycare) are less likely to be developmentally vulnerable (e.g., social, emotional, motor, language and cognitive) at the time of entering kindergarten than those who have not attended such a service.

Other studies have shown that child care that offers a play-oriented educational program prepares children well for daycare Kensington learning because it helps them develop different skills.

In addition, toddlers who attend a quality educational childcare service would later have better mathematical skills and would less use special education services. Learning to live in a group as well as to follow routines and rules at daycare is also an asset for the school.

Experts have not determined an ideal age to start attending educational child care. However, it seems that there is no problem for a child to start early (e.g. around one year) if the environment is good.

All the effects mentioned above depend above all on the quality of the educational childcare service. However, surveys carried out in recent years reveal that there are issues in terms of the educational quality offered in childcare settings. The surveys, carried out in 2020, reveal for example that, overall, the educational childcare services are of acceptable quality, with the exception of daycare nurseries, which are of good quality.

Having a quality child care setting has positive effects on children’s learning and development.

The presence of a trained educator, warm and attentive to the needs of the child is one of the characteristics of a quality childcare service.

Toddlers who go to a quality educational childcare services, such as Busy Bees day care in Kensington, have many opportunities to learn and develop, among other things, in terms of language, social skills and motor skills.