It is the parents’ responsibility to make sure that they meet their child’s everyday needs. That is why they go to work hours a day just to make money and provide for the family. However, if they have young kids, they will need someone to take care and look after their children. Doing this could be scary, so they have to be careful in choosing. Good thing that we have childcare centres around town where we could entrust our children.
At Chiltern House Child Care Centre, lessons cater to children from infants to kindergarten. The school is notable for their primary school focused curriculum, so do check them out if you want to prepare your child for primary school well.
Sarah Jane Glynn, Jane Farrell, and Nancy Wu will tell us about the importance of preschool and childcare for working mothers.
The Importance of Preschool and Child Care for Working Mothers
In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama made a historic pledge to provide universal, high-quality pre-K education to our nation’s children. He chose to make this one of his administration’s priorities with good reason: Early childhood education has myriad benefits, including better, more equitable long-term outcomes for children of divergent economic backgrounds. Moreover, investments in these programs help cultivate a future workforce, secure long-term economic competitiveness, and develop our nation’s future leaders. Universal high-quality pre-K and child care would also throw a much-needed raft to families across America that are struggling to stay afloat while footing costly child care bills, missing work to provide care, or sending their children—our nation’s future innovators and workforce—to low-quality care centers. Read more here.
According to what we have read, parents have basically three options. First, parents can stay at home and care for their children themselves. Second, parents can pay for child care out of pocket. The third option for families is to use federal- or state-funded child care, but access to any publicly funded program, let alone a high-quality program, is very limited. Nevertheless, it is really proven that childcare centres have provided a big help for parents.
Next, Childcare Aware will give us steps that will help us find a childcare for our children.
Finding child care can be a difficult task, but following these steps can help:
- Start Early
Start looking as far in advance as you can. If you are expecting a new baby, begin researching your options now! Depending on where you live, you may need to get on a wait list even before your baby is born. No matter what type of care you are considering – a child care center or care in someone else’s home – finding the right child care option can take some time.
- Make a Call
Begin your search by calling your local experts – your Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agency (search for yours here). CCR&Rs can give you the facts about child care and a list of child care options in your area that may meet your needs. Make sure to ask your CCR&R:
- Will all of the child care providers on my referral list be licensed by the state?
- How can I get information about complaints and licensing violations against child care programs?
- Is there a quality rating system for child care where I live? If so, how can I find rated child care providers?
- Does my family qualify for any child care financial assistance programs? Read more here.
One of the things you could do is to consult people and ask about the childcare centres around your area. You should ask questions about the adult-child ratio, group size, caregiver qualifications, turnover, and accreditation. Nowadays, parents are already worried about overcrowding. CHAI HUNG YIN will tell us more about it. Let us read below.
Parents worry about overcrowding, standard of care in bigger childcare centres
Is bigger better?
With childcare centres of the future set to take in as many as 300 to 500 children, that question is on some parents’ minds.
While some laud the move to ease demand for childcare at areas concentrated with young families, others are concerned about whether the standard of care can be maintained.
On March 13, Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing mentioned during the ministry’s debate in Parliament that the Government is helping anchor operators develop bigger childcare centres and provide an additional 2,400 new places over the next few years.
This is beyond the original target of adding 20,000 childcare places between 2013 and 2017. Read more here.
They are actually planning to add or expand more childcare centres. This is actually good because we can avoid overcrowding. There will also be more choices for parents. In enrolling our children to childcare centres, we should think about all of these. If we don’t plan well, our money would just go to waste and our children would suffer. This step should be planned well because it will for you and your child’s benefit.