Did you know that your child’s brain develops more from birth-to-three years than throughout the rest of his or her life? These early years are particularly important in your child’s development because 700 new neural connections are formed every second. Since you want what’s best for your child, to guide them to be all they can be, enrolling them in a local child care center can make a major difference.
Day Care Centers and Story Time
Were you read to as a child? If so, you probably create the time to read to your own children. If not, did you know that reading helps to stimulate brain development? Unfortunately, research shows that only 50% of infants and toddlers are read to regularly by their parents, so before you enroll your child in a local child care center, be sure to find out if story time is a regular activity.
Some Recent Findings
Approximately 23.4% of children under the age of five receive some form of organized child care. This includes arrangements such as a day care center, nursery school or preschool. While there are just 10.2 million children attending after-school programs, there are another 19.4 million children whose parents would have them attend if a program were available.
The Need for Affordable Daycare
If affordable daycare isn’t available in your area, you’re not alone. Currently, only about 22% of children from low-income families receive federally subsidized child care. If you work full-time and have a kindergarten-aged child, then it becomes even more difficult to find arrangements. This is due, in part, to the fact that only 6-out-of-10 kindergarten programs in the United States are open for full-day enrollees.
A 2014 Pew Research Center report found that families earning less than $18,000 per year were spending approximately 40% of their income on childcare. In contrast, families with a significantly higher income only paid 7.2% of their annual income. It’s not surprising that more than two-thirds of Americans agree the government, as well as local businesses, should–and could–be doing more to help fund child care for working parents.
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The Importance of Keeping Your Child Engaged
Despite your best efforts and intentions as a parent, there are just so many hours in a day. Just a generation ago, more than half of all children in the United States had a stay-at-home parent, usually their mother. Currently, however, fewer than one-in-three children have a full-time, stay-at-home parent.
Did you know that approximately 11.3 million children take care of themselves after school? This is a staggering figure when considering the impact it can have on a child’s emotional, social, and educational growth. According to the Ounce of Prevention Fund, children who do not receive a quality preschool education face these potential risks :
- 25% are more likely to drop out of high school
- 40% are more likely to be a teen parent
- 60% are more likely not to attend college
- 70% are more likely to be arrested for committing a violent crime
Make a Difference in Your Child’s Life
Yes, it may feel like an overwhelming task to locate a child care center in your area; however, you should be able to locate resources to assist you with this. Just one possible resource is a local daycare service that may be able to give you a referral to a child care center.
Once your child begins attending a child care center, you will know that you’re doing your best to ensure they receive a good start.
