May 2015

Daycare and preschool, especially universal preschool, is one of those “hot button” issues where there will always be some debate. Does it work? Is it good for children? Who pays? Part of the problem with issues like early childhood education is that we will probably never have enough hard data points to satisfy everyone. Also, studies to measure the impact of early education on children’s adult lives take a really, really long time!

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I recently organized a child care seminar for parents and parents-to-be. The goal was to have an open discussion so that parents could bring all of their child care related questions, worries, hopes, and fears to the table. During the seminar, I realized the differences between child care centers and family child care (also referred to as home-based daycare) were unclear for a lot of families. I was also asked which environment was the best, child care center vs home daycare. My answer was simple: no option is intrinsically better than the other.

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Being a great child care provider or preschool teacher is a tough job that doesn’t usually get the type of social respect it should. Let alone the let alone the financial reward it should!

Throw in a demanding and sometimes fussy bunch of parents (and oh yeah, their kids), and you will find classrooms led by the few, the proud, the brave, the amazing caregivers and preschool teachers!

But wait:

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Never heard of National Child Care Provider Appreciation Day? Not on our watch! It’s every year, the last Friday before Mother’s Day, so it’s coming up. Consider yourself warned. Do your homework and organize something for your child’s child care provider or preschool teacher.

There are quite a few tongue-in-cheek “appreciation days” out there. Today, for example, is Star Wars Day – May the 4^th be with you! But you really should take this Friday seriously: Besides family members, your child care provider is probably the single most important person in your child’s life.

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