Depending on the parent, children can either be a continuous blessing or a constant source of stress. While outlooks may not change, your children certainly will as the first five years are believed to be some of the most essential from a developmental standpoint; in this time children’s brains are growing at an exponential rate as they are able to absorb more knowledge at this time than they will at any other point in their life. Although many parents want to be around at every second to experience this crucial time in their child’s life, the adult world has a tendency to get in the way with responsibilities and jobs. Less than one out of every three children today have a full-time stay at home parent, making the need for professional and experienced child care services all the more pressing.

Daycare and Early Childhood Education

Never before has the question of who is watching your children been so relevant. Hidden cameras have revealed thief, negligence, and even child abuse in the past from once-trusted child care providers and babysitters. Even to this day, organized facilities take care of only around a quarter of childcare arrangements. Since the average preschooler spends around 36 hours a week in a childcare facility, many parents are concerned whether a center is qualified. After school programs, daycares, early learning centers, and other forms of childcare are required to abide by state standards; this usually means that each facility has a quality rating that helps parents make a more informed decision regarding who is watching their child.

Define Your Daycare

For those looking to establish their own childcare service, or for those looking to improve an existing childcare service, it benefits to have some kind of defining philosophy. Early childhood education programs teach students a number of different teaching philosophies that place an emphasis on how children receive information and how the day ought to be organized. Montessori education, for instance, gives agency to the child which allows each individual child to have freedom within limits to explore, create, and learn in their environment. There are a number of philosophies with different forms of emphasis; child cares that adopt such an educational position can transcend the over-crowded classification of daycare as they redefine themselves as early learning centers. With more research on the benefits of early learning programs being done every year, many parents are choosing to place their children in childcare services that place an emphasis on education rather than traditional babysitting.

Modern Daycare Software Programs

Many daycares start out small and grow exponentially as word of mouth spreads. To this end, many growing daycares can benefit from up-to-date software systems that can handle daycare payments, manage enrollment, and send information out to parents. These daycare management programs are specially designed to fit the needs of daycares while helping to handle daycare payments; this gives parents the option to pay in plans, with debit or credit cards, or through government support. By switching to professional daycare management software, small daycares have seen a spike in attendance rates — this is contributed to the ability of these systems to handle daycare payments, as the payment structure may be the sole factor in determining whether a parent can afford to send their child to that child care provider. As technology and business alike continues to advance forward, small daycares can continue to stay relevant so long as they invest in up to date software and high quality levels of care.