Daycare can be a positive experience for a child. With over sixty-five percent of women with children younger than six years of age working, daycare is essential.

Parents are concerned as to whether the experience will be a good one for their child or if their child will develop habits contrary to what they have been taught at home.

To make sure your child will have a positive experience, you should carefully screen the daycare center before you enroll your child. You should make sure that your child will receive the attention and education they need go grow. The ratio of teacher to child should be low so that your child will receive attention and not have to fight for it. If this happens, it could be a situtation that carries over to their enrollment in school.

Interaction with other children will prepare your child for their first encounter in school. Your child will get used to playing with other children and working with them. They benefit from learning self-control and sharing. They learn to make friends. Their horizons and their world are expanded to include other people and different types of activities. A daycare center is a less restrictive environment than the formal classroom. But by having this experience, your child will probably make an easier transition into the traditional classroom.

If the daycare center you select offers academic programs as many do now, your child will benefit enormously from this learning. Many teach basic skills such as the alphabet and numbers for preschoolers. As a parent you can reinforce this learning at home and your child will be prepared for kindergarten or the first grade. Structured programs such as this teach your child to listen and to accept information.

When a child has been with you for most of their life, there is separation anxiety when they are away from you for a long period of time. Another benefit to consider is that if your child has been enrolled in a daycare center, there will be less anxiety when the child enrolls in school.

Once your child enters kindergarten or the first grade and attends a program at a daycare center after school, there are some centers that help children with their homework. Some daycare centers offer after school activities such as gymnastics, ballet, or scout meetings.

It is important that you as a parent follow the progress of your child while they are enrolled in a daycare center. If your child is a baby or toddler, you want to make sure that their feeding times and nap schedules are adhered to. If your child is three to five years of age and the daycare center provides an academic program, you will want to keep track of your child's progress.

When you pick your child up from the daycare center, they will want to discuss their day with you. They will want to tell you about their friends, about their activities, and what they learned. As a parent, it is important that you show a definite interest in your child's activities. Let them know through words and body language how pleased you are with what they are accomplishing.

Reinforcing your child's experiences at the daycare center will have a positive effect on the child.