The Benefits of Routine Daycare Center Schedules
Why are schedules important for the youngest learners? Your child's daycare center has a daily, weekly, and monthly schedule. But you're not sure why toddlers or preschoolers need this structured routine. Take a look at what parents should know about the daycare routine and how a schedule can help your child to feel more comfortable in the early preschool setting.
Why Do Children In Child Care Centers Need Schedules?
Your child eagerly plays the day away at home—without much of a set schedule to follow. If your toddler or preschooler doesn't have an hour-by-hour routine at home, why do they need one in daycare? The group setting of the child care environment has a school-like quality. This helps your child to learn how to act in a group environment and can make it easier to transition into kindergarten. Like elementary school, the years your child spends in preschool are broken down into distinct periods or blocks of play and learning times.
Along with helping children to learn how to follow a schedule, a daily routine provides a sense of comfort and predictability for your child's first school experience. Your child will know what to expect and when to expect it. Your child can also use the daily schedule to learn about time and sequencing concepts. This includes the use of numbers to mark times, reading a clock, and sequencing events (before, during, and after or beginning, middle, and end).
Why Do Parents Need Child Care Schedules?
A daily or weekly schedule won't only help your child. A set routine can also benefit parents of toddlers or preschoolers in daycare. A schedule gives you a better idea of what your child will learn and do during their day in care. From specific content areas (such as art, science, music, math, or early literacy) to the amount of outdoor time the class gets each day, you won't have to rely on your child's account of what they did in "school."
A set daycare schedule can help you to prepare after-school or weekend learning and development activities for your child. Ask the teacher for a copy of the schedule. Look for ways to extend the activities or incorporate them into at-home adventures. This could include re-reading a book from in-school storytime, trying a new type of art exploration, or focusing on a classroom theme.
On a practical level, a daycare schedule can help you to plan other activities and events. If you know what time your child has specific play-times, storytimes, outdoor times, or anything else they may not want to miss, you can comfortably schedule pediatrician' appointments, dentist's visits, or extra-curricular activities without interfering with your toddler or preschooler's new school routine. For more information, contact daycare centers like A Mother's Touch Child Development Center.