It is Never too Late to Learn New Skills

Two factors to consider when deciding what type of childcare to use

19 September 2017

Warren Davis

Deciding whether to hire a nanny or put your child into a day care facility can be a difficult decision. Here are two factors you should consider before deciding what type of childcare is right for you and your family.

Socialisation

Socialisation is incredibly important for young children. It helps them to learn how to empathise with others, how to share, how to compromise and how to resolve conflict. Regularly interacting with their peers can also improve their communication skills and teach them how to develop friendships. These are all crucial skills that can benefit them throughout the rest of their lives.

If you decide to hire a nanny, your child will probably not have the same number of opportunities to socialise that they would have if they attended a day care centre. Whilst the nanny could, of course, take your child to local playgroup events, these would still not offer the same kind of continual, integrated socialisation that a day care facility could.

As such, if your child doesn't have other similarly-aged relatives with whom they can practice their social skills, it might be best to opt for a day care centre, instead of hiring a nanny.

One-on-one attention

Receiving one-on-one attention is another important element of healthy childhood development. Hiring a nanny whose sole aim is to engage with, and care for your child can have a hugely positive impact on their emotional and intellectual growth.

A child who receives focused attention from their carer is more likely to thrive than those who are routinely left to their own devices. This is because the carer (in this case, the nanny) will be able to identify and help them to work through any issues they may experience before these issues escalate into serious problems that hinder their development.

For example, if your child struggles to correctly identify the letters of the alphabet, their nanny would most likely notice this very early on and then promptly take measures to address the problem (by, for instance, devoting more time to reading and less time to another activity, such as visiting the local playground).

Conversely, if your child was in a day care centre, where each member of staff is usually expected to supervise and care for several children, it is possible that your child's reading difficulties could go unnoticed for several weeks or even months, at which point they might have already fallen behind in their educational progress.

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