Childcare is America is reaching an all time high. It is reported that almost 12 million children under the age of five are currently enrolled in a public or private childcare facility an average of thirty-six hours per week.
Statistics Say Childcare Providers Spend More Waking Time With Children Than Parents
In American currently, it is estimated that 62% of new mothers will return to work within six months of giving birth and that the currently number of mothers with children in childcare under the age of one is 56%.
These numbers are astronomical when you consider that the first years of a child’s life are the formative years, with research proving that these are the years crucial to the development of social, intellectual and other general development occurs.
This means that for most children, the majority of their waking hours are spent in the care of a non-family member. The childcare employee is having a larger influence on the belief structure, education and social development of the child than the child’s own parents. For many, this is a simple fact that has gone unnoticed, for many it is a choice that has no alternative. Sadly, for the children, they are missing out on the heritage, culture and history of their own family due to the high cost of living and the ongoing family need of two incomes.
Quality Childcare Can Provide Sound Foundation For America’s Children
Thankfully, with the growing demands of childcare in America, people are beginning to notice the need for quality programs that are safe, educational and enjoyable for the children. Governmental funds are being given to local governmental agencies to increase the overall awareness and educational programs for childcare providers. Childcare agencies nationwide are encouraging their employees to obtain early childhood education credits in local community colleges and universities.
As science continues to support the childcare studies that explain the importance of the early formative years in childhood, beginning at birth to age 5, society continues to increase their programs and opportunities to provide quality-learning experiences.
Teachers must increase their own learning and the learning of their peers, raising the level of expectation, to enhance the professional responsibilities of those that work in the childcare industry today. It is these educators, the early childhood teacher that will have the biggest impact on our young, working with the children during the formative years of their development.
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