Regarding child care, parents and day care workers should pay attention to essential aspects of a child’s growth to ensure they accelerate at a healthy pace without being excessively forceful on the child. Sometimes, parents might feel overwhelmed choosing activities that could efficiently nurture the child’s vital areas of development, including cognitive skills.
Cognitive development helps children think independently and explore to resolve problems in front of them. These skills are crucial for making sense of their circumstances, affecting their disposition and problem-solving ability. Aside from parents, day care workers could make a safe space for children to develop their cognitive skills to help them find success growing up.
However, some methods to do so might be stressful for the children, becoming counterproductive. Licensed day cares should use appropriate strategies based on proven research and age-appropriate activities. Day cares could also initiate fun quality interactions that are easy to replicate within their facilities, including the following:
- Starting “why’ conversations with the children
- Taking recreational trips to museums and other educational activities to stimulate the child’s interest
- Supervising the child’s exposure to age-appropriate books and puzzles
- Singing and reading
- Providing the children with toys that encourage the use of cognitive skills
Parents and day care facilitators could also interact with children, promoting independent decision-making. Even small choices help children practice being thoughtful when deciding for themselves.
Maintaining standards in day cares
Aside from using current and research-based methods to help children flourish, day cares must meet specific standards to maintain their licenses and avoid revocation. These requirements could concern various parts of a day care’s daily operations, including sanitation, enrolment limits and proper provisions for the children.
However, day cares could protect their licenses amid accusations of committing violations by seeking sound legal counsel. Doing so could help clarify any misconceptions and navigate the process efficiently.