Becoming A Better Professional

Are you trying to find a daycare for your child, and want assistance with finding a good one? If so, it will help to know what to look for when it comes to a daycare's overall philosophy.

Movement

Movement is crucial for a great learning environment, which applies to both children and adults. Think of how you respond when you get a new tool or gadget. You need to move and play with it in your hands to learn how to use it properly. The same can be said for children at a very young age. They need to explore materials with their hands in order to learn and grow. Look at how the daycare incorporates movement on a daily basis. Ask yourself if the classroom environment is set up for movement with stations for children to move and play, or is it more set up for desk activities? 

Choice

It's also important that children choose the things that they want to do. Choosing can give children control over what they are learning, and even improves their learning because they have interest in it. Compare this to a situation where a child is given material to learn without a choice, and they do not want to do it. Without choice, they may not take the initiative and learn as well as they can in a daycare environment. To learn more about choice, you can ask the daycare facility about how they kids get to decide on the activities they do, and what kind of structure if given to help them decide. 

Self-Motivation

You also should look at how your child will be motivated in the activities that they do. At a young age, it is possible that rewards can hinder a child's learning. Even if they are given a sticker for accomplishing a task, that reward can change the child's motivation and cause problems with them learning from their task. The problem comes when the reward is removed in the future, because their motivation can drop. A daycare that encourages self motivation is going to create a better learning environment for your child. Ask the daycare facility how they reward the children during learning and play activities to figure out how they handle rewards. 

These are just a few key things that you should look for when selecting a daycare for your child. Hopefully, you'll be able to narrow down a daycare that can provide a great learning environment.