When your child begins child care in Gaithersburg MD, it’s likely that you’re focus is just to get them through that phase of their life – typically until they move to a higher learning environment. However, it may benefit the child greatly if there’s also a focus, at home, on some of the challenges and opportunities that awaits the child down the line. Doing so may help them more successfully integrate into the bold new post child-care world.
Building Blocks for Social Integration
As your child enters a professional child caring environment, experienced staff follow a scientifically-proven curriculum that ensures they equip the child with all required social skills for future success. There are, however, several soft skills that young children can begin learning even at home. As parents and primary care givers, it’s important for you to introduce some of them to your child as early as possible – from infancy to their toddling years, and through to their preschool ages. Some of these include:
· Character traits: Instilling good manners in a young child sets him/her up for good behavior later in life. Teach your child to say “please”, when they need something; and train them to express gratitude by saying “thank you” when someone assists them in any way. Teaching them to greet people with a “Hello” or “Good morning” also helps to build character.
· Day-to-day interactions: As children grow older, and move from child care in Gaithersburg Maryland to higher social or learning settings, they’ll interact more frequently with peers, and others in those environments. To help them successfully adapt to, and transition into, those new settings, it’s vital that they begin to learn some of the norms from their future environment. Begin by addressing the child by their name; and encourage them to interact with others by using names too. Also, teaching them to use appropriate and respectful titles (Mister, Miss, Sir etc.) will help them with their future social interactions.
· Assertiveness: One of the most important social traits, that you may impart to your child at home, is assertiveness. Teaching them when to politely say “No!”, “Stop!” or “That’s wrong!” can go a long way to instill a sense of assertiveness, even as they play, learn, cooperate, or interact with peers and fellow child-care students.
These skills not only build confidence among children who attend child care, but they also create the building blocks required for future successful social integration. And, although center staff do their part to equip each child with what it takes, caregivers at home can facilitate that process through their own words, actions and examples.
Empowering Young Kids
Children attending child care in Gaithersburg Maryland benefit from these, and a host of additional social skills and life-aids, in a carefully monitored environment. The centers organize the curriculum so kids learn many of the soft skills they’ll use later in life. The child care centers also focus on additional development and learning areas, including Social-Emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive, Literacy, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Social Studies, the Arts and English Language Acquisition. This empowers your child with a well-rounded set of experiences to begin the next leg of their learning journey.
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