If you google ‘what age should I enrol my child in care’ you’ll find a LOT of articles with a wide range of opinions on the best age, best time and best type of care for your child.
It’s important to get something out of the way at the beginning of this post: if you need or want to return to work, and you require childcare to do so, that is the right time to commence care.
Like all matters associated with parenting, you’ll find plenty of people with an opinion on the topic ranging from the elderly gentleman at the bus stop, to mummy influencers, to parenting ‘experts’ and your own family. As a parent, only you can make the decision as to what is right for you and your family.
Care at any age
High quality early learning is associated with significant benefits for children’s health and wellbeing, both now and for the rest of their lives. Quality childcare and early learning centres implement sophisticated education frameworks that support emotional control, social skills and language skills that are critical to lifelong health and success at school.
The regulations relating to long daycare take into consideration the different social and emotional needs of different age groups, and Educators working in centres are trained to meet those needs. So rest assured that at any age, your centre can provide stimulation and engagement for your child that meets their particular needs for attachment, social engagement, physical activity and cognitive development.
Typical ages for commencing care
The Australian Institute of Family Studies prepares research based on longitudinal data, including an analysis of the age of formal care commencement. The most recent report considering care commencement ages found that the percentage of children aged birth – 1 in formal care was 16%, which increased dramatically between the ages of 2-3 (58%) and again for 4-5 year olds (93%) (Baxter, 2015).
Reasons for commencing care
Looking at the same research, the primary reason for children commencing formal care was parental employment (66%), followed by child-related reasons (like developmental and social benefits) at 23%, and finally parent-related or other reasons (for example, ‘giving parents a break’) at 11% (Baxter, 2015).
The effects of commencing formal care early
There is older research from overseas linking early and extensive use of formal care with adverse effects, whilst noting that better outcomes are associated with high quality care programs (Harrison, 2008). It’s important to differentiate that research from more recent Australian longitudinal studies that found minimal differences in social-emotional development between children in formal care compared with those who are not (Harrison, 2008). Indeed, the Australian research goes on to note a trend towards ‘childcare ha[ving] a positive rather than a negative effect on children’s social and emotional wellbeing’ (Harrison, 2008).
Quality is the name of the game
It is important to emphasise that the Australian results are associated with high quality care. Australia has much higher standards of care than other countries following the introduction of the National Quality Framework, however as a parent it is still important to look out for specific features that characterise high quality care:
- care givers’ level of education
- experience and specialised training/qualifications
- the number of children in each group
- the number of adult caregivers in each group
- carer-child interactions
- language stimulation
- the extent to which relationships between adults and children are warm and supportive
(Harrison, 2008)
Need further advice or have more questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out to the team on enquiries@futuro.nsw.edu.au!