The benefits of daycare for child development

A group of French researchers from the Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health (iPLESP) and the University of Bordeaux conducted research to assess the impact daycare would have on the emotional and social development of children. Let's find out what happened.

The survey, published in the Journal of Epimediology & Community Health, analyzed data from 1,428 children already participating in the Eden Study focused on assessing various factors related to health and development in the first years of life. 

Using these data, the researchers analyzed the emotional development of children from birth to 8 years old and studied the responses provided by parents to questionnaires completed when the children were 3, 5 and 8 years old.

At the end of the evaluation, children who attended daycare as children had fewer behavioral and emotional problems than their peers who grew up with grandparents or babysitters.

Children who attended daycare were less at risk of developing:

• peer relationship issues;
• low prosocial behaviors;
• emotional development issues;
• behavior problems at school.

Children going to kindergarten are safer

Although mothers continue to feel guilty for this kind of abandonment they cause to the child, it is essential to point out that this is a very important evolutionary step, which allows the umbilical cord to be cut, and to make her child more confident and determined.

Daycare promotes learning skills

Studies in Europe and the rest of the world show that children who attend daycare are more likely to succeed in establishing themselves in life, because they have the right tools to know themselves and the outside world.

It makes children more sociable and stimulated

Although parents, grandparents and babysitters take care to promote the psychophysical well-being of the child, often the excessive age gap between the child and the educational reference figures does not sufficiently stimulate learning.

Often, the child is left in front of the television, tablet or smartphone for a long time, which has the consequence that he tends to isolate himself. It is not by negligence, but because commitments, fatigue and lack of ideas arise.

Comparing and interacting with children his age is key to catapulting you into the world and learning to relate to it.

Small contrasts as a source of wealth for growth

From a pedagogical point of view, from 18 to 36 months the child develops a better ability to manage conflicts with his peers. This is why it is important that he is not isolated, but that he is measured daily by the experience of himself and of the other.

The child at the grandparents or at the babysitter knows that he can get what he wants, because adults tend to please him. At daycare, compared to his peers, this is of course not the case.

No longer being the undisputed star of attention is undoubtedly the first factor in getting to know yourself and sharing your life experiences with your peers.

Mediating, making compromises, waiting your turn, sharing: so many essential experiences to grow well and learn to live in the world.