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Date Posted: 8th November
Categories: Nursery
Deciding whether to send your child to nursery is a big decision for parents. Attending nursery is often the first education your child will receive before they embark on their life at school.
You may be at the stage where you are deciding whether to send your child to nursery or an alternative childcare arrangement and want to understand the options that you have.
Read on to learn more about the benefits of nursery education for your child and what the other options are, to help make your decision easier.
Nursery is brilliant for your child’s self-confidence and independence, because it will most likely be the first time your child will spend time outside of your family unit. This allows your child to develop confidence in themselves and their own abilities, as they tackle a variety of tasks and learn their way in the world as their own person.
Other benefits of nursery include your child being prepared for school.
At nursery, your child will learn new skills quickly, such as being taught how to complete basic tasks, including how to write their name and being introduced to subjects such as mathematics.
Through nursery education, your child will already be ahead in learning everyday skills, meaning the transition to school will be much smoother and more seamless for them.
There is no doubt that mixing with other children is brilliant for a child’s development, which is why attending nursery is great for improving your child’s social skills. Nursery is a fantastic place for making friends, with lots of other children on the same exciting new adventure of going to nursery.
Also, attending nursery allows children to have a greater understanding of the outside world, as they mix with other children outside of their family unit and learn about other people’s feelings, cultures, and ways of life.
Another benefit of nursery is that it gives your child the chance to explore a range of indoor and outdoor activities. We all know that young children can be very energetic, so going to nursery allows them time to burn off some steam, explore the outside world and enjoy the freedom of being outside!
Likewise, your child can get involved in a variety of indoor activities to help them learn new skills and develop their inquisitiveness.
Nursery practitioners are quality members of staff, meaning that they know exactly how to support your child and what they need to aid their learning and development.
Nursery staff help foster a focused learning development for your child, providing them with the structure that serves as great preparation for their later school life.
Another big advantage of nursery is that it teaches children to share.
At nursery, children are of a similar age, meaning that they all have their own personalities and ways of interacting with one another. By being encouraged to share toys and learn the importance of sharing, this helps them to make friends and learn how to play and interact with other children fairly and nicely.
Other benefits of going to nursery is that it helps develop your child’s emotional intelligence.
By being around other children at a young age, your child will learn the personal skills about how to interact with other children. They will very quickly understand that each child has their own thoughts and feelings that might be different from their own.
Making friends is important for any child, so having the emotional intelligence to empathise with others is arguably one of the most vital social and everyday skills that your child can have.
Attending nursery helps to boost your child’s immunity, as they will be mixing with other children that will inevitably pick up a few germs along the way.
Also, your child will be engaging in fun activities outdoors, boosting their physical stamina and spending quality time outside.
There is no doubt that there a range of benefits of nursery for your child, but what about for you as a parent?
If you are used to your child being at home all the time, it is very easy to get stuck in a routine where you do not actually spend much quality family time together.
Sending your child to nursery gives you the opportunity to really value the quality time you spend with your child when they are not at nursery, which in turn would strengthen your family bond. Plus, it also gives you some restorative quality ‘you’ time.
Since the Covid 19 pandemic, many businesses have adopted home or hybrid working, and when you add children to the mix, it can sometimes lead to a very disruptive and noisy home working environment.
From a parent’s perspective, sending your child to nursery would allow you the peace of mind that you would have an uninterrupted and calm home working environment, allowing you the chance to properly concentrate.
Other benefits of nursery include the fact that you can be assured that your child will be looked after if you need to juggle your home and work life.
If you find yourself having to work late or need to leave early for business, finding a nursery that accommodates hours beyond the standard school day will allow both you and your child to have more structure. This will allow you to know that your child will be cared for, enabling you to focus on your work.
Whilst we have discussed the benefits of nursery, there are other options available to your child too, such as pre-school, playschool and childminding. But what are the differences between them?
Children attend playschool for just a few hours per day. Playschool is focused on play-based learning.
Unlike nursery and playschool, childminders look after children in their own home.
Unlike playschool, nurseries can offer extended opening hours and tend to be open for longer during the year, allowing you the flexibility to fit your child’s school life around your work commitments.
When deciding the next step for your child, you need to carefully consider the type of environment that is best for your child, as well as which option works best with the demands of your home and work life.
All of the above childcare options have their benefits, you just need to spend time working out which one is right for you and your child.
If after reading the benefits of going to nursery you have decided that nursery is the best place for your child to learn and grow, then find out more about our Wycliffe Nursery Class.
Your child can attend our nursery as soon as they are three years old, no matter what time of the year that is. We offer both full-time and part-time sessions to fit in with your needs as a family.
At Wycliffe, we foster the development of young children through play, teaching them educational content in a fun, age-appropriate way.
We have Early Years Foundation Stage experts that tailor their approach based on the needs of each individual child, meaning that your child would have an extremely strong foundation to their education.
Take a look at what a typical day in The Nursery Class at Wycliffe looks like for our children.
If you are looking for a nursery in Gloucestershire that can provide your child with the chance to make friends, enjoy the outdoors and really grow in a structured, play-led environment, then do not hesitate to get in contact with us today.
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