It is not easy being a preschool teacher. Parents may need to be fully aware of the often tricky task of juggling administrative duties with teaching and trying to stay current with changing trends in the childcare industry. In addition, as the industry evolves, early childhood educators must keep up to better serve and prepare the children they care for and their parents. This article will examine a handful of the most exciting trends and explain what they mean to children in schools, daycares, parents, and early childhood educators.
Technology Takes Center Stage
We already know that new technology and advancements have changed how we do many things. But did you know it has also greatly impacted how childcare providers deliver their services? Technology plays many roles in today’s contemporary child care center, from providing improved communication tools so parents can become more engaged to video access to classrooms to check in on what is happening during their work day. Then there is the administrative end, where technology has increased teacher productivity with clerical, scheduling, and lesson-planning tools.
Flexibility In Operation
If there was anything we learned from the COVID pandemic, childcare service was too rigid for many families during a crucial transitional period. To accommodate changes in working parent schedules and budgets, childcare providers have become innovative in meeting the needs of today’s working parents. In some cases, this means a flexible teaching schedule to offer childcare options for less than five days per week or different hours of operation for shift workers, including late nights or overnight. In addition, that flexibility has extended into the administrative part of childcare service to permit families to use payment plans or offer other arrangements to help them cover costs.
More Child Care Options Exist
Parents today have a lot of choices available to them when it comes to child care. Traditional centers or home providers are just part of the puzzle. Depending on a parent’s specific needs, there are babysitters, parent night-out services, childcare co-ops, and hourly drop-in care. Plus, many parents find that different forms of child care are effective for different-aged children and depending on their needs. For example, infants may do well with a nanny or a dedicated in-home babysitter. Toddlers could respond well to in-home childcare services or childcare centers that provide an early learning curriculum. Parents of preschoolers may find a childcare center a good fit. These innovative options have assisted parents in seeking different options for their families.
Safety Has Become Paramount
It is essential to credit the safety protocols that became mandatory during the pandemic for focusing on the need for a safe and secure setting for children to learn. Parents can rest easy knowing their chosen childcare provider is working hard to improve safety measures. These range from video security cameras to streamlining check-in and check-out procedures to identify the appropriate identification of the child and parent and include additional employee background checks. Early childhood educators are also gathering more accurate medical and dietary information, including child allergies, to provide a personalized care setting focusing on child safety.
Child Care Has Become Early Education
Research has shown that childcare-aged children can learn the fundamentals of early education. If you took a closer look at the standard childcare curriculum, you would see that it teaches how to share, take turns, basic numbers and letters, colors, shapes, and various other life skills that they will carry well into preschool, K-12, and adulthood. In addition, learning basic academics also prepares young children for the transition into formal schooling. Therefore, it makes child care more valuable than just babysitting. As a result, educators are receiving training to help them better serve parents by teaching their children simple but essential fundamentals that will aid in a successful transition to preschool or kindergarten.
Corporate Child Care Becomes An Incentive
Working parents need more time to juggle work and life. With many employees still working from home or using a hybrid schedule that combines office time with remote work, finding childcare providers who can accommodate such a schedule can be challenging, especially on short notice. However, many corporations recognize this need and have created in-house childcare services. The quality is good, the classroom setting is top-notch, and parents like taking their children to work and leaving them in the care of a professional childhood educator. In-house child care has also proven to help companies attract and retain quality staff.
Kid-Friendly Hotels Offer Child Care
In addition to being offered at the workplace, parents can enjoy vacation time a little more, knowing that childcare service is available during the summer holidays. Just as companies use on-site early education services to attract employees, many hotel chains have found that offering this service increases family room rentals. Some of the offerings are good, as well. Depending on the hotel, children can enjoy field trips, special movie nights, art and crafting activities, and much more, while parents want a night out alone. Therefore, it has made vacation planning much easier for families traveling to a holiday destination together.
The Demand For Child Care Keeps Growing
Because there has been such a shift in work schedules for working parents, the childcare industry has received a lot of pressure. However, when things were looking bleak for the pre-pandemic industry, there was a severe turnaround where the demand for childcare services increased. Therefore, it is encouraging for service providers struggling to maintain their service during the pandemic. As a result, more childcare centers are opening or re-opening, and more adults consider early childhood education a viable career choice, especially parents with young children. Parents are fortunate these days to have access to so many service providers.
Trends are different from fads. Fads tend to have short lifespans, where trends soon become commonplace as they introduce innovation and need. In the childcare industry, evolution has resulted in adopting several new trends that have enhanced how and where childcare service is delivered. Today’s parents have a lot of positive changes to thank for the improvements that have taken place in the childcare industry, making the service more attractive to both children and families and beneficial for early childhood educators.
Sandra Chiu works as Director at LadyBug & Friends Daycare and Preschool.