Child care and early childhood education serve a critical role in our society. It is about nurturing and educating children from day one and allowing parents to work to provide for their families. From the moment your baby is born, they are learning crucial skills through interaction with the world around them. These early years, from birth to age five, are the most important in a child’s development, and quality early childhood education can have long-lasting positive benefits. Quality early childhood education programs have even been linked to improved adult health!

As your child’s first teacher, you can fill every day with opportunities to help them learn. Try incorporating learning into everyday activities:

• • Read with your child every day – beginning when they are born!
  • Point out and talk with your child about the names, colors, shapes, numbers, sizes, and quantities of objects in the environment around you.
  • Listen and respond to your child as they learn to communicate.
  • Practice counting together

Thank you to the National Institute for Child Health and Development for this great information. Visit their website for more tips and helpful videos!

Why is Quality Child Care Important?

As a parent, you want to support your child’s health, happiness, and development—choosing quality child care is an excellent way to do this! What children experience in their early years shapes their brains; high-quality child care programs feature enriched experiences that are linked to greater achievement and success in school and life.

Quality Child Care:

• • promotes positive social and emotional skills.
  • have positive impacts on how children learn, think, develop, and behave.
  • encourages curiosity and cultivates a love of learning.
  • prepares children for school and beyond.

Quality child care offers positive learning experiences and nurturing relationships with trusted adults who understand child development. A quality child care setting will have caregivers who understand and know how to meet your child’s physical, emotional, and developmental needs.

Child Care Aware of Virginia wants to help you choose a quality child care provider who meets your needs!  CLICK HERE or give us a call at 1-800-KIDS-TLC to receive a customized referral list!

PLEASE NOTE…Child Care Aware of Virginia provides referrals to child care providers and information about child care programs. We do not recommend, endorse, regulate, or monitor child care. Parents are encouraged to visit and interview providers before making a final decision about their child care.