Childcare Kapiti, Early child daycare kindergarten Paraparaumu

When your children are between the ages of newborns to five year olds, there always comes a stage when you – as the parent - have to consider putting your child into care. Generally the reason for this is that both the parents need to return back to work in order to make a living for their family. As hard as this may be for some parents, it has to be done, so that their children can begin to grow and learn new things. When putting your child into care, there are three main options for you to consider.

The first option is hiring the services of a full time nanny. Hiring a nanny means that attention can be paid to your child around the clock – ideal if both the parents work long hours at work. Because there won’t be several other children in the nanny’s care, she can put her complete attention towards educating and raising your child. However, the downside of this is that nannies are generally quite expensive (as you are pretty much paying someone’s salary for them). Full time nannies will charge between $15 and $25 an hour, meaning you are paying them up to a grand a week – meaning that pretty much one parent’s entire wage is going towards paying the nanny!

Your next option is in home childcare. This is where a caregiver (usually a parent themselves) takes children into their home and looks after them altogether – quite similar to a childcare centre, however there is only one caregiver, and therefore less children to care for. In home childcare is considerably less expensive than hiring a nanny. The only downside to in home childcare is that your caregiver is generally not a qualified early childhood teacher (although they will be loving parents).

Your final option is to take your child to an early childcare centre. Childcare centres are setup to provide a nurturing and educational environment for your children, and give kids the opportunity to develop new interests and learn and play in a social environment. With several qualified early childhood teachers teaching your children, you can rest assured that they are being taught by trained professionals, who know exactly how to deal with children. Generally, childcare centres are open from around 7am to 6pm, 5 days a week, so that you don’t have to worry about rushing to or from work each day.

The great thing about childcare centres is that they usually take part in a range of activities and excursions in the community. This can include visits to the library, Kapa Haka lessons, dance lessons, walks to the park, art classes and more. Being in an environment which offers a variety of activities means that your children can develop new interests and hobbies.

Some childcare centres work with children in age-divided-groups (i.e. a group for under two year olds and a group for over two year olds) – this means that the children will learn and develop in areas specific to their ages, so that they can work at their own pace.

If you believe that enrolling your child in a kindergarten (early childcare centre) is the best option for your family, then take a look online at the different child care websites. In theses, you can get an idea of what the centre is like, who the childcare teachers are and how much it will cost you to enrol your child.