Different Types of Child Care
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Child care generally falls into two very broad categories: child care provided by friends or family members, and child care provided by someone else in your community.
If you plan to rely on friends and family for child care (a grandparent, for instance, another parent with different work hours, a close friend, or even an older child), this article can help you with tips and ideas for making the arrangement work as well as possible for you and your child. You may also want to find out about other types of child care in your community. Many parents combine child care given by a family member with a child care arrangement in the community, using a grandparent two days a week, for instance, and taking a child to a nursery school for the rest of the week. Knowing more about all the types of child care that are available to you may help you decide what seems best for your child.
It will also give you more choices when you need to find backup child care, or when your child grows older and needs or wants a different kind of child care.
This guide mentions different types of child care that may be provided by someone in the community:
- crèches
- toddler groups
- pre-schools and playgroups
- day nurseries
- Sure Start Children’s Centres
- out-of-school or ‘kids’ clubs
- childminders
- nannies
It is important to remember that all of these forms of child care have advantages and disadvantages, and that within each you are likely to find a tremendous range of quality. You may find safe, nurturing, educational child care in any one of the different types of child care in your community, and you may find child care in that same type that’s of such poor quality that it is harmful to your child. Over the coming weeks I will describe each of these, to help you you understand these basic types of child care.
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