Parenting is hard. Many people would go so far as to say that it’s the hardest thing they’ve ever done. One thing that many parents get hung up on is trying to make sure that their children are going to have all of the tools that they need not only to survive in this world but to thrive. A great way to make sure that your children have everything that they need is to ask yourself “what is the best preschool near me?” and go from there. But why does it matter that the program is near your home? Let’s find out.
Some people are more confused than others about the importance both of preschool and of finding a preschool near home. It’s understandable, to some people it may not seem to make a difference. Today we’re going to be looking at what top child psychologists have to say about the topic. Hopefully by the end of this article if you’re not convinced that your child would benefit from a preschool program, you’ll at least understand the importance of it for other children and why it makes a difference to be sure that you pick one that’s close to home.
Cause Less Stress for Your Child
Going off to preschool is a very stressful thing for children. Separation anxiety is a real thing both for adults and children, and that’s something that both people need to overcome. By keeping your child closer to home, you can ensure that your child has that much less stress. It’s a lot easier for them to feel comfortable knowing that home is nearby. That way even if they have a bad day, they can keep in the back of their head that home is only a few minutes away by car. That can ease their stress because they know a safe place is nearby even on their worst days. Preschools that are further away require more travel time and that can be stressful for you and your child both.
Give Your Child a Head Start on Kindergarten
School is hard. Learning things can be incredibly complicated, especially when you’re learning all of the basics. Imagine trying to learn how the English language works without even knowing how to spell the word “dog.” With all of the intricacies of language, learning any language from scratch is hard. Now apply that to every subject that is taught in school. Science, math, history, the list goes on. Putting your child into a preschool allows your child a chance to get the basics down before they need to go to school where they’ll be graded for their efforts. It’s scientifically proven that children that go to preschool do better throughout the entire rest of their academic careers.
Drive Less, Smile More
Driving takes a lot of time. Depending on where you live, it could easily take half an hour to a whole hour to get from point a to point b. If your child’s preschool is close to your house, that means that you can spend less time driving after picking them up or dropping them off. Even just 5 minutes each way adds up pretty quickly, totaling almost an hour every week. That kind of time can be spent bonding with your children while they’re still young and developing into full-fledged people.
Build Up Your Child’s Immunity
People get sick, it’s just a fact of life. There are a zillion microscopic organisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi that can make us sick. Our bodies learn how to keep us healthy by running into these organisms because of the way that our immune system works. By putting your child into preschool, you allow them a chance to encounter all sorts of bacteria that they wouldn’t have seen at home. That also means that your child is exposing other children to new bacteria, it’s a win-win for everyone involved. Of course, your child might get sick a little bit more often but that means that they’ll have a lower chance of getting seriously ill when they get older. In fact, getting this out of the way in preschool could potentially mean that they’ll be sick less often during kindergarten.
Save Money on Gas
They say that time is money, and because gas costs money that means that it also costs time. When you work, it takes you some time to earn money, meaning that every time you spend money you’re also cashing in on that time. By shortening your drive to your child’s preschool, you’ll be saving a good deal of money on gas. It might not feel like a lot at first, but considering the average miles per gallon that cars have is about 25 it can add up pretty quickly, especially when it’s somewhere you have to drive to every day.
Teach Your Child to Socialize
Social skills are something that we use every day in some way, shape, or form. As a preschool-aged child, you don’t quite understand how social interactions work because it’s all new to you. Putting your child into a preschool gives them a chance to learn more and more about how to interact with other human beings. This gives them an edge over those that don’t start school until kindergarten because they got an earlier start. Those early formative years are incredibly important for learning these things and can make everything go a lot more smoothly for the rest of their lives.
Have Potentially Closer Playdates
When your child is socializing, there’s a good chance that they’ll make some friends. If your child has friends, there’s a good chance that they’ll want to see each other. If you choose a preschool that’s closer to your home there’s a higher chance that their friends will live closer to your home. That means that you’ll need to drive less to get your child to and from their friend’s house, and it also means that when they inevitably call for you to pick them up from their first sleepover at some odd hour you won’t need to drive too much to pick them up.
Learn More About Your Community
By choosing a preschool that’s in your neighborhood, you give yourself a chance to learn more about your community and the people that live within it. Preschools are a cornerstone of childhood development, and by enrolling your child in a preschool you’ll get a chance to get an idea of what type of people you’ll be interacting with throughout your child’s academic career. If you’re new to the city or you just want more parent friends you could even potentially meet other parents this way that have similar interests and philosophies.These relationships could potentially last a lifetime, and maybe you’ll even be able to learn a few tips and tricks from these new found parent friends that you wouldn’t have had before.
Be Sure There’s Someone to Watch Your Children
Childcare can be a tricky subject at times. You have to be sure that there’s someone watching your child at all times no matter what. Babysitters can be a good option, but because babysitters are people they’re prone to having off days. That could mean that they get sick, have major transportation issues, or even have family emergencies. Using a preschool means that you have guaranteed child care every day that you need it. That makes a huge difference when you’re trying to make sure that your kids are taken care of. Because preschool has some other additional benefits, you can easily find a win-win solution that you and your children are both happy with.
Keep Your Money in Your Neighborhood
In the modern world it feels like the economy is connected to every corner of the planet. Sometimes that’s ok, like when you need to get a part for your car and it’s only manufactured in Japan. Sometimes that’s a little weird, like when you need to find childcare for your kid. Fortunately, by selecting a preschool that’s in your neighborhood you can make sure that more of your money stays nearby. By choosing to do so, there’s a higher likelihood that your money will stay in the community for longer. That can mean big things for your local economy, especially around the holiday season which is critical for businessesw of all sizes.
Learning About Preschools
Preschool is a valuable part of your child’s life. It gives them a lot of tools that they’ll need to push forward and meet all of their goals later in life. Fortunately, there’s probably a good preschool in your area that can help you out with that. Children that go to preschool are more likely to do well throughout their entire academic career ranginging from kindergarten to wherever it ends, whether that’s highschool or a doctoral program. Knowing about preschools can help you decide what type would be best suited to your child’s needs and help them the most.