Child Care

Child care or childcare, child minding, daycare, or preschool is the caring for and supervision of a child or children, usually from age six weeks to age thirteen. Child care is the action or skill of looking after children by a day-care center, babysitter, or other providers. Child care can also include advanced learning environments that include early childhood education. Child care is a broad topic covering a wide spectrum of contexts, activities, social and cultural conventions, and institutions. The majority of child care institutions that are available require that child care providers have extensive training in first aid and are CPR certified. In addition, background checks, drug testing at all centers, and reference verification are normally a requirement. Child care can cost up to $15,000 for one year in the United States. The average annual cost of full-time care for an infant in center-based care ranges from $4,863 in Mississippi to $16,430 in Massachusetts. Early child care is a very important and often overlooked component of child development. Child care providers are our children's first teachers, and therefore play an integral role in our systems of early childhood education. Quality care from a young age can have a huge impact on the future successes of children

It is traditional in Western society for children to be taken care of by their parents or their legal guardians. In families where children live with one or both of their parents, the childcare role may also be taken on by the child's extended family. If a parent or extended family is unable to care for the children, orphanages and foster homes are a way of providing for children's care, housing, and schooling.

The two main types of child care options for employed parents needing childcare are center-based care (including creches, daycare, and preschools) and home-based care (also known as nanny or family daycare). As well as these licensed option's parents may also choose to find their own caregiver or arrange childcare exchanges/swaps with another family.

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