Two out of three of my children have attended a nursery in their early years. I was very fortunate with all three of my children to have a full year of maternity leave, even more when annual leave was added on. I reduced my hours after my eldest and she went to nursery. My second daughter followed suit and it was mainly due to convenience, that my son went to a childminder instead. He has thrived there too and will be starting the school nursery very soon. Though I do feel there are benefits to your child attending a nursery where possible and if I had my children again, I would send them.
Benefits of Your Child Attending Nursery
It is always such a pull on your heart when you have to leave your child with anyone. I have done it all with nursery, childminders and family. However, I do feel it does them good too. You can do plenty of research before they attend. Search your local area. For us we are Birmingham based but you’d be looking for a Nottingham nursery if you were local to there.
Here are some of the benefits of a nursery:
– It is great for both theirs and your immune system. This may come across as a negative at first but is worth it in the long run. My eldest picked up a lot of coughs and colds and my middle daughter was the sick bug bringer. This does challenge them and you, if you are someone who picks them up (me). However, when they attended school, my girls get colds but it is not usually enough to take time off.
– It is great for being social and gets them used to being with others all day, ready for school. I never wanted school to be a huge wrench when my children were 4 and 5, going into reception. It wasn’t at all and I know this is because they were so used to being at nursery all day, away from us and with other children and adults.
– It helped with learning, routine and knowing how to behave with others. My girls were used to tidying up, sitting on a carpet, putting their hands up and knowing what they should and shouldn’t be doing. They don’t want to get into trouble, as were used to the consequences from other children at their previous nurseries. I believe the nursery setting really helped with this.
– I’m not a great teacher and don’t always know what I should and shouldn’t be doing learning wise. I see a lot on social media about sending your children to school and not worrying about their phonics, numbers and shapes but of course, so many children do know. Nursery helped with this and my girls were are a good standard before starting school.
– It can help with general development. My eldest finally cracked potty training with the help of a nursery practitioner, which I will be forever grateful for. Nursery can boost confidence in them and help with all areas of development.
I’m very glad my girls attended a nursery setting in their early years. They made friends, became used to other children and other adults looking after them. It put them in great stead for school, which they love now.
If you are thinking about it for your children, do your research and choose one right for you and your child.
Disclosure – this is a sponsored post.
