22/09/2026
It’s so common for home childcare providers to lose children to centres.
They come to us as infants, often because centre based infant spaces are difficult to find, and then as soon as that long awaited centre spot becomes available, families feel like moving to a centre is simply the “next step.”
But I think sometimes we forget to ask:
What does home childcare ACTUALLY offer that a centre simply can’t offer in the same way?
Home childcare isn’t just a place your child goes while you work.
It’s walking into the same familiar home every morning and being greeted by the same person who has cared for you since you were little.
It’s small group sizes where your provider knows exactly how you like to fall asleep, what makes you laugh, what foods you’ll devour and which ones you’ll politely leave untouched. 😂
It’s siblings being able to spend their days together instead of being separated into different classrooms.
It’s babies learning from toddlers, toddlers looking up to preschoolers, and older children getting the opportunity to become helpers and leaders.
It’s a mixed age environment that feels a little more like a family and a little less like a classroom.
It’s spontaneous nature walks because the weather turned out beautiful.
It’s baking together in the kitchen, reading books curled up on the couch, having lunch around the table, celebrating birthdays, getting messy with activities, playing in the backyard and having ordinary little moments that become some of the best parts of childhood.
It’s one consistent caregiver who gets to truly KNOW your child... sometimes for years.
And for me, that’s one of the most special parts.
I don’t just get to watch children move from one classroom to another.
I get to watch them grow up.
I get to meet them when they’re tiny, watch their personalities emerge, hear their language explode, celebrate milestones, help them navigate friendships, watch them become big kids and eventually, send them off to school. 🥹
Centres can offer wonderful childcare, amazing educators and experiences that are unique to a centre environment. Home childcare isn’t necessarily better, it’s simply different.
And those differences deserve to be talked about.
Because choosing home childcare doesn’t mean choosing the option you use until you get into a centre.
For many families, home childcare can be the place their child belongs for their entire early childhood.
Home childcare isn’t the waiting room for “real daycare.”
It IS childcare.
And there is something incredibly special about getting to grow up in a village.
