Pre-schoolers are interested in and enjoy other children, but it is adults to whom they still look for learning and emotional security. Experts agree it is not until eighteen months and older that children engage in any true interactive play. And that's just what you see in under-three day care. The children only sporadically play with each other. They mill about individually, climbing over each other like puppies to get to a toy or to the adult.
Children learn to see the world through the eyes of an adult they love.
There is also a falsely upbeat style and tone to day care that is grating. Providers habitually smile and talk in positive, animated tones. Lights are always bright. Toys and bodies spill everywhere. Toddlers may be delighted for an hour, even two, but the day wears on and on.