I think day care is terrific. Kids get to be around other kids

Hear the heartfelt words of Jessica Valenti, who spoke with conviction and memory: “I think day care is terrific. Kids get to be around other kids, and they're playing, and they're teaching each other. When I was in college, my summer job was being a preschool teacher. I loved it, and after that experience, I said I can't wait to put my kid in day care because I could see how much they loved it.” In these words we see not merely an opinion on education, but a vision of community, growth, and the wisdom of letting children learn not only from adults, but from one another.

The heart of her saying is found in the power of children teaching children. For though adults may guide and instruct, there is a special kind of learning that takes place when young minds grow together. Through play, through imitation, through curiosity and laughter, children pass to each other lessons of sharing, resilience, and imagination. Day care, in this light, is not only a place of supervision, but a sacred circle of learning where each child is both a student and a teacher.

Valenti speaks also of her own role as a preschool teacher, and here lies the origin of her insight. As a young woman in college, she entered into the world of the child not as a distant observer, but as one who played, cared, and guided. She saw with her own eyes the joy of children at play, and she recognized that their joy was not trivial—it was the soil in which growth was rooted. That experience etched into her heart the truth that day care was not deprivation, as some might claim, but enrichment, a place where children flourish together.

History itself bears witness to the strength of such communities. In the early days of Reggio Emilia, a small Italian town devastated by the Second World War, parents came together to build schools for their children. They believed, as Valenti does, that children learn best when surrounded by others, and that play and collaboration are as important as formal lessons. The Reggio Emilia approach became renowned across the world for its focus on group learning, creativity, and the respect of children’s voices. From the ashes of war, they built a philosophy that mirrored the wisdom Valenti discovered in her own youth.

The deeper meaning of her words is that care is not merely the work of mothers alone, nor of fathers alone, but of the whole community. To place a child in day care is not to abandon them, but to gift them with a wider circle of companions, a village in which to grow. The child raised in such an environment learns cooperation earlier, empathy more deeply, and independence more fully. Valenti’s joy in remembering her students’ delight is a reminder to us all: the laughter of children in groups is not noise—it is the sound of souls being shaped.

The lesson is profound: do not fear to let children be with other children. Do not cling so tightly to the image of solitary nurture that you forget the power of community. As iron sharpens iron, so child sharpens child—through play, through imagination, through small struggles that teach resilience. To see your child in the company of others is to see them learn lessons you could not teach alone.

Practical actions follow from this wisdom: if you are a parent, honor the role of day care and early learning communities. Support the teachers who dedicate their energy to nurturing young minds. If you are a teacher, remember that you are not only guiding children, but creating spaces where they can guide one another. And if you are a member of a community, value and strengthen the places where children gather, for there lies the root of the future.

Remember always: children thrive in the presence of each other. The teacher may light the path, but it is in the games, the laughter, and the shared discoveries of the young that the flame of growth is fanned. Jessica Valenti’s words shine as a reminder that day care is not a place of separation, but of belonging, not a burden, but a blessing. For in the joy of children learning together, we glimpse the foundations of a wiser and more compassionate world.