Preschool = Daycare??

[SpringCrane]

I'm just curious if it's just in my area (California) or a worldwide trend. I'm looking up preschool programs and they are almost all M-F full day programs. My kid would be going to school LESS when he starts kindergarten at 5. It's insane.

He's part of a co-op preschool right now, and it's an excellent program. Only you're required significant participation hours and with baby #2 on the way, it'll be harder to manage (as baby cannot come along). My husband did Montessori and he and his father are really pushing to get my son in the same, but they're all full day and crazy expensive ($1100+/month cheapest). For comparison, his current program is 3 half-days for $200/month.

What are preschools like around you? I'm not against day care, but I'm a SAHM because day care is so expensive!

 

[LoraLoo]

In the uk, kids generally start pre school when they're 3. They get 15 hours free, so the majority, in my experience, do either 5 mornings (9-12) or 5 afternoons (12.30- 3.30)

Some nurseries, usually private, would let you do, say 2 full days and 1 half day.

I wouldn't want my little ones going all day every day, 5 days a week, especially being a sahm. Not at 3, definitely not at 2.

They start full time school here at either 4 or 5 and even then they seem too little to me.

 

[zorak]

When I was in Cali my eldest attend ah in home family daycare. At the end he just went 3 days a week. It was excellent, provided everything you'd expect from pre school or the UK version of a nursery. I'd have had no problem leaving him there unttil Kindergarten, it's exactly what some of the other parents did. In home daycare are also often less expensive so definitely worth checking out.

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

Our daughter will be starting preschool in August at 3, and the school system on post does either 3 hours in the morning or 3 hours in the afternoon M-F. The full day of school doesn't start until kindergarten. I think that's the perfect length of time for her age (plus it gives me a few hours alone with the new baby), and it's free so I can't complain!

I'm originally from California, and I went to full-time private preschool, but my mother was Active Duty Navy, so I would have been in some kind of childcare setting either way.

 

[MindUtopia]

Here, preschool tends to be only during 'term time', so in the U.S. this would be roughly when normal schools are in session, so there is a summer and winter break and usually longer breaks for Easter. Basically, it's not year round and it tends to be used more by SAHMs who want their LOs to have a communal experience, but who are home anyway, so can be home during the summers or other breaks. Some of them are full day and some are only part of the day or you can build a schedule to suit your needs since you aren't necessarily using it because you need to work or you work part-time and not all year long.

What is traditionally called a nursery is usually year round (I think in America, this is what you'd refer to as a daycare), not based on the school year. Usually they offer full day hours, but you can still just go mornings or afternoons or whatever, depending on their availability. Basically, it's more for LOs who need to be in all year because their parents aren't at home to have them during the summer or for long breaks, since you can only realistically take so much time off work. Though some people also call preschool anything that older toddlers go to (say, 3 & 4 year olds) in preparation for starting school, which happens the September after they turn 4 (this would Kindergarten). All kids in the UK get 15 free hours of a preschool/nursery/communal type experience a week when they are 3 & 4, so more go at that age too. Nurseries usually take babies from 8 or 9 months, some earlier, up to school age, but preschools don't start before 2, usually closer to 3, if they are a stand alone preschool with no nursery provision for the little kids. The terms are sometimes used interchangably depending on what you might use it for.

My daughter goes to a nursery (she goes 9-5 M-F), but some kids just come once a week so their parents might call it preschool. Either way, they're all expensive! We pay about U.S. $1300 a month. Thankfully, we get our free hours in a couple months, which will save us about $600 a month.

 

[Scout]

I'm in the southern US and daughter will start preschool in the fall. She turns 3 in May, so I'm enrolling her in a 2 day a week/half days program. The school also offers 3 days a week/half days for 3 year olds, but I want to start her out with only 2. And yes, schools are expensive. 2 half day (8 hours a week) is $3200 a yr and it's only for school term, so only 9 months. It's crazy how expensive it is to send your kids to school. My cousin just enrolled his daughter in one of the better schools in our area at $25,000 a year! No way I can afford that.

 

[x__amour]

Does California have VPK programs? My DD attends a Montessori for 3 hours a day for free through Florida VPK. We love it. She's learning a ton and it's really helping her for kindergarten next year. Definitely not a daycare.

 

[SpringCrane]

Does California have VPK programs? My DD attends a Montessori for 3 hours a day for free through Florida VPK. We love it. She's learning a ton and it's really helping her for kindergarten next year. Definitely not a daycare.

What is VPK? I'm not familiar with the acronym. Sounds like an excellent opportunity!

 

[x__amour]

Does California have VPK programs? My DD attends a Montessori for 3 hours a day for free through Florida VPK. We love it. She's learning a ton and it's really helping her for kindergarten next year. Definitely not a daycare.

What is VPK? I'm not familiar with the acronym. Sounds like an excellent opportunity!

Voluntary prekindergarten. Looks like you *might* have something similar. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/em/kinderfaq.asp#E2

 

[londonangel]

In the uk, kids generally start pre school when they're 3. They get 15 hours free, so the majority, in my experience, do either 5 mornings (9-12) or 5 afternoons (12.30- 3.30)

Some nurseries, usually private, would let you do, say 2 full days and 1 half day.

I wouldn't want my little ones going all day every day, 5 days a week, especially being a sahm. Not at 3, definitely not at 2.

They start full time school here at either 4 or 5 and even then they seem too little to me.

My four and a half year old is away from me 8-5 every day except weekends as she goes to breakfast club and just started after school club. It may not suit all kids but she started school in September as one of the youngest in her class and loved it. She asked to go to after school club now even though I am not back to work for a month! She was at nursery full time from 11 months so just loves being with other kids I guess. She loved nursery too. Let's hope baby 2 does as well!

 

[SpringCrane]

It's really interesting to hear how every does preschool/nursery/toddler playgroups. I would like to reiterate that I have no issue with daycare. It's not something I'm looking for, though, so I find it very frustrating when all the "preschools" (self-named) are actually M-F full day care.

My son's co-op program does a once per week toddler playgroup for kids 15 months - 3 where a parent stays for the 1.5 hour duration. We have been doing this, and in September he'll move up to the 2-day or 3-day preschool program where he gets dropped off for 2.5 hours. I will still have to volunteer one day every two weeks. It means there is about a 2:1 ratio of kids to adults, which is great, and also I'll get to know the kids and other parents really well, but it also means I have to figure out who is going to watch my baby during my volunteer day. On top of volunteer days, we have to do a weekend cleaning, parenting classes (which are actually awesome), and other task time commitments (making play-doh, helping repair a fence, being on the board, etc.) It keeps the cost very reasonable, and the program's been around for 60+ years, but it's a lot to commit to! Like others mentioned, it's also only during the school year with breaks for holidays and summer.

There are some religious-based preschool options near me, but my beliefs don't really lean that way, so I'm not comfortable pursuing them for my son, though I do know a lot of families that are really happy with those programs.

I wish the US offered federal funding for preschool for all families, not just low income. I looked to see what the maximum income requirement is to qualify for Head Start (our federal preschool program for low-income families) and for a family of four is $24k. That excludes A LOT of families that would benefit!

Preschool is just something I always grew up thinking would be ubiquitous. Your kid goes somewhere for a few hours a few days per week when they're 3-4, does arts and crafts, learns to share, makes some friends, and, well, practices for Kindergarten. But it turns out programs are really limited around me! I live in an affluent, well-educated area, so I think the issue is that most families have two working parents. SAHMs are not the norm around here, so folks need full-day care, not just a few hours during the week with breaks for summer.

I really like the program he's in and what it'll become in September, but if we can't get a spot we are left with zero other options.

 

[SpringCrane]

Does California have VPK programs? My DD attends a Montessori for 3 hours a day for free through Florida VPK. We love it. She's learning a ton and it's really helping her for kindergarten next year. Definitely not a daycare.

What is VPK? I'm not familiar with the acronym. Sounds like an excellent opportunity!

Voluntary prekindergarten. Looks like you *might* have something similar. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/em/kinderfaq.asp#E2

Thanks for the link! I am familiar with TK. It's only an option for kids born after the school birth date cut-off, which doesn't apply for my July baby. But thanks for checking out for me! Is VPK birth-date based or available all kids of certain age?

 

[x__amour]

Does California have VPK programs? My DD attends a Montessori for 3 hours a day for free through Florida VPK. We love it. She's learning a ton and it's really helping her for kindergarten next year. Definitely not a daycare.

What is VPK? I'm not familiar with the acronym. Sounds like an excellent opportunity!

Voluntary prekindergarten. Looks like you *might* have something similar. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/em/kinderfaq.asp#E2

Thanks for the link! I am familiar with TK. It's only an option for kids born after the school birth date cut-off, which doesn't apply for my July baby. But thanks for checking out for me! Is VPK birth-date based or available all kids of certain age?

VPK is for children who turn 4 before September 1st. Kindergarten is 5 by September 1st.