Are kids from day care centers less attractive to admissions teams?

[Anonymous]

I feel sorry for your children who have to endure all this anxiety, pressure, and stress beginning from such an early age. Our DC is bright and we want our DC to be a child, have fun, and develop good memories and foundation for a happy childhood which will lead to later successes. I've met few adults who've had happy childhoods, no matter where they went to school and what they do for a living.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel sorry for your children who have to endure all this anxiety, pressure, and stress beginning from such an early age. Our DC is bright and we want our DC to be a child, have fun, and develop good memories and foundation for a happy childhood which will lead to later successes. I've met few adults who've had happy childhoods, no matter where they went to school and what they do for a living.

Oh please, get off your high horse. Any "stress or anxiety" about schools is only felt by a small percentage of parents and it would be a rare one of even that small group who would let their child know they were feeling it. Most people who go the preschool - private school route are totally comfortable and secure in their choices and the whole situation. You only hear from that small percentage on this website because they are the sqeaky wheels and can express their angst on an anonymous forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The ratio of acceptances to applications for those coming from a good preschool will be higher than the ratio for those coming from daycare (even a good one).

I think it's pretty uncontroversial that a preschool like NCRC sends more kids to the best-known schools than any daycare center, but as with college admissions, to get a true picture of the school's effect on the odds of admission, you'd have to control for sibling/alumni status, wealth, celebrity, and possibly other factors. The fact that more NCRC kids get into Beavoir/Sidwell/Maret/GDS may but does not necessarily mean that going there will increase the odds of admission for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel sorry for your children who have to endure all this anxiety, pressure, and stress beginning from such an early age. Our DC is bright and we want our DC to be a child, have fun, and develop good memories and foundation for a happy childhood which will lead to later successes. I've met few adults who've had happy childhoods, no matter where they went to school and what they do for a living.

Oh please, get off your high horse. Any "stress or anxiety" about schools is only felt by a small percentage of parents and it would be a rare one of even that small group who would let their child know they were feeling it. Most people who go the preschool - private school route are totally comfortable and secure in their choices and the whole situation. You only hear from that small percentage on this website because they are the sqeaky wheels and can express their angst on an anonymous forum.

I'm not on a high horse. I really believe kids should be kids. I was referring to stress and anxiety levels of the kids not parents.

After I posted, I realized that maybe the level of stress, depression, drug use and people who are bipolar in this country is a direct result of pressure to excel and succeed from parents already concerned about the "feeder" daycare. I recalled stories like this in NY 15 years ago and didn't realize that this phenomenon was here, too (but then, I didn't have a child 15 years ago to be attuned to this topic).

[Anonymous]

Do schools request recommendation letters from previous schools? That might make a difference b/c in our DD's daycare, the staff was great, but did not write that well (grammatical, spelling mistakes etc). So the letter would seem much less professional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do schools request recommendation letters from previous schools? That might make a difference b/c in our DD's daycare, the staff was great, but did not write that well (grammatical, spelling mistakes etc). So the letter would seem much less professional.

OMG! Are you kidding???

[Anonymous]

I thought s/he made a good point, actually

[Anonymous]

The first year we applied to pre-k from day care - got in nowhere. The second year we applied from a private pre school in georgetown and got in everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do schools request recommendation letters from previous schools? That might make a difference b/c in our DD's daycare, the staff was great, but did not write that well (grammatical, spelling mistakes etc). So the letter would seem much less professional.

From the current school, yes. Most schools use the same form.

[Anonymous]

Haven't you ever spent time in a daycare vs. a preschool? HUGE difference, unless you are talking about a daycare/nursery set-up like Georgetown Hill. Like PP stated, the teachers' backgrounds/experience, curriculum, and the ability to not accept kids who are not ready for pre-academics or a structured environment all allow for a private preschool to better prepare a kid for a private elementary program. Like it or not, it's the truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haven't you ever spent time in a daycare vs. a preschool? HUGE difference, unless you are talking about a daycare/nursery set-up like Georgetown Hill. Like PP stated, the teachers' backgrounds/experience, curriculum, and the ability to not accept kids who are not ready for pre-academics or a structured environment all allow for a private preschool to better prepare a kid for a private elementary program. Like it or not, it's the truth.

Yes, for example, teachers who can write a proper sentence (see above post about teacher recommendations filled with errors).

[Anonymous]

ITA. In most circumstances, daycares are not there to educate and prepare kids for entry into private schools, whereas many area private preschools hold that as their mission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haven't you ever spent time in a daycare vs. a preschool? HUGE difference, unless you are talking about a daycare/nursery set-up like Georgetown Hill. Like PP stated, the teachers' backgrounds/experience, curriculum, and the ability to not accept kids who are not ready for pre-academics or a structured environment all allow for a private preschool to better prepare a kid for a private elementary program. Like it or not, it's the truth.

Would you say the same about a daycare run by a local university for the children of faculty and staff members? Mine is a genuine question. We might have this option but we are trying to understand whether we are making the right choice for our child, considering that we are also considering private schools when our child has the right age for pre-k or K. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do schools request recommendation letters from previous schools? That might make a difference b/c in our DD's daycare, the staff was great, but did not write that well (grammatical, spelling mistakes etc). So the letter would seem much less professional.

Just to be clear, we did not ask for recommendations but the general correspondence from the school frequently had such errors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haven't you ever spent time in a daycare vs. a preschool? HUGE difference, unless you are talking about a daycare/nursery set-up like Georgetown Hill. Like PP stated, the teachers' backgrounds/experience, curriculum, and the ability to not accept kids who are not ready for pre-academics or a structured environment all allow for a private preschool to better prepare a kid for a private elementary program. Like it or not, it's the truth.

Um, all these kids need to start K is a basic understanding of numbers up to 10 or 20, and ABC's letters and their sounds, some shapes, and of course colors. A few Baby Einsteins and Leap Frog Talking Letters Factory will take care of that.