"Why do all your friends say school"

[Anonymous]

Wow, this is brand new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least you don't have to live in Ohio.

Truth.

When we switched from an in-home to a center at 2, we started calling it school. It's play based daycare, obviously, but my kid loves talking about how she goes to school, so whatever works. What kills me is my SIL who went back to work full time and put her toddler in "full time preschool." That's daycare, my dear, but whatever helps you sleep at night.

Your kid was in daycare at 2, and so was her toddler. You called it school, and so does she. How is what you are doing any different?

For OP - we started calling it school when it was actually inside of a school, and the kids were actually a part of the larger elementary school. It was really daycare with some learning until 4. So they had a start and end time like the big kids, they went to chapel, they went on field trips, they participated in the programs, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think once they're 3-4- it's "school" it's pre-school, pre-k, etc. And it's good to have the kid start thinking about going to school, learning, etc. But anything before... c'mon get over yourself. Totally just to make themselves feel less guilty about the cost and time away from their kid.

Seriously?

When my 18 month old moves the dirt on the floor of my kitchen around with a swiffer, I tell him he's "cleaning".

When my 22 month old splashes in the pool, I call that "swimming".

When my 2 year old leafs through a book and names all the trucks, I comment on his "reading".

Many things that infants and toddlers do are approximations of things that older kids and do, and in every day speech we don't distinguish. Daycare in a center has somethings in common with school, and leads to school down the line. So, calling it school, especially when speaking to a young child, makes sense. It's not about not feeling guilty, it just fits in with the way we speak to young kids in general.

Judging people, on the on the other hand, is a terrible thing to model for your young children. OP and her friend sound awful.

[Anonymous]

Eh, I think when you are paying what it costs in this area you can go ahead and call it whatever the heck you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least you don't have to live in Ohio.

Truth.

When we switched from an in-home to a center at 2, we started calling it school. It's play based daycare, obviously, but my kid loves talking about how she goes to school, so whatever works. What kills me is my SIL who went back to work full time and put her toddler in "full time preschool." That's daycare, my dear, but whatever helps you sleep at night.

Your kid was in daycare at 2, and so was her toddler. You called it school, and so does she. How is what you are doing any different?

For OP - we started calling it school when it was actually inside of a school, and the kids were actually a part of the larger elementary school. It was really daycare with some learning until 4. So they had a start and end time like the big kids, they went to chapel, they went on field trips, they participated in the programs, etc.

MY kid started calling it school, so we all went along with it. My SIL refuses to call it daycare and INSISTS it's full time preschool. Both are daycare, but I don't pretend it's not even though I don't argue with the toddler about terminology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think once they're 3-4- it's "school" it's pre-school, pre-k, etc. And it's good to have the kid start thinking about going to school, learning, etc. But anything before... c'mon get over yourself. Totally just to make themselves feel less guilty about the cost and time away from their kid.

Seriously?

When my 18 month old moves the dirt on the floor of my kitchen around with a swiffer, I tell him he's "cleaning".

When my 22 month old splashes in the pool, I call that "swimming".

When my 2 year old leafs through a book and names all the trucks, I comment on his "reading".

Many things that infants and toddlers do are approximations of things that older kids and do, and in every day speech we don't distinguish. Daycare in a center has somethings in common with school, and leads to school down the line. So, calling it school, especially when speaking to a young child, makes sense. It's not about not feeling guilty, it just fits in with the way we speak to young kids in general.


Judging people, on the on the other hand, is a terrible thing to model for your young children. OP and her friend sound awful.

Wow--you have a lot of kids.


I totally agree though. Plus school is easier and faster to say than daycare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think once they're 3-4- it's "school" it's pre-school, pre-k, etc. And it's good to have the kid start thinking about going to school, learning, etc. But anything before... c'mon get over yourself. Totally just to make themselves feel less guilty about the cost and time away from their kid.

Seriously?

When my 18 month old moves the dirt on the floor of my kitchen around with a swiffer, I tell him he's "cleaning".

When my 22 month old splashes in the pool, I call that "swimming".

When my 2 year old leafs through a book and names all the trucks, I comment on his "reading".

Many things that infants and toddlers do are approximations of things that older kids and do, and in every day speech we don't distinguish. Daycare in a center has somethings in common with school, and leads to school down the line. So, calling it school, especially when speaking to a young child, makes sense. It's not about not feeling guilty, it just fits in with the way we speak to young kids in general.

Judging people, on the on the other hand, is a terrible thing to model for your young children. OP and her friend sound awful.

It's one thing to tell your kid it's school so they start thinking of it like that like the other activities you mentioned. It's another thing to call it school to other adults and social media and to yourself. My kid is with a nanny. Should I start saying "we're home schooling??"

[Anonymous]

What a strange discussion. Why would anyone care what it's called?

You all have too much free time!

[Anonymous]

Last week, my almost 3 year old goes to "preschool" full day. All the cartoons/books/video are talking about how fun a school is, and she wears a backpack & bring her lunch bag daily. It is a really structured facility stressed on academic learning, and every students have to be evaluated twice/year & setup goals/needs from the school teacher. DD likes to claim herself she is a big girl, need to go to school.

[Anonymous]

It is guilt and nothing more. School sounds better than daycare. It is like asking your cleaning lady to keep an eye on your child and calling her a nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
What a strange discussion. Why would anyone care what it's called?

You all have too much free time!

We should all care because there is a shame in calling it daycare where there shouldn’t be. We need to be honest about daycare in order to improve it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last week, my almost 3 year old goes to "preschool" full day. All the cartoons/books/video are talking about how fun a school is, and she wears a backpack & bring her lunch bag daily. It is a really structured facility stressed on academic learning, and every students have to be evaluated twice/year & setup goals/needs from the school teacher. DD likes to claim herself she is a big girl, need to go to school.

Yiiiiikes. That sounds extremely developmentally inappropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last week, my almost 3 year old goes to "preschool" full day. All the cartoons/books/video are talking about how fun a school is, and she wears a backpack & bring her lunch bag daily. It is a really structured facility stressed on academic learning, and every students have to be evaluated twice/year & setup goals/needs from the school teacher. DD likes to claim herself she is a big girl, need to go to school.

Your DD goes to preschool with aftercare, OP. You need to get her used to the concept of aftercare for when she starts school.

[Anonymous]

Because there is more of a focus on learning now, and less of a focus on quality 'care. Curriculum planning is now required for infants. Care givers or providers are now called teachers.

Give it a few years, and the shift of shoving academics into the toddlers early will pass. It will all be about developmentally appropriate play based learning at playcare.

[Anonymous]

School has a better perception than daycare.

Parents sending their kids to daycare are judged... paying someone else to raise their kids. "School" is acceptable.