Preschool vs Daycare Wars

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would never correct someone in real life but I do always have the fleeting thought that it’s a bit pathetic when parents of daycare-age kids call it “school.” Makes me think they are in denial about sending kids to daycare, which I think is ridiculous because I fully support women working. It’s just the dishonesty that bothers me.

It is school, for all practical purposes. They teach a preschool curriculum in my kid’s daycare in the morning and then have play in the afternoons. They also had a wonderful summer program. You sound ignorant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So there is a big difference, op, and I’m not sure why you would want to keep misnaming it. Pre school isn’t really set up covering childcare during working hours at all. Pre school (half days) generally starts out at 2 days a week for 2 year olds, 3 days a week for 3 yo, etc and is focused on early socialization and skills. If you use pre school you still need child care for most of the day. It generally requires potty trained kids and doesn’t stat before 3. It’s more like supplemental places like my gym, music classes, mothers morning out, or coop pre schools.

Daycare is group childcare that is obviously structured around dual working parent hours. I have done both. There’s some evidence that the less hours/younger age for group care is healthier for kids in the long but obviously is a big financial sacrifice for any family to sah or get a nanny for the bulk of care through those years and what’s best for each family is different. But I think it’s confusing to say you are using pre school when you are doing daycare, because it does imply you are either not working or have a nanny/family caring for your child most of the time. So yes I would clarify that with you if we met on the playground and started talking about childcare.

The world is not this black and white. Some preschools are half day and some are not. I sent my kids to the DC JCC preschool when they were 3 where probably more than half the parents needed all day care. If you think this is not a preschool because the hours are longer than the one you used (and you clarify with people on the playground using false information like you give in your post) you are really silly and uninformed. I moved them from a daycare that went through age 3 in order to go there; the fact that I needed all day care had literally zero to do with whether it was a preschool or not.

https://www.edcjcc.org/programs/preschool/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know there are working parents who enroll their kids in preschool, right?

We did preschool + nanny

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a difference. Daycare is childcare for parents’ working hours, and something I consider is for infants/ babies/ young toddlers. A preschool program is… not that. Though a daycare could have a preschool program for their age 3+ learners! Also, I have no problem calling any of the daycare workers teachers (I’m sure they’re teaching the alphabet/ counting/ social skills etc.), but to the pp that said someone with a degree in early childhood development is a teacher, that’s a very different program than early childhood education (where they learn curriculum & instruction, pedagogy, the science of reading, etc.). In my experience, friends that sent their 9 month olds to daycare and called it school just wanted to feel better about sending their kids to daycare. Ps- there’s nothing wrong with daycare!! It’s not a bad thing! Just silly to act like your young baby is learning a curriculum and it’s not just childcare.

This is a good distinction. Why would anyone assume that a 12 month old would be in preschool? Daycare is all day childcare. Preschool is a few hours during the day 2-5x/week where the structure and focus is early childhood education. When someone says they’re picking their 4 year old up from preschool at 5:30 pm it’s clear that they’re referring to daycare.

[Anonymous]

I work at a daycare, and there is a difference based on Maryland regulations. I think it has to do with curriculums, and teacher certificates. But the lines are very blurred because many daycares, like mine, have a preschool program. We’re just not allowed to call it preschool because of regulations.

In my experience, we’ve had many families who sent their first born to a preschool from our school, but end up keeping the second and third kids in our program because they realize that we teach the same thing and we are full days.

[Anonymous]

These wars are designed to pit women against other women in order to diminish their political power. Don’t fall for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve done both.
One of the nice things about preschool was that the kids are dropped off and picked up at the sametime, you meet and chat with other parents.
Also, the kids are in the same class for that whole school year and make good friend connections.
At a daycare center, rarely did I see other parents with kids in my kids class because drop off was between 7-9am. The kids get moved up to the next group though based on age, and new kids come in…… it’s very different.

This must be daycare (and maybe preschool?) specific. I know almost all the parents at my daycare by sight at least and have contact info for at least half of them. My daughter has been with the same group of kids for the better part of 2 years (I’m actually a little worried about her adjusting to the big class of strangers next week when she starts public preK). New kids are an exciting event since most parents don’t want to leave a good program and the spots are generally filled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a difference. Daycare is childcare for parents’ working hours, and something I consider is for infants/ babies/ young toddlers. A preschool program is… not that. Though a daycare could have a preschool program for their age 3+ learners! Also, I have no problem calling any of the daycare workers teachers (I’m sure they’re teaching the alphabet/ counting/ social skills etc.), but to the pp that said someone with a degree in early childhood development is a teacher, that’s a very different program than early childhood education (where they learn curriculum & instruction, pedagogy, the science of reading, etc.). In my experience, friends that sent their 9 month olds to daycare and called it school just wanted to feel better about sending their kids to daycare. Ps- there’s nothing wrong with daycare!! It’s not a bad thing! Just silly to act like your young baby is learning a curriculum and it’s not just childcare.

This is a good distinction. Why would anyone assume that a 12 month old would be in preschool? Daycare is all day childcare. Preschool is a few hours during the day 2-5x/week where the structure and focus is early childhood education. When someone says they’re picking their 4 year old up from preschool at 5:30 pm it’s clear that they’re referring to daycare.

So what? The 4 yo thinks of it as preschool, because they are attending a preschool program with before and aftercare built in. They probably call it that at home. Your insistence on calling it daycare is a very adult-centered way of thinking that is focused on social hierarchies. In other words, you sound really shallow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So there is a big difference, op, and I’m not sure why you would want to keep misnaming it. Pre school isn’t really set up covering childcare during working hours at all. Pre school (half days) generally starts out at 2 days a week for 2 year olds, 3 days a week for 3 yo, etc and is focused on early socialization and skills. If you use pre school you still need child care for most of the day. It generally requires potty trained kids and doesn’t stat before 3. It’s more like supplemental places like my gym, music classes, mothers morning out, or coop pre schools.

Daycare is group childcare that is obviously structured around dual working parent hours. I have done both. There’s some evidence that the less hours/younger age for group care is healthier for kids in the long but obviously is a big financial sacrifice for any family to sah or get a nanny for the bulk of care through those years and what’s best for each family is different. But I think it’s confusing to say you are using pre school when you are doing daycare, because it does imply you are either not working or have a nanny/family caring for your child most of the time. So yes I would clarify that with you if we met on the playground and started talking about childcare.

Many (most?) well-regarded daycare centers have accredited preschool programs once kids get to age three. Ours did, as did most of the others I know (we don't live in DC). There isn't much difference between what my kids did during those days and what kids in free-standing preschools do.

When people asked where my kids went to preschool during those years, I would say they're in a preschool program at their daycare center, because that was the truth. If you need to insist that their NAEYC-accredited program is actually "daycare," then thank you, because now I know you're not my people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know there are working parents who enroll their kids in preschool, right?

They would call that a daycare. If you need it for childcare- it's daycare. If you're just sending your kids to it so that they get socialized and learn things- it's preschool.

Ummm no. Dual working family that made like choices in the early years to send to PRESCHOOL (not daycare) supplemented by additional childcare to be able to work.

100% i call it preschool, and have never called it daycare. But yes, I frequently say "I use school as my primary source of childcare ...." etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never correct someone in real life but I do always have the fleeting thought that it’s a bit pathetic when parents of daycare-age kids call it “school.” Makes me think they are in denial about sending kids to daycare, which I think is ridiculous because I fully support women working. It’s just the dishonesty that bothers me.

My question is what makes one a daycare and one a preschool if they are both teaching? My friend sends her kid to a daycare but they are taught the same things kids in preschool are taught. So its a combo preschool and daycare (open year round and until 6pm). So yes, its a daycare. But they also do a ton of teaching.

Age. That’s it. I don’t know or cares about the differences between daycares and preschools for kids 3+. But younger than 3, it’s daycare.

this, dont care if ppl want to call daycare school or school daycare when the kids are older.... but for babies, that's daycare that isn't school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I call my daughters preschool a preschool primarily because it’s literally in the name.

I also think calling an adult with a degree in early childhood development and more than ten years of experience teaching young children a “daycare worker” rather than a teacher— especially when their colleagues and superiors call them a teacher— would be astonishingly disrespectful. This is in fact something I’ve only seen on DCUM.

+100 The only time I would care in a discussion about "preschool" vs "daycare" is if someone was asking for a "preschool" recommendation. Then you need to clarify - do they mean a traditional part-time preschool or do they need full day care w/ a preschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never correct someone in real life but I do always have the fleeting thought that it’s a bit pathetic when parents of daycare-age kids call it “school.” Makes me think they are in denial about sending kids to daycare, which I think is ridiculous because I fully support women working. It’s just the dishonesty that bothers me.

My question is what makes one a daycare and one a preschool if they are both teaching? My friend sends her kid to a daycare but they are taught the same things kids in preschool are taught. So its a combo preschool and daycare (open year round and until 6pm). So yes, its a daycare. But they also do a ton of teaching.

Age. That’s it. I don’t know or cares about the differences between daycares and preschools for kids 3+. But younger than 3, it’s daycare.

this, dont care if ppl want to call daycare school or school daycare when the kids are older.... but for babies, that's daycare that isn't school.

But why do you care at all…?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I only find it weird when people use the term “preschool” for a kid under 3 who is clearly going to daycare. I always get the vibe that they’re self conscious that their kid is going to daycare so they rebrand it as “school.” I say this as someone with a kid in daycare—it’s not school and it’s not supposed to be.

this!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I only find it weird when people use the term “preschool” for a kid under 3 who is clearly going to daycare. I always get the vibe that they’re self conscious that their kid is going to daycare so they rebrand it as “school.” I say this as someone with a kid in daycare—it’s not school and it’s not supposed to be.

this!

Disagree. I work in a child care center (where the teachers have either a bachelor's, associate's or master's in ECE). We all refer to the center as "school" here, regardless of the age of the child. Maybe because it's a shorter word, I don't know. But the children and parents all call it "school" too, probably because they hear us referring to it that way, for example, "Baby Billy looks happy to be at school today!"