Schools have so many days off... What do working parents do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School is not child care

Great. So answer the question: What do working parents do for childcare?

It's been answered repeatedly--they choose programs that don't close as often, usually called "daycares" rather than "preschools." The curriculum is often quite similar, but a daycare program will close less often because it's also explicitly serving as child care for working parents.

And it usually costs a lot more.

Yes, it costs more. Because they are not closed for 2-3 months out of the year. My DS went to a Daycare that had a preschool component. Yes, it was expensive but I it also only closed on Federal Holidays, Wed-Thur on Thanksgiving, and one week before the new Public School year began. That closure wasn't even a vacation for the staff, that is when they do another deep clean of the classrooms, paint new murals, and get things ready for the new school year. It also closed on snow days, following FCPS lead.

So it was more expensive but my child could be there for 10 hours a day (he was never there longer then 7 hours and most of the time only 6), they provided snacks and lunch (we checked out the menu and could comment about selections), and were open year round. I did not have to worry about how to cover school holidays, because they didn't close over Winter or Spring Break or Summer Break.

It is a choice that you make as a parent. If you choose a preschool, you should look at the hours and the schedule.

As for how we do it with our DS now that he is in ES, camps. Lots and lots of camps. Full day camps, just to be clear. That money we had been spending on daycare now goes to camps. DS helps us choose camps he is interested in and he thinks will be fun. It works out just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full day preschools rarely have this many days off. My preschool has:
1 week in August
2 parent-teacher conference days
1 teacher development day
All Federal Holidays
3 early release days - Good Friday, NYE, day before Thanksgiving.

This is still more days off than when we were at a large center where conferences happened in the evening and they did Development on Columbus Day.

The only schools I’ve seen have so many days off as you describe are Montessori schools. Unfortunately the Montessori philosophy is not compatible with being a working parent unless you also have a nanny or au pair. Some schools begrudgingly offer before and after care to make it a full day, but still run a very abbreviated calendar.

Depends on your kid and your job on how you handle it. I work from home and my 4yr old is great at independent play. On days like parent conferences, I buy a new $10-20 Lego set and that buys me 3-4 hours of work time. I work longer the night before and that evening to make up the extra hours.

This. OP here. It is a Montessori co-op program. I am torn. On one hand, I can see how my child would benefit from an education that cultivates concentration and self-learning. On the other hand, it may be difficult to make it work for three years with so many closed days. Plus little kids get sick often, which adds more leave days for parents.

My kid went to a Montessori co-op program with many days off. I SAH, but I'd say 75% of parents both worked and did NOT have an au pair or nanny. I was surprised, though, how many worked jobs with odd hours: chef, theater director, writer, professor, musician, etc. Those people benefit from sending their kids to a preschool, which even full-time costs less than full-time daycare, and they could pick up their kids at 3:00 when they were available or leave them until 6:00 if they weren't (and you only paid for what you used).

Anyway, if both parents work typically 9-5/6 jobs that require a lot of face time, no, that type of school is not for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full day preschools rarely have this many days off. My preschool has:
1 week in August
2 parent-teacher conference days
1 teacher development day
All Federal Holidays
3 early release days - Good Friday, NYE, day before Thanksgiving.

This is still more days off than when we were at a large center where conferences happened in the evening and they did Development on Columbus Day.

The only schools I’ve seen have so many days off as you describe are Montessori schools. Unfortunately the Montessori philosophy is not compatible with being a working parent unless you also have a nanny or au pair. Some schools begrudgingly offer before and after care to make it a full day, but still run a very abbreviated calendar.

Depends on your kid and your job on how you handle it. I work from home and my 4yr old is great at independent play. On days like parent conferences, I buy a new $10-20 Lego set and that buys me 3-4 hours of work time. I work longer the night before and that evening to make up the extra hours.

This. OP here. It is a Montessori co-op program. I am torn. On one hand, I can see how my child would benefit from an education that cultivates concentration and self-learning. On the other hand, it may be difficult to make it work for three years with so many closed days. Plus little kids get sick often, which adds more leave days for parents.

My kid went to a Montessori co-op program with many days off. I SAH, but I'd say 75% of parents both worked and did NOT have an au pair or nanny. I was surprised, though, how many worked jobs with odd hours: chef, theater director, writer, professor, musician, etc. Those people benefit from sending their kids to a preschool, which even full-time costs less than full-time daycare, and they could pick up their kids at 3:00 when they were available or leave them until 6:00 if they weren't (and you only paid for what you used).

Anyway, if both parents work typically 9-5/6 jobs that require a lot of face time, no, that type of school is not for you.

Mine is fulltime but is closed for two weeks for spring break, two weeks for winter break, and a week in summer, plus all federal holidays, plus some other days. I agree that wiith our program, while most families have two working parents, usually one has a somewhat flexible job.

[Anonymous]

Daycare requires 12-month commitment, as centers can't deal with part-time schedules. So the dollar amount you spend may be more, but the hourly rate is probably way less than what most preschools cost.
If you want a preschool that runs on a 12-month calendar, check out School for Friends.

[Anonymous]

Any single parents perspective?

[Anonymous]

We sent ours to daycare and they stayed for the (awesome, play-based, social-emotional focused) preschool program there. Win-win-win. Our kids have benefitted enormously from being in a program that nurtures them and our family has benefitted enormously from us not being continually stressed out by frequent closures by the caregivers for our very young children. It's expensive, and also completely worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a nightmare. Our culture makes it as hard as possible for working parents.

This. 1000%.

[Anonymous]

On the other hand, once your child ages out of daycare, it gets even worse b/c then they are on the real school calendar with its myriad: teacher work days, 1/2 days, snow days, 2-hour-delay days, Christmas Break, Spring Break, and oh yeah, don't forget; SUMMERS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any single parents perspective?

Daycare

[Anonymous]

Wait? You didn't look at the calendar before you signed up? That's on you, OP. Most working parents check THAT first and figure out how they're going to cover days off before signing the kid up.

Our preschool has federal holidays off, a handful of religious holidays, and a week in August for them to prep for the new school year. I already have the federal holidays off, and DH has a ton of vacation time, and for the last two years, we've been able to hire a nanny whose family was at the beach for the week in August.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After going through the school calendar, I just realized the pre-school we signed up for have about 2 months of closed dates out of a year, not even counting days with inclement weather. There are at least 2-3 days if not more every month that they are closed during the week. And so many professional development days.

What do working parents do especially if you don't have a "village" (grandparents) living nearby? How easy to find a sitter for a few days a month? The cost can add up fast.

Find a preschool that does not take off that many days. That is ridiculous and if you add snow days even more. Our school doesn’t even take off half the number of days you mentioned. Before you ask we are at Goddard.

[Anonymous]

OP you need a daycare center, not a co-op preschool.

And to the PP who pointed out that that many days off is unique to Montessori is not correct, there are plenty of preschools that operate on school calendar, with breaks, shorter hours and professional development days. This is one of the differences between preschools and daycares. This gets argued over every single week in DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any single parents perspective?

Single parent here.
This was my daughter's first year in a preschool; she will be 3 in two months. Yes it was cheaper than her daycare, but because it is a Preschool program within a private school, they have a "school calendar". I assumed they went by PGCPS but they do not (that is SOOOOO inconvenient!). So back in August, I went over the dates and asked family (my mom) or 2 close friends what dates could they keep her. Luckily my mom works from home so her schedule is more flexible than mine (teacher) and her school is 5 minutes away from my job so I am able to pick her up before 4pm. But there are some dates that changed or that I overlooked that I had to scramble to find someone to watch her and it sucks. I do wish Preschool programs would operate like daycare and not school no matter if it is in a center or an actual school. I love how much she is thriving there but I am considering switching back to "daycare" just for not having to panic over who is going to watch her on those random days off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After going through the school calendar, I just realized the pre-school we signed up for have about 2 months of closed dates out of a year, not even counting days with inclement weather. There are at least 2-3 days if not more every month that they are closed during the week. And so many professional development days.

What do working parents do especially if you don't have a "village" (grandparents) living nearby? How easy to find a sitter for a few days a month? The cost can add up fast.

How about stop jumping on the Montessori train and get with a program that does not have so many days off? That’s your problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full day preschools rarely have this many days off. My preschool has:
1 week in August
2 parent-teacher conference days
1 teacher development day
All Federal Holidays
3 early release days - Good Friday, NYE, day before Thanksgiving.

This is still more days off than when we were at a large center where conferences happened in the evening and they did Development on Columbus Day.

The only schools I’ve seen have so many days off as you describe are Montessori schools. Unfortunately the Montessori philosophy is not compatible with being a working parent unless you also have a nanny or au pair. Some schools begrudgingly offer before and after care to make it a full day, but still run a very abbreviated calendar.

Depends on your kid and your job on how you handle it. I work from home and my 4yr old is great at independent play. On days like parent conferences, I buy a new $10-20 Lego set and that buys me 3-4 hours of work time. I work longer the night before and that evening to make up the extra hours.

This. OP here. It is a Montessori co-op program. I am torn. On one hand, I can see how my child would benefit from an education that cultivates concentration and self-learning. On the other hand, it may be difficult to make it work for three years with so many closed days. Plus little kids get sick often, which adds more leave days for parents.

So Kindergarten and elementary school follows play based learning, not Montessori. Why would you keep you child in an environment that will not prepare them for Kindergarten?