What is the difference between preschool and daycare?

[Anonymous]

Sorry for the stupid question. Is preschool for older toddlers, while daycare is considered to be for infants and 2 year olds?

[Anonymous]

No. It has nothing to do with age. Preschool has teachers. Daycare has daycare providers. They may in fact teach things, but the way in which they operate is different. In a preschool, you have set hours for "school" -- you can't just drop your kids off for certain hours, pick them up at 6 pm (I'm not disparaging daycare, I'm just saying that the essense of daycare -- someone there to take care of your kids -- does not apply for preschool. It has a different purpose).

Preschool generally has very LIMITED hours in fact (morning, or up to 3 pm latest).

Moreover, in terms of how they are viewed, I think they are not viewed the same. Someone had a thread on this (rather offensive). Daycare is not viewed the same as preschool because it obviously demonstrates some monetary difference. I realize daycare may in fact cost just as much, but by virtue of the fact that preschool has such limited hours, you could only partake of it if you worked and had a nanny, only worked part-time, or didn't work at all.

[Anonymous]

Most daycares run preschool programs for the children who attend. At ours, during the preschool part of the day, the kids were taught by teachers and did the usual preschool stuff. During the rest of the day, it was daycare (teachers without the education credentials etc).

[Anonymous]

Yep, basically preschool is for kids age 2.5ish or more likely 3. Some daycares have a preschool style but they are an all-day program.

Daycare is for kids ages 0-6. There's before and after care for kids who are school age, which is like daycare for school-aged kids.

The weird thing about all this "applying to preschool" stuff is that if your kid is in full-time daycare, you were likely on the waitlist since infancy or when you started, whereas preschool is more likely a set school "year" with some time off in the summer, breaks, etc. and is usually only a few hours or mornings a week.

People use the terms interchangeably sometimes, but mostly I think when people on this board say "preschool" they mean the non-daycare kind. It is generally designed for those with nannies, SAHMs or part time working moms.

FWIW, my child is in a daycare that definitely seems like a preschool (and is called a "daycare and preschool"), it's just all day and they eat more and nap there.

[Anonymous]

In my experience, if your child is in a high-quality daycare, there is no difference other than the length of the day and the fact that daycare centers also accept infants. I recently toured a top NW DC preschool and the schedule, atmosphere, and activities seemed to be pretty much identical to those at my son's Bright Horizons daycare center. Yes, preschool teachers may have the edge in credentials/education, but let's face it -- teaching preschoolers the ABCs is not rocket science. In my opinion, loving and nurturing personalities are the best qualifications.

[Anonymous]

I think the line between the two is pretty blurred, especially in this city when so many parents need full-day care. My son is in daycare and I, too, have toured some of the "better" preschools to see if I want to move him. It does indeed seem that their schedules/curricula are pretty much the same (unless you're talking about a Montessori/Regio/Waldorf program that approaches curriculum planning differently) - everyone does circle time/academics/snack/outside play/lunch in the mornings, and if it is a full day program they add in a nap, afternoon snack, afternoon play, and free time.

In terms of the the preschool teachers being better educated, some of the programs I've seen only have a few college educated teachers - the assistant teachers are college students or people without a 4-year degree. So for me, the question becomes, does it matter if the classroom is run by someone with a 4-year degree (or masters), when the assistant teacher who is reading to or interacting with your child doesn't have a degree? Is it better to have the stability and consistency of a good daycare program (the preschools employing college students obviously have high turn-over rates, because the students will graduate and move on after 1 or 2 years)? I think it is a wash.

[Anonymous]

i think it really depends on the particular school, who the teachers are, etc. The lines between daycares with preschool programs and preschools with extended day programs is really blurry.

[Anonymous]

Is there a difference before age 3 or 4? I think it is glorified preschool before that, no matter what they call themselves.

[Anonymous]

There really is not a clear distinction. There are some VERY snotty moms out there who believe that daycare is the root of all evil, a substandard option for those who do not stay hom or hire a nanny, describe it as "custodial care", and believe preschool is not only far better but far different. Very ignorant and silly, just ignore those people in this category, quite pathetic if you ask me.

We have a neighbor like this who sends her child to what she describes at preschool because it is not full day, limited hours but we are talking about at least 4 per day while she stays home, and sends her kids 5 days a week. A much nicer neighborworks part time and sends her kid to a preschool 2 days a week for a full day and she works part time. The snotty neighbor always corrects her when she refers to her full day place as preschool and the teachers as teachers. In the snotty neighbor's opinion it is only daycare and daycare workers. What is most amusing is that the nicer neighbor's place has actual teachers with degrees, snotty neighbors does not. Nicer neighbors kids are much smarter than snotty neighbor . and nicer neighbor's kids come back with coller projects and fun activities etc.

Point is you have research each place despite the label and don;t overlook one place that might be great just because it has a daycare label. I looked at a lot of popular places that provided only half day activities and the teachers were not as qualified as teachers in some of the centers that provided full day activities. You have to ask each place what the turn over rate and degree of education is for each class.

In my area, I personally prefer many of the preschools that offer full day programs. You can just send your child for fewer days. There is alot of value to giving kids unstructured playtime with a regular group of their peers along with some structured activities. The full day programs seemed to have a better balance of creative activities with alot of outdoor fun physical activities.

Age four programs usually prepare the children for kindergarten, and preK actually seems like the kindergarten that we remember. Age 2-3 the value is building foundational skill sets, exposure to more people, social skills, relationship building, and gainiing more independence.

[Anonymous]

I had a nanny for my child from about 8 weeks old until slightly over 2.5 years. My nanny had a phd in childhood development and taught a few classes in the evenings at a local college. I loved her, thought she was excellent nanny and felt lucky as a parent to have someone with such excellent qualifications to look after my child. As time went on, my child hit every landmark early, with the exception of language. We sough answers from our Dr. He kept saying, "don't worry, your child is just a late talker". By the age of 2 and half years, my child had FIVE words and a lot of babble. We finally decided to ignore the doctor, gave notice to our nanny and put our child in a pre-k/daycare type setting. What a change we saw within the first month! Now, at just over 4, you would never know about the delay and I believe it has everything to do with the 8 hour daily socialization my child had with classmates.

So, as for a nanny, never again. If we were to have another child, we would go the daycare route asap. As far as a future school or another parent being a snob about it - ehh, I couldn't care less.

[Anonymous]

There is such an anti private school edge to this site. Like parents who want to put their kids in what they think is a good preschool are evil.

I don't know why women are so mean to one another. If you had a men's site and one of the threads discussed how to land a great job, I swear you would never see all these postings bashing eachother, "Why are you so concerned about the job? Maybe you should be thinking about your family and not your title!" Women are always so quick to criticize other women for the job they are ALL trying to do best: be a mom. The anonymity to this site seems to give some women a license to be shrews to one another, when honestly, if you talked face to face you would understand each other's decisions.

Why can't someone on this site ask about a preschool or an admissions letter without unleashing the bashing brigade? We don't all have to make the same choices, but if you don't have anything kind to add, why say something?