Stay at current daycare or leave after eligbile for PEP program
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Anonymous
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Please help me to figure out if I should change the current daycare. My soon-to-be 3 year old kid has been at current popular chain daycare for 6 months 5 days a week full day, and he loves it there, costs $1700 a month. We drop him off at 7:30am and pick up at 5:30pm. His lunch & nap time hours are from noon-3:30pm daily.
Starting in October, he is going to get bused to a county preschool program 5 days a week from 8:30-noon (including transportation time) for free. And, I also have to pull him out from current daycare 2 times a week to take him to see OT/ST at 3pm. We are in Montgomery County, and I understand that the free county preschool program is closed in summer months and certain days following MCPS calendar/weather closing days while the current daycare will be opened. We have no family in the area, and we both are 2 working parents full time. Should I continue to let my son stay at current preschool (costs $1700 a month) starting in October even though half of the days he will be bused to other preschool program & he mainly spending time at the current daycare eating lunch/napping without much exposure to daycare curriculum? His current daycare preschool curriculum is from 9am to noon daily. Or should I try to find a cheaper daycare option (like family care) to enroll my son in? We can afford $1700/month, but we just feel that our son does not learn/get much out from the current daycare with the new arrangement. And, we have a feeling that we are actually losing money. I partly want to suck it up to continue to pay $1700/month, but I partly want to save a couple hundreds a month to find cheaper options for his OT/ST therapies/weekend hobbies. And, we are expecting a new baby soon. Any thoughts? |
Anonymous
| Unless it’s changed since we were in Pep know that the Mcps calendar is not the same as the pep calendar. Pep starts later ends earlier had more random days off and more vacations. This life is hard. If you found something that is working then keep it. It is worth it to do pep. It’s the best part of mcps special education. I wouldn’t sweat the lost coverage. Next year when pep is in the afternoon you will get the curriculum benefit. |
Anonymous
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We did PEP for both 3s and 4s. Like you, we needed full day coverage.
Most daycares/preschools provide the academic portion of the day in the morning and the child care portion in the afternoon. You still need afternoon coverage. I was able to find a PEP program for my 3yr old that met in the afternoon. There are only a very few locations in the county that offer this as an option. You can inquire to DESC if this might be an option for you. I then put my child in a 1/2 day morning only program at a location that also offered afternoon/evening childcare. It was a cobbled together solution but it worked for our family. The easier solution would have been dual enrollment in a full day daycare program and the 1/2 day PEP program. It's more expensive and you're not using 1/2 of what you are paying for but on the other hand, you're getting PEP for free. |
Anonymous
Do some research on cheaper options, visit them, then decide. IME, it is hard to find a low priced afternoon-only program, so you may still be looking at paying for FT care even though you only need afternoons. Maybe a coop or church based preschool would work? However it might be hard to find a fall spot in a cheaper program that you like at this late date. It sucks to pay for daycare you don't need, but it's also important to have a preschool your son really likes. GL! |
Anonymous
| I would leave him if he is happy and they take good care of him. Its hard to find a good center for a child with developmental delays that is understanding and willing to work with them. Day care is time limited, so may be services/therapies depending on the child. The next few years will be busy and expensive but you do what you need to do. |
Anonymous
| Can they offer you the afternoon program so he can get the curriculum in the morning. I found special ed to be good but doesn't necessarily include what the child need in pre school context. In my case I kept my do9n in his pre school paying full tuition, but he was picked around noon tine after his classes were done, do he missed play time and nap. It was hard, but I feel good to know that academically speaking he is ready for k this Sep. I don't think he would have got that if he didn't do the curriculum in his pre school. |
Anonymous
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Get services to come to daycare.
If you work ft, mcps closes at the drop of a hat. You'll be scrambling for backup care. |
Anonymous
Once you are in pep you are out of early intervention services no longer come to you this is not an option |
Anonymous
| DD started PEP last year and she was in FT daycare (approx 1200) prior with infants and toddlers coming to the daycare weekly for speech therapy. I kept DD in the daycare FT since her PEP class was in the afternoon and me and her dad work full time. I didnt feel like it was completely a waste of money since I needed care all day but yes I do agree she didnt learn much in daycare since she was gone half the day. However, she learned a lot in PEP. I would say find a cheaper option for daycare. $1700 is a lot to pay knowing your child is only there for a few hours a day when PEP is in session. |
Anonymous
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We aren't facing this decision this fall, but will next fall. We will likely leave our child in the current daycare/preschool, and pay the $2K per month. Like you, DC will have therapies 2X per week in addition to PEP, so we could probably find a cheaper option but:
1) the daycare/preschool dc is currently enrolled in is familiar and close to home; 2) means we won't have to scramble for childcare coverage when PEP is closed; 3) means DC will maintain a connection to current friends; 4) means we won't have to worry about finding care for the summers. |