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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

We choose daycares with a preschool component. Rarely have days off. Unless your school’s days off coincide with things like the local public school, it’s nearly impossible to find child care except through a very expensive service.

[Anonymous]

You use you PTO/vacation time, or find a daycare center with a preschool program.

[Anonymous]

Our center is a daycare with a preschool program, so there are rarely days off. This year they’re closed 13 days, including a short spring break and the week of Christmas.

[Anonymous]

Most people using " preschools" are SAHM or have Nannies. Preschools are not for working parents to have childcare. If you are using a daycare with a preschool component I am surprised they are closed that often.

[Anonymous]

Those programs are intended for who you named-flexible workers or people that can rearrange their schedule, people with family nearby and people with backup care benefits. We use a program like that but my job lets me flex so taking off a Friday or Monday just means shuffling my schedule a little, MIL is 90 minutes away and stays with us if we need care for more than a day, and as a last resort my work does have backup care membership though I have never used it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people using " preschools" are SAHM or have Nannies. Preschools are not for working parents to have childcare. If you are using a daycare with a preschool component I am surprised they are closed that often.

PP here who uses a program like that and i would add We have a lot of families where one parent has a contract type job or is self employed. That means they can kind of step back on work when they know there are breaks.

[Anonymous]

We chose a preschool which is daycare with a preschool piece. They don't close for vacation.

[Anonymous]

It’s called daycare. Change programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We choose daycares with a preschool component. Rarely have days off. Unless your school’s days off coincide with things like the local public school, it’s nearly impossible to find child care except through a very expensive service.

Yup, us too.

[Anonymous]

Working parents (without extra help) choose different programs that are not closed as much.

[Anonymous]

School is not child care

[Anonymous]

In the summer we put our child in camp - there are a few starting at age 3. During the year, we were fortunate to have flexible schedules to work from home or take the day off. If you don't have that flexibility, I would look into daycare.

[Anonymous]

Our daycare had preschool and only closed when fed govt was closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Working parents (without extra help) choose different programs that are not closed as much.

Exactly this. It's one of the first questions I asked of each place "what is your holiday/day off schedule?"