What are the key distinctions b/w pre-school and day care?
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Anonymous
| Preschools are generally more expensive if you use aftercare. Capitol Hill Day school, for example, is $25,000 for pre-k, and if you need care past 3pm, tack on another $3,200. Then pay for some sort of summer program. |
Anonymous
The part in bold EXACTLY describes my daughter's day. She's 4 and in the preschool class at a large daycare center. So don't assume kids in "daycare" settings are just running around and playing all day. |
Anonymous
| What I don't like about chain preschools in our area is the flux in teachers and directors. There are curriculum issues as well with many of them, but generally I don't think the daycares aren't too bad with their curriculum. Because they already have a name for themselves though (Kindercare, Bright Horizons, Chesterbrook, etc) I get the feeling they can hide behind the standards of their chain and aren't as directly impacted if a director leaves. I guess this could be good or bad if there really is a big exodus, but I just like the assurance that there is less of a chance of turnover. In our stand alone preschool of 3 teachers and one director it is more obvious to the community if a teacher or the director were to leave. Word gets out quicker so they are more careful with making sure their employees are well cared for. Also, I think the teachers have more flexibility than with a nationwide curriculum. The local Kindercare near us changed directors 3 times in 2 years as well as a host of teachers. |
Anonymous
This is exactly what my 4yo DD is doing in daycare (a center in Tysons) right now as well. |
Anonymous
| What are some examples of local stand alone preschools? (Not OP) |
Anonymous
My child is in daycare and takes phonics and music during the week. She also practices counting/math and writing. I think this is common in daycare centers. I would suspect in home daycares are less inclined to have pre-school type curriculum. |
Anonymous
| There are many preschools around this area that aren't nationwide chains or in residential homes. Outdoor Nursery School, Manor Montessori, etc. The second poster gave a good description for how many preschools and daycares evolved to be similar to each other. |
Anonymous
| Depends on the preschool and the day care. My child goes to preschool - I don't think they do much that is beyond what a day care would do. However, the teacher does give insight to parents about developmental needs. Lots of kids were flagged to get help and I think the teacher really tries to make sure parents know whether their kids are ready for kindergarten. That said, there is more they could do to prepare the kids and also to encourage creativity. |
Anonymous
| Which is Merritt Academy considered? |
MerrittAcademyAmy
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To PP-
My name is Amy, and I'm the Director of Admissions at Merritt Academy. My opinion is that a "daycare" provides child supervision and ensures that children's basic needs (food, clothing, diapering) are met while parents are away. They may or may not incorporate other activities, and generally do not ascribe to a larger program, curriculum or teaching philosophy (Traditional vs. Montessori vs. Progressive, etc.) I consider Merritt Academy's program to be a full-time preschool as opposed to a daycare. The distinction, in my opinion, comes down to the caliber of teachers/caregivers that work directly with the children (are they degreed, is teaching preschool their career choice, or just a job?), whether or not the center ascribes to a particular program or curriculum. For instance, each preschool class (infants up to pre-K) are lead by teachers with specialized degrees in Early Childhood Education (BA in ECE) or Child Development (CDA). Merritt Academy's Infant, Toddler and K2 programs are based on the Whole Child Concept ABCs of Developmental Milestones- which can be viewed here: http://www.pbs.org/wholechild/abc/index.htmlTeachers create weekly lesson plans with flexibility and differentiation in mind, so that each child is able to meet the various milestones at his or her own pace. Our K3 and K4 programs are more academic, and take content from our school curriculum that go through our upper grades. Since we incorporate a "big picture" approach to each individual child's development and progress, and our teachers are educators (as opposed to simply "caregivers"), our program does not fit my personal definition of a daycare. |
Anonymous
I kind of doubt anybody on this board sends their kid to a daycare that meets only these very minimum standards. Previously, I thought preschool was a part-time thing, designed for socializing experiences for kids with a stay at home parent (or caregiver) for the afternoon, and daycare had a schedule that met the needs of working parents. Since becoming a (working) parent, I've learned that in this area, there's much more of a fuzzy line -- because some preschools have gone to full day, or preschool + aftercare -- due to the demand. And many daycares incorporate educational philsophies. So it's probably hard to draw the fine distinction across the board. In my case, we switched from daycare to preschool when my child turned 3. Our daycare was much more than 'meeting basic needs.' The teachers (caregivers) were wonderful, loving, and many had been there for many, many years -- it was love of children that brought them there. They knew a lot about kids and the 3 & 4 year olds were certainly learning their ABCs, numbers etc. But generally, they had CDAs, not bachelor's degrees. They weren't doing continued PD all the time. In our preschool, the teachers are similarly caring, but they do have more of an educational philosophy and bachelor's degrees (at least). And there's aftercare. And many holidays plus the summer for which to figure out childcare. When he entered--at just after 3--he was ahead on pretty much all his milestones (letters, colors, shapes, numbers) though so he was picking up plenty of academic --and social/classroom skills like lining up, sharing -- at daycare. |
Anonymous
| PS They definitely had a schedule with circle time, etc at daycare. |
Anonymous
| No one wants to send their child the daycare anymore, preschool sounds so much more advanced. Gifted children go to preschool, regular ones go to daycare, didn't you know? Haha. |