Reply to What is the difference between daycare and preschool?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The difference between daycare and preschool is the hours.  If your child goes to a single place, and stays there, or has the option to stay for 8 hours or longer, then it's daycare.  If they stay for 3 hours, or 5 or 6 and then go to a different program, even in the same building, that's preschool.

Daycares and preschools can both be wonderful places, or they can be crappy.  They can both be Montessori, or playbased, or Waldorf, or Spanish Immersion, or whatever other curriculum you want.  Or they can have no curriculum and make it up as they go.

In general, I chose a daycare because I wanted my kid to have fewer transitions.  I work full time, and didn't like the idea of my child moving from before care to preschool to aftercare at 3.  I'm very picky about early childhood curriculum, so I looked for, and found, a program that had a rich, developmentally appropriate curriculum, and my child thrived there.  In addition, I liked the fact that there was a little more breathing room built in the schedule, something I think is true of the best daycare centers.  My kid got the same number of stories, and art projects, and songs to sing, and science experiments, and other experiences as a kid might at one of the top preschools with a 4 hour day, but they were broken up with longer stretches of outdoor time, and a nice nap, and a choice time that included opportunities to snuggle close to a teacher for a 1:1 story.  Kids also helped more with routines than they often do at shorter day preschools, and the classroom and the playground were set up with places for a kid to go when he wanted to be alone, in recognition of the fact that 8 - 10 hours is a long time for kids to be in care.

If I didn't work, or worked fewer hours, I would have chosen a preschool.  I would have wanted the "educational" experiences to be a little more condensed, knowing that I could supplement with time to relax at home.  I would have wanted opportunities to meet other families where someone was home so we could go to the zoo or whatever together in the afternoon.  I also think that the experience of being a kid who goes 3 half days a week to a program where most kids go 5 full days a week, isn't ideal.  Relationships are formed and plans are made when the part time kid isn't there, and it's awkward.

Look at what goes on in your daycare's classes for 3's and 4's.  If you think your child would enjoy it, and learn from it, then stay regardless of the label.  If it looks uninspired, go tour some other programs.

Good luck![/quote]

This was an extremely helpful post and I totally agree.  [/quote]

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