Anonymous wrote:Same thing

Agreed. I've only seen it used interchangeably.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. WAIT, WHAT? My mind is blown. So in my case, my DC is in a daycare that has a preschool program. She'll start DC pre-k3 when she's 3.5. If we kept her in the private program until K, she'd only do "preschool", but if we do a year of the private program then public Prek3 and prek4, there's a substantive difference? Do private programs make this distinction or is it just a public school vs private program thing?

Hahaha, NO, OP, relax. There's no difference, it's mostly based on the school's curriculum!! I mean, different schools have different curriculums, but one school may have a play-based pre-K while the other one has academically focused pre-K. Both are still called pre-K.

People on DCUM make this so complicated, but it's really very simple. Pre-K is usually what they call the 4 year olds (and some 5 year olds) in preschool. It's just the year before Kindergarten. Some public schools in different parts of the country (including DC) have public pre-K programs. DC has both 3 and 4 year olds so they make a distinction (PK3 and PK4). That's it, OP!!

There are some posters on here who claim that anything that is not a half-day program is not preschool and insist that anything full-time is daycare. So this group will be defensive and whiny and say things like "my child is in a 3 day a week, 3 hour a day pre-K program and they are WAY more prepped for kindergarten than your child who is in a full day program that CALLS itself a preschool but is really daycare". I ignore these people, because they are annoying, and I don't understand why get so defensive and care so much whether preschool is half day or full day. It's so weird.

Anonymous wrote:So if prek is the year before k, what is DC prek3? Does DC make this distinction in programming or curriculum?

DC has PS3 and PK4, so they appear to distinguish between preschool and pre-kindergarten. The difference really depends on the program--not all PK programs are "academically focused," and certainly there are a lot of social skills being developed. Our daycare has a threes and a fours room that roughly follow the PS/PK distinction. Both rooms have similar programming that addresses social studies, preliteracy, early math skills, etc., using a play-based curriculum. The four-year-olds have more field trips, delve into a topic a little more deeply, etc.

Pre-K is officially short for "Pre-Kindergarten" but the terms Pre-K and preschool are often used interchangeably. Has nothing to do with the content/curriculum... any good Pre-K/preschool/child care includes social-emotional development and does most learning through play.

So if prek is the year before k, what is DC prek3? Does DC make this distinction in programming or curriculum?

At some schools "Junior K" is for red-shirted 5 yr olds who are doing an extra year of preschool.

Preschool is generally ages 2 - 5. Pre K is for 4-5 year olds who will enter kindergarten the following year. I think there is a lot of overlap but Pre-K has more of a "kindergarten readiness" focus.

I consider pre-k the year before K only. Also know. As the 4s class, also known as Jr K.

The curriculum depends on the school. It could be play based or academic based.

Anonymous wrote:Same thing

+1. And this year, DCPS is switching over to the Creative Curriculum for pre-K3 & 4, which is what many day cares/preschools use.

Same thing

OP here. WAIT, WHAT? My mind is blown. So in my case, my DC is in a daycare that has a preschool program. She'll start DC pre-k3 when she's 3.5. If we kept her in the private program until K, she'd only do "preschool", but if we do a year of the private program then public Prek3 and prek4, there's a substantive difference? Do private programs make this distinction or is it just a public school vs private program thing?

Pre-K is the year before K. Some public schools have it, as do some privates. Preschool means basically everything from age 2-5 and can include Pre-K.

Speaking for the DC area, your friend is correct.

Help me out here. A friend from a different part of the country said that preschool and pre-k are two different things. Preschool comes before pre-k and is social/emotionally focused, and pre-k is academically focused. Of course different programs focus on different things, but I always thought pre-K was an abbreviation for preschool. Is this a regional difference or have I just been confused for years??