Nap time is not required for 5 year olds anywhere I know of other than a short quiet time and 5 year olds for the most part are in kindergarten. I think 4's are required 30-45 minutes depending on the jurisdiction. I don't think nap time is the issue. Many daycares have ridiculous nap times up to 2 1/2 hours for 4 and 5 year olds when all the stay at home moms say that their 2 year old doesn't nap anymore. I have seen plenty of places though where the rooms are not large enough for the kids to move around during the day and have table space. I think this is the main issue with the school mentioned above.

Who complaining? I'm beginning to wonder about reading comprehension abilities on this thread. I'm just responding to someone who keeps intimating that I don't know what I'm talking about at my own son's school.

The center has been wonderful for four years. There's never been a need to change. I'm holding him back for the next 3-4 months until summer camp starts, when it's a completely different schedule. Lots of fun activities and free play. Then he goes to a developmentally appropriate kindergarten in the fall. There is no problem here. Somehow my original attempt to illustrate why I wanted to hold my son back got turned into a debate about whether I really know what's going on in the 5s room.

What state is this prison in? Just wondering b/c naptime is still required for 1 1/2-2 hrs. even for 5 yr olds in Va. day care centers.

Assuming your description is accurate, I don't know why you are sending your child to what you have determined is a developmentally inappropriate center. There are a lot of centers out there and the 5s groups are not usually hard to get into.

I don't know why you make a choice you are unhappy with, refuse to change it, but simply want to complain about it. Have fun with that.

Anonymous wrote:The point is that they have free time during morning recess and again in the afternoon and I'm sure their activities besides nap, snack and recess in the afternoon also include loosely designated play time at different centers and then what is actually designated "free time" for another hour. Most of the day is pretty easy at a day care center. They tend to do story time and writing and numbers in the morning (in addition to snack, recess and lunch). I do not believe that your day care center is "intense."

How on earth could you know whether another person's daycare center is too intense? And for a child you don't know?
All that writing and phonics and counting is not developmentally appropriate for most children. So what if hundreds of thousands of kids suffer through it? Ever hear the research done on two preschool programs in the same town (don't remember where Ct or NJ maybe) in which the kids on the lower socioeconomic scale went to a teaching preK/daycare and the more advantaged kids went to play pre-k? The "teaching" day care didn't help advance them at all.

Sure, make your own choice, but you are so off proclaiming judgment on the OP.

Anonymous wrote:22:55 -- I totally agree that a 5 year old should not be sitting at a desk all day. I just have a hard time believing your description that a DAY CARE is asking a 5 year old to "sit at a desk all day." I have seen numerous day cares, including those that are academically inclined, and I have never seen that kind of schedule.... which leads me to believe that you are over-stating the academic rigor of this particular day care. It's your kid, so do what you want, but most 5 year olds can handle a couple hours of "education" in the morning along with snacks, naps, recess, lunch, and what is termed "free time." The whole day is a lot more fun and free than what you are suggesting.

My son's been going there for almost 5 years now. The 5s room is in the middle of the school in open space, so I see it every time I walk in. And over the years I walk in a different times throughout the day. Those kids are always seated at the desk. I have no clue if they are stressing "academic" rigor or not. But it's definitely sit-at the-desk rigor. No naps in the 5s. No rest period as a replacement, either. Snacks and lunch are at the desks, too. There is no circle area for circle time. No pets to go feed. No computer on the side of the room. Nowhere to gather other than the desks. My child will not be able to move around much for hours at a time, and that is not good for him, no matter how you cut it.

Fortunately, the kindergarten he will go to next year is set up much better and much more developmentally appropriate, IMO. I just have to get him through the next few months until the summer camp program starts. And then there is lots of movement.

22:55 -- I totally agree that a 5 year old should not be sitting at a desk all day. I just have a hard time believing your description that a DAY CARE is asking a 5 year old to "sit at a desk all day." I have seen numerous day cares, including those that are academically inclined, and I have never seen that kind of schedule.... which leads me to believe that you are over-stating the academic rigor of this particular day care. It's your kid, so do what you want, but most 5 year olds can handle a couple hours of "education" in the morning along with snacks, naps, recess, lunch, and what is termed "free time." The whole day is a lot more fun and free than what you are suggesting.