Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?

No, I didn’t feel the need to. He learns a lot at school already. I am a former teacher and it’s not about how long kids are in school. What’s important is what they actually do in the classroom. What can the teacher accomplish with the group of kids? What are the behavioral expectations of the school? What are the consequences?

There is a lot of built in wasted time in a regular school day, add in behavior issues and the kids might be lucky to get 15 minutes of direct instruction in a 7-8 hour school day. I have seen it and lived it. If your kid is stuck in a class with intensive behavioral issues, they’re not going to be learning much even if they’re there 12 hours a day and they go to school year round. They’re just going to be sitting around watching the teachers being stressed out. There is a lot of turnover at the daycare and it is not hard to see why. When my kid was there, is was constant. Teachers leaving all the time, new assistants coming in every 2 days, etc. At the preschool, I noticed the teachers were much happier. Possibly due to the breaks they get compared to the daycare teachers. The same teacher and assistant were there the entire year. No one left.

I’m sure there’s a lot of variation but we’ve been pleasantly surprised and pleased with the teacher retention at our church run very part time preschool. Most teachers have been there well over a decade.

Seems like you’re defending your particular situation and daycare. You’re free to keep your kid in daycare if that’s the best fit for them. The discussion is generalizing about what’s provided overall since this is an anonymous forum.

As I said my kid is in a traditional preschool. I was tentatively agreeing.

I interpreted it as judgement that you were using a “church” preschool. IME some parents are oddly snobby about those and don’t consider them as high quality.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?

No, I didn’t feel the need to. He learns a lot at school already. I am a former teacher and it’s not about how long kids are in school. What’s important is what they actually do in the classroom. What can the teacher accomplish with the group of kids? What are the behavioral expectations of the school? What are the consequences?

There is a lot of built in wasted time in a regular school day, add in behavior issues and the kids might be lucky to get 15 minutes of direct instruction in a 7-8 hour school day. I have seen it and lived it. If your kid is stuck in a class with intensive behavioral issues, they’re not going to be learning much even if they’re there 12 hours a day and they go to school year round. They’re just going to be sitting around watching the teachers being stressed out. There is a lot of turnover at the daycare and it is not hard to see why. When my kid was there, is was constant. Teachers leaving all the time, new assistants coming in every 2 days, etc. At the preschool, I noticed the teachers were much happier. Possibly due to the breaks they get compared to the daycare teachers. The same teacher and assistant were there the entire year. No one left.

I’m sure there’s a lot of variation but we’ve been pleasantly surprised and pleased with the teacher retention at our church run very part time preschool. Most teachers have been there well over a decade.

Seems like you’re defending your particular situation and daycare. You’re free to keep your kid in daycare if that’s the best fit for them. The discussion is generalizing about what’s provided overall since this is an anonymous forum.

As I said my kid is in a traditional preschool. I was tentatively agreeing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?

No, I didn’t feel the need to. He learns a lot at school already. I am a former teacher and it’s not about how long kids are in school. What’s important is what they actually do in the classroom. What can the teacher accomplish with the group of kids? What are the behavioral expectations of the school? What are the consequences?

There is a lot of built in wasted time in a regular school day, add in behavior issues and the kids might be lucky to get 15 minutes of direct instruction in a 7-8 hour school day. I have seen it and lived it. If your kid is stuck in a class with intensive behavioral issues, they’re not going to be learning much even if they’re there 12 hours a day and they go to school year round. They’re just going to be sitting around watching the teachers being stressed out. There is a lot of turnover at the daycare and it is not hard to see why. When my kid was there, is was constant. Teachers leaving all the time, new assistants coming in every 2 days, etc. At the preschool, I noticed the teachers were much happier. Possibly due to the breaks they get compared to the daycare teachers. The same teacher and assistant were there the entire year. No one left.

I’m sure there’s a lot of variation but we’ve been pleasantly surprised and pleased with the teacher retention at our church run very part time preschool. Most teachers have been there well over a decade.

Seems like you’re defending your particular situation and daycare. You’re free to keep your kid in daycare if that’s the best fit for them. The discussion is generalizing about what’s provided overall since this is an anonymous forum.

I am not this PP but probably who you meant to respond to. Well, right back at you.

You are arguing that daycare is bad because your child's daycare was bad. I can only assume because you don't want to admit that you didn't properly vet your child's daycare.

You also seem to believe that children of working parents shouldn't get preschool education. Those parents made the choices they did and all their children deserve is "babysitting". I can't begin to express how transparent your insecurity and desire to justify your choices by attacking others is.

Thanks for this!!

PP has me feeling terrible about utilizing preschool at our daycare facility, which was probably their point with their rude post.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The same coverage gaps will exist. I am genuinely interested in hearing solutions, because we can't figure it out for our DC.)

Those school age kids go to summer camps or winter camps. In competitive places, you need to prepare to sign up in January of that year for summer. How are you not figuring it out?

So far, I still don't see how to cover all of August, plus a week of spring break, plus xmas break, plus random school days off.

The summer camps mostly start in mid-June end in late July, so August is not covered. (I am not a Fed, so I do not get many of the Federal holidays.)

Are you in the DC area? My kids are in camp in August. Fairfax and Arlington county camps go right up to the 1st week of school. There may be no spots open now - but the camps exist. Sign up was in Jan and Feb.

Older DC can attend Arlington (APS ?) camp next year, thanks for that tip btw, but the Arlington County-run camp also ends at the end of July, which still leaves August uncovered.

It sure would be simpler if county-run camps for any county would cover the whole summer instead of mid-June to end of July.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?

No, I didn’t feel the need to. He learns a lot at school already. I am a former teacher and it’s not about how long kids are in school. What’s important is what they actually do in the classroom. What can the teacher accomplish with the group of kids? What are the behavioral expectations of the school? What are the consequences?

There is a lot of built in wasted time in a regular school day, add in behavior issues and the kids might be lucky to get 15 minutes of direct instruction in a 7-8 hour school day. I have seen it and lived it. If your kid is stuck in a class with intensive behavioral issues, they’re not going to be learning much even if they’re there 12 hours a day and they go to school year round. They’re just going to be sitting around watching the teachers being stressed out. There is a lot of turnover at the daycare and it is not hard to see why. When my kid was there, is was constant. Teachers leaving all the time, new assistants coming in every 2 days, etc. At the preschool, I noticed the teachers were much happier. Possibly due to the breaks they get compared to the daycare teachers. The same teacher and assistant were there the entire year. No one left.

I’m sure there’s a lot of variation but we’ve been pleasantly surprised and pleased with the teacher retention at our church run very part time preschool. Most teachers have been there well over a decade.

Seems like you’re defending your particular situation and daycare. You’re free to keep your kid in daycare if that’s the best fit for them. The discussion is generalizing about what’s provided overall since this is an anonymous forum.

I am not this PP but probably who you meant to respond to. Well, right back at you.

You are arguing that daycare is bad because your child's daycare was bad. I can only assume because you don't want to admit that you didn't properly vet your child's daycare.

You also seem to believe that children of working parents shouldn't get preschool education. Those parents made the choices they did and all their children deserve is "babysitting". I can't begin to express how transparent your insecurity and desire to justify your choices by attacking others is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?

No, I didn’t feel the need to. He learns a lot at school already. I am a former teacher and it’s not about how long kids are in school. What’s important is what they actually do in the classroom. What can the teacher accomplish with the group of kids? What are the behavioral expectations of the school? What are the consequences?

There is a lot of built in wasted time in a regular school day, add in behavior issues and the kids might be lucky to get 15 minutes of direct instruction in a 7-8 hour school day. I have seen it and lived it. If your kid is stuck in a class with intensive behavioral issues, they’re not going to be learning much even if they’re there 12 hours a day and they go to school year round. They’re just going to be sitting around watching the teachers being stressed out. There is a lot of turnover at the daycare and it is not hard to see why. When my kid was there, is was constant. Teachers leaving all the time, new assistants coming in every 2 days, etc. At the preschool, I noticed the teachers were much happier. Possibly due to the breaks they get compared to the daycare teachers. The same teacher and assistant were there the entire year. No one left.

I’m sure there’s a lot of variation but we’ve been pleasantly surprised and pleased with the teacher retention at our church run very part time preschool. Most teachers have been there well over a decade.

Seems like you’re defending your particular situation and daycare. You’re free to keep your kid in daycare if that’s the best fit for them. The discussion is generalizing about what’s provided overall since this is an anonymous forum.

I am not this PP but probably who you meant to respond to. Well, right back at you.

You are arguing that daycare is bad because your child's daycare was bad. I can only assume because you don't want to admit that you didn't properly vet your child's daycare.

You also seem to believe that children of working parents shouldn't get preschool education. Those parents made the choices they did and all their children deserve is "babysitting". I can't begin to express how transparent your insecurity and desire to justify your choices by attacking others is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?

No, I didn’t feel the need to. He learns a lot at school already. I am a former teacher and it’s not about how long kids are in school. What’s important is what they actually do in the classroom. What can the teacher accomplish with the group of kids? What are the behavioral expectations of the school? What are the consequences?

There is a lot of built in wasted time in a regular school day, add in behavior issues and the kids might be lucky to get 15 minutes of direct instruction in a 7-8 hour school day. I have seen it and lived it. If your kid is stuck in a class with intensive behavioral issues, they’re not going to be learning much even if they’re there 12 hours a day and they go to school year round. They’re just going to be sitting around watching the teachers being stressed out. There is a lot of turnover at the daycare and it is not hard to see why. When my kid was there, is was constant. Teachers leaving all the time, new assistants coming in every 2 days, etc. At the preschool, I noticed the teachers were much happier. Possibly due to the breaks they get compared to the daycare teachers. The same teacher and assistant were there the entire year. No one left.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?

No, I didn’t feel the need to. He learns a lot at school already. I am a former teacher and it’s not about how long kids are in school. What’s important is what they actually do in the classroom. What can the teacher accomplish with the group of kids? What are the behavioral expectations of the school? What are the consequences?

There is a lot of built in wasted time in a regular school day, add in behavior issues and the kids might be lucky to get 15 minutes of direct instruction in a 7-8 hour school day. I have seen it and lived it. If your kid is stuck in a class with intensive behavioral issues, they’re not going to be learning much even if they’re there 12 hours a day and they go to school year round. They’re just going to be sitting around watching the teachers being stressed out. There is a lot of turnover at the daycare and it is not hard to see why. When my kid was there, is was constant. Teachers leaving all the time, new assistants coming in every 2 days, etc. At the preschool, I noticed the teachers were much happier. Possibly due to the breaks they get compared to the daycare teachers. The same teacher and assistant were there the entire year. No one left.

I’m sure there’s a lot of variation but we’ve been pleasantly surprised and pleased with the teacher retention at our church run very part time preschool. Most teachers have been there well over a decade.

Seems like you’re defending your particular situation and daycare. You’re free to keep your kid in daycare if that’s the best fit for them. The discussion is generalizing about what’s provided overall since this is an anonymous forum.

I am not this PP but probably who you meant to respond to. Well, right back at you.

You are arguing that daycare is bad because your child's daycare was bad. I can only assume because you don't want to admit that you didn't properly vet your child's daycare.

You also seem to believe that children of working parents shouldn't get preschool education. Those parents made the choices they did and all their children deserve is "babysitting". I can't begin to express how transparent your insecurity and desire to justify your choices by attacking others is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?

No, I didn’t feel the need to. He learns a lot at school already. I am a former teacher and it’s not about how long kids are in school. What’s important is what they actually do in the classroom. What can the teacher accomplish with the group of kids? What are the behavioral expectations of the school? What are the consequences?

There is a lot of built in wasted time in a regular school day, add in behavior issues and the kids might be lucky to get 15 minutes of direct instruction in a 7-8 hour school day. I have seen it and lived it. If your kid is stuck in a class with intensive behavioral issues, they’re not going to be learning much even if they’re there 12 hours a day and they go to school year round. They’re just going to be sitting around watching the teachers being stressed out. There is a lot of turnover at the daycare and it is not hard to see why. When my kid was there, is was constant. Teachers leaving all the time, new assistants coming in every 2 days, etc. At the preschool, I noticed the teachers were much happier. Possibly due to the breaks they get compared to the daycare teachers. The same teacher and assistant were there the entire year. No one left.

I’m sure there’s a lot of variation but we’ve been pleasantly surprised and pleased with the teacher retention at our church run very part time preschool. Most teachers have been there well over a decade.

Seems like you’re defending your particular situation and daycare. You’re free to keep your kid in daycare if that’s the best fit for them. The discussion is generalizing about what’s provided overall since this is an anonymous forum.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?

No, I didn’t feel the need to. He learns a lot at school already. I am a former teacher and it’s not about how long kids are in school. What’s important is what they actually do in the classroom. What can the teacher accomplish with the group of kids? What are the behavioral expectations of the school? What are the consequences?

There is a lot of built in wasted time in a regular school day, add in behavior issues and the kids might be lucky to get 15 minutes of direct instruction in a 7-8 hour school day. I have seen it and lived it. If your kid is stuck in a class with intensive behavioral issues, they’re not going to be learning much even if they’re there 12 hours a day and they go to school year round. They’re just going to be sitting around watching the teachers being stressed out. There is a lot of turnover at the daycare and it is not hard to see why. When my kid was there, is was constant. Teachers leaving all the time, new assistants coming in every 2 days, etc. At the preschool, I noticed the teachers were much happier. Possibly due to the breaks they get compared to the daycare teachers. The same teacher and assistant were there the entire year. No one left.

I’m sure there’s a lot of variation but we’ve been pleasantly surprised and pleased with the teacher retention at our church run very part time preschool. Most teachers have been there well over a decade.

Seems like you’re defending your particular situation and daycare. You’re free to keep your kid in daycare if that’s the best fit for them. The discussion is generalizing about what’s provided overall since this is an anonymous forum.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?

No, I didn’t feel the need to. He learns a lot at school already. I am a former teacher and it’s not about how long kids are in school. What’s important is what they actually do in the classroom. What can the teacher accomplish with the group of kids? What are the behavioral expectations of the school? What are the consequences?

There is a lot of built in wasted time in a regular school day, add in behavior issues and the kids might be lucky to get 15 minutes of direct instruction in a 7-8 hour school day. I have seen it and lived it. If your kid is stuck in a class with intensive behavioral issues, they’re not going to be learning much even if they’re there 12 hours a day and they go to school year round. They’re just going to be sitting around watching the teachers being stressed out. There is a lot of turnover at the daycare and it is not hard to see why. When my kid was there, is was constant. Teachers leaving all the time, new assistants coming in every 2 days, etc. At the preschool, I noticed the teachers were much happier. Possibly due to the breaks they get compared to the daycare teachers. The same teacher and assistant were there the entire year. No one left.

I’m sure there’s a lot of variation but we’ve been pleasantly surprised and pleased with the teacher retention at our church run very part time preschool. Most teachers have been there well over a decade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?

No, I didn’t feel the need to. He learns a lot at school already. I am a former teacher and it’s not about how long kids are in school. What’s important is what they actually do in the classroom. What can the teacher accomplish with the group of kids? What are the behavioral expectations of the school? What are the consequences?

There is a lot of built in wasted time in a regular school day, add in behavior issues and the kids might be lucky to get 15 minutes of direct instruction in a 7-8 hour school day. I have seen it and lived it. If your kid is stuck in a class with intensive behavioral issues, they’re not going to be learning much even if they’re there 12 hours a day and they go to school year round. They’re just going to be sitting around watching the teachers being stressed out. There is a lot of turnover at the daycare and it is not hard to see why. When my kid was there, is was constant. Teachers leaving all the time, new assistants coming in every 2 days, etc. At the preschool, I noticed the teachers were much happier. Possibly due to the breaks they get compared to the daycare teachers. The same teacher and assistant were there the entire year. No one left.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?

No, I didn’t feel the need to. He learns a lot at school already. I am a former teacher and it’s not about how long kids are in school. What’s important is what they actually do in the classroom. What can the teacher accomplish with the group of kids? What are the behavioral expectations of the school? What are the consequences?

There is a lot of built in wasted time in a regular school day, add in behavior issues and the kids might be lucky to get 15 minutes of direct instruction in a 7-8 hour school day. I have seen it and lived it. If your kid is stuck in a class with intensive behavioral issues, they’re not going to be learning much even if they’re there 12 hours a day and they go to school year round. They’re just going to be sitting around watching the teachers being stressed out. There is a lot of turnover at the daycare and it is not hard to see why. When my kid was there, is was constant. Teachers leaving all the time, new assistants coming in every 2 days, etc. At the preschool, I noticed the teachers were much happier. Possibly due to the breaks they get compared to the daycare teachers. The same teacher and assistant were there the entire year. No one left.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a huge hassle. I have no idea why working parents (except in DC where it's free) bother to choose these "preschools", unless they've been fooled by the marketing that a "preschool" is somehow inherently better than "child care." Obviously you have to look into each individual program carefully, but there are good and bad preschools just like there are good and bad child care centers, and plenty of child care centers do as good or better at supporting early learning and development as preschools do (while also being open the hours and days working parents need.) Slapping the name "preschool" on a program doesn't tell you anything about the quality, it just tells you that the program is not likely to prioritize working parents' schedules and needs. Yet parents keep assuming they are magically "better"...

My kid went to both a preschool and a daycare center and I can tell you it’s not just marketing. There is a huge difference. The private preschool my child went to was heads and shoulders above the daycare. The stuff he brings home, the things they are able to do, the activities, the expectations - it’s not even close. People are not stupid. The schedule is a hassle, but to me, it is absolutely worth it if the family can deal with the long summers and breaks. They are very clear that they are first and foremost an educational institution, and not a childcare center. If anyone wants that, they need to be looking at a daycare.

There was actually nothing wrong with the daycare my kid went to. The teachers were very nice, but the classrooms were chaotic. Very high number of kids in a class because the center has to maximize income. They could barely do anything because there were so many kids, which meant the likelihood of behavior issues much higher. The teachers were really trying their best but they couldn’t do much. He got super bored there. If I had no other choice but daycare, I would choose a bilingual/immersion daycare. At least that will give the kids a challenge and learn something even if the whole day is just playing and going outside.

People with choices will always have it easier. What I don’t understand is how people choose these schools knowing what the schedules are like and then complain about childcare during the breaks. Don’t choose a preschool with long breaks if your jobs or family situation cannot handle it.

You say there was nothing wrong with the daycare and then go on to list all the things that were wrong with it lol

Not every daycare is the same and not every preschool is the same. There are many preschools with larger class sizes than the one at DD's daycare.

Also, while I get what you are saying about not using preschool if your job doesn't allow it, it can be confusing when they offer before and after care ostensibly for working parents. We did consider preschools that seemed lovely and I remember thinking oh, we'll figure something out for those few weeks, grandparents can help etc. Well fast forward we ended up keeping DD at her daycare for a variety of reasons and turns out grandparents are getting too old to watch DD for more than a couple days in a row, and work is now super busy in the summer when it didn't used to be. And as this thread shows, alternative child care options to cover those periods are few and far between.

The daycare, in my opinion, is more of a babysitting service. They kept my kid safe and provided a place to socialize under the supervision of teachers while I was working. Many people don’t mind it being just that. I had issues with it but that’s a me problem. That’s not a problem with the daycare or how it is run. That’s what I was trying to say.

I only had issues with it because I had options to send my child somewhere else. If I didn’t have any options, it would have been a fine place to continue sending my child. I know they will take care of him. But I wanted more than just childcare. I wanted him to do more things which was why I chose the preschool despite it being a hassle.

The preschool is NOT a babysitting service. The dual working parents’ schedule is not their problem. Their priority is to “educate” kids. They are very clear about that during the tours. They have a ton of breaks and teacher workdays. I could only send my kid there because I was working part time. The summers for the preschools were ridiculously long. It’s not a few weeks. It’s a few MONTHS, not including the breaks during the year as well as random days off. People should be aware of this. Even if they offer before and aftercare on school days, they are not going to provide any childcare for the 2 weeks off winter breaks, 1 week of spring break, 3+ days at Thanksgiving, and all the random teacher professional days. And the big one - nearly 3 months of summer. That is not a place designed “ostensibly for working parents.”

Camps for 3 year olds are not as prevalent as for a child 4+ and sometimes they don’t cover all the weeks. If a family has 2 parents who needed to work all year, don’t have flexible jobs, or don’t have ironclad backup childcare for all the breaks, they should not ever consider a preschool type of care. It shouldn’t be an option on the table.

Wow that's a lot of lost learning time- did you supplement over the summer?