4 answers

Kindergarten in the Fall

My daughter will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. Kindergarten is only offered part time and I am a full time working mom. My question is what resources have you used to help care for your child before and after school without breaking the bank? I have two other younger children who are in a home day care. My problem is transportation to/from school to my current caregiver. Do any of your children at this age walk by themselves? She is currently in preschool a couple of days a week. Do the day care centers offer transportation to/from school for Kindergarten? I know a lot offer Kindergarten at the center but I am not sure I want to do this. I am meeting with the school next week for the particulars and I have also checked the Y and will be questioning the day care as well. Any suggestions you have or questions I should be asking would be helpful.

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Our school also offers only half-day K too. I was surprised that there were actually several options. There is onsite care offered by a local social services agency in the school. (which is what we did, and they were really good. I've heard that other afterschool programs in other districts are not as good or don't use experienced caregivers, but ours are really good and the teachers seem to stay around for a while.) There is a church-affiliated daycare that sends a bus to the school. And a montessori school down the street will send someone to walk the kids over for after-school care.

Or, in this area a "Kiddie Cab" company is available. I've seen them pick up the kids and they seem very on top of it (not actually a cab company - they are licensed and bonded for working with kids and they have vans.) It's expensive, though.

I don't know how large your current home daycare is, or if she has an assistant, but I would definitely ask if there's any possibility of having her help out, especially if there are other parents with kids in the same situation and the school is close (for example, our home daycare is just a few blocks from our school, and there is an assistant, so if we want to do that down the road with my younger son it might be a possibility.)

C.,

My twin girls start kdg in the Fall as well. Our park district offers an after school program. My girls will go to school in the AM, and then a bus will take them to the park district. I woman I used to work with was from Bartlett and her son went to an after school program, so check with them first.

Also, most daycare centers do drop off and pick up kids from school. You just have to check with them on which school they transport to.

The park district option is usually cheaper then daycare.

Hi C.,
Which school your daughter will be going? If its McCarty in Aurora then we can talk more.
Maryam

What district are you in? Most large day care centers have a bus that gets kids from certain schools and then to their site. Some schools even have a before/after school program on site. If you are in 204, there is a van service called Caring For Children that takes kids from school to daycare at home or a site.

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