Daycare vs Preschool for Three Year Olds "On the Bubble"

Carrie, Most "daycare" facilities offer pre-school curriculm to the older children. You could check with any program near you: KinderCare, LaPetite, Canturbury, Goddard. I am an in-home childcare provider and I usually care for kiddos from 6 weeks until 3 or 3 1/2 years, by that age they are ready for the more structured environment that the centers offer. Most do not follow a fall enrollment schedule, but a few do. I would suggest you make a list of things that are important to you and go tour several places.

Good Luck, M.

Frankly, my opinion is always to encourage your child to continue exploring and growing. Being stagnate and bored leads only to problems...we had our son in a Kindergarten class where his teacher wasn't challenging him and his attention and grades slid... we switched schools to a lower teacher to student ratio and now he's at the tops of his class.

I don't go much by the age and here's the reason why...my husband was reading (yes reading in full) at age 3 and by the time he was in 2nd grade was tackling Tolkien books like Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. Librarians tried to tell him the books were "over his head" and he had to argue that he had already read them at home! He's always been "bored" with school because there were few teachers that ever offered a challenge to him and because of it, he never worked to his full potential. If you're child is naturally curious and talented then keep leading them to the waters of learning. They will naturally love it and take to it easier than when they are bored and then being forced to.

If the kiddie kollege doesn't cost much more but offers your opportunities you don't get at the in-home care and you can afford it, I'd say go for it. The opportunities that you wrote about certainly seem worth the jump to me.

HI Carrie, I was the same as you and had my 3 1/2 year old in a in-home daycare, mostly due to my fear of all the germs & flu in daycare centers. But last May things when kind of bad at our in-home care and I had to search for plan B. So, starting in August my oldest started a pre-school program, she was 3 years & 4 months when she started and that was perfect timing. She was also the oldest in her in-home care and she really needed more activities. Her pre-school program is great. I also work full time so she is there m-f 8-4:30, they have an aftercare program. She has "started" to spell & write her name, and learned almost all of her abc, in just the first few months (she knew her abc, but couldn't always point out the written letters, now she can!), and they due a ton of sensery activies that the kids love. I also love going to the class room and seeing all the pictures and things they have made! I am almost glad things when bad at her in-home care as it moviated me to make this change that has been for the better. I also accepted the fact that germs are everywhere and she can get sick from the grocery cart at target. Also her pre-school has been very proactive with the flu season this year, extra cleanings/clorox wipe, etc..
I do have my 1 year old at a home with a lady we love, but I think 3 years is a great age to get in pre-school. My daughters school requires you to be 3 before August 1st, for their "3yr" program. Her class is actually a mixed class with 3 yrs & 4 yr olds, which has been great for her interacting with a little older kidos. Good luck, I don't know anyting about the kiddie kollege, but I think a pre-school program is a great idea! Oh ya, I also love hearing all her storys about her new friends when she gets home.. so cute!

Carrie,
I think your instincts about not wanting him in a larger facility is right. We just found out that my husbands cousin is on a ventilator and not expected to recover from the flu. I have been saying for years that a big epidemic is coming.

Will your daycare provider allow your son to use her computer? If not, does she have a wireless router? If she doesn't have either, but does have a cable internet service, I would buy him a used laptop from Ebay and get her a wireless router and maybe take the cost of the router off her daycare or split it or something. I just bought a really nice used computer for 265 on Ebay and it works GREAT! The laptop works well for the kids at any table. Learning how to use the mouse can be a pain. But I've had 2 and a half year old children learn how without a problem. It can be done. Once that is done, check out www.time4learning.com. They can take a child that knows very little, just the bare bones basics and teach them all the way to the 8th grade. It's all self paced and they have just done a lot of work on their preschool program. They have 2 levels of preschool and then K work. All my preschoolers are on it. I pay 20 for my daughter and 15 for each additional student per month. I am getting reimbursed when the parents remember. I don't mind paying part of it. So I take whatever they want to contribute. By the way, if you email me your email address privately on here, I could send you a link from the website on my own account that would give you some kind of reimbursement for your first month and I get a referral fee too. I'm not sure what the current offering is.

Anyway, your son would benefit from little computer and other learning games. Most of the kids today learn so much from these.

Suzi

I think if you can afford it, then go for the preschool type atmosphere. My daughter is in preschool right now, and I know she is going to have a huge advantage going into Kindergarten because of preschool. If I would have known about the particular preschool shes in now, when she was 3, I would have had her there last year too. She is learning so much, and I will be confident when she starts Kindergarten because of it. Anyways, good luck!