What Age & How to Transition from Ft Daycare to Pre-school

I too am a working parent and understand your struggles. My girls (ages 9 and 7) have both been in day care since they were young--altho I was able for a couple of years to have them in both preschool and day care part time. They are both very smart girls and thrived in day care. The bottom line is..it depends on the day care. I am not a fan of home day care. Personally, I have not found many that have lesson plans or are run by individuals with a background in young child education. Moreover, not worrying that the caregiver might get sick and cancel daycare one day or want to close for vacation was important. Not to say there aren't any good home daycare--but I was not successful in that arena. We have taken our girls to big name day cares where the individuals in the rooms are educated specifically to teach young children. The kids have educational lessons every day, they have play time and they learn social skills. It's not easy to find a good place at reasonable prices, but it can be done. Some of the key factors to look for are low teacher turn over and educational experience of the staff. The low turnover is key. It shows the teachers are happy and will be there for your child. We also look for NAYCE (I think that's how it's spelled) accredited. The child adult ratio is lower and they have to meet certain educational standards above what DCFS requires. For summer, there are several day cares that offer "camps". Our girls LOVE going to day care in the summer. There are usually field trips every week, sprinkler time, and lots of fun activities. I would not put up with the issues you have had about price changes, etc. A professional day care location might be a good alternative for you. Good luck!

M. - I understand your struggles and I think many of us deal with the same issues that you bring up on a regular basis. Both my kids have later birthdays so I understand that factor as well. With my son, he stayed in full time daycare until kindergarten. When we made the transition for my son to kindergarten we changed my daughter, 2 going on 3 at the time, to a full time Montessori preschool (ages 3 to 6) program. What I did this past summer (the first summer I had to deal with it, since the full time daycare was year round) was put them both in a YMCA program, one of the few that seems to have programs for 3 to 5 year olds that are full time. The school year went great for them and they both loved the camp.
Perhaps you could find another daycare or private preschool situation (I had this impression that Montessori would be expensive and it turned out to be a little less than daycare with a great curriculum) that works for you. I'm sure my son was a little bored the last year of daycare but I also think he enjoyed being "top dog" in the group before the switch to grammar school where he would be on the low end of the totem pole again.
Please feel free to send me a private message if you have more questions or just want to talk more. L.

What about a daycare/preschool? Where in Chicago are you? If you are having issues the the center you currently use, this can be an opportunity to research other options. What about a private school with full day preschool (around me, the going rate is around $3,000. per school year). Some schools also offer before and after school care for additional money. I think for the summer you will need to either stick with daycare or find a babysitter. Good luck!

Sounds kind of unprofessional to be switching close times and fees at will. You should try looking into a daycare/pre-school, like the others have stated. I have my two girls at one and it absolutely wonderful. Mine takes children 15 months all the way to I think 11years old. They go year round and also provide before and after school care. They even bus your child to and from school if necessary. I hope you can find something that will work for you and your family. Good luck.

I too am a full-time working mom and struggle with the emotional tugs all the time. I swtiched my son from a home-daycare to a full-time preschool when he turned 3. The home-daycare was getting too many younger children and I did not feel my son was getting the attention and learning he needed plus socializing with children his age. The full-day preschool is great and he has loved every minute of it. there is structured learning time in the morning with plenty of "play" breaks and the afternoon is more socializing than learning. They have as many hours of the day as you need since they are open from 6:30am to 6:00pm. In the summer, it is called "camp" and the school has a lot of outings, water day in the sprinkler outside, and just fun stuff.

M.

Have you looked into a private school? We sent our son to a Lutheran School that had pre k-8th grade for one year before kindergarten. It was more academic and structured than daycare.(Plus much cheaper-$275./month)

Hi M.,
I switched my son from daycare (he too was in daycare full time from when he was an infant) when he was 3 yrs and 3 months. I signed him up at a Montessori School which had daycare type hours. I find its the best of both worlds, he's getting educated and is still being cared for during the hours I need. I would try finding something that educated but also has those extended hours you're looking for...all I can say is try to make the hours you do spend together count. It's hard being a full time working mom but many women do it, and you're not any less of a mother for it!

It's good for kids to be in MY daycare till they are school age! I do LOTS of learning and teaching and friend building skills. All my 2 yr olds know their letters and sounds and one of them has a major speech issue even. The 4 yr olds can count and recognize numbers and patterns and many other skills. So not all home daycares are just play.

The only thing I can't do is teach the kids to walk in a line cause there just aren't enough older kids to do that. But otherwise I teach everything and more then a "preschool" would.

Daycare/preschool whatever - it's beneficial in so many ways. If you are home with your kid are you going to give them daily problem solving issues with other kids? Are you going to work on counting, exploring new toys, sharing and many other things like that? I have seen so many kids that come to me at 3 for preschool (I offer both full day and just preschool) and are YEARS behind because they had only been home with mom. Daycare providers push kids to be independent, which is a great thing!

I too am a working mom with 2 kids in a in-home daycare (I'm against the big chains for more than 1 reason). My kids have been there since they were 3 months old as well. I think it would depend on where you go for daycare. Our daycare provider offered to drive my son to pre-school and pick him up each day and we did that for a year then she decided to do in-home teaching. Not only was it much cheaper, but there was no need for her to drag all the kids in and out of the van each day to pick him up. My 2 year old got an early start in learning too because she also participated in class each day.

My son is now in kindergarten and our daycare provider once again drops him off and picks him up (at no additional cost). While he is in school, she's teaching the other kids while the younger kids are taking naps.

During the summer, when school is out, the kids who has parents as teachers don't attend her daycare so she is allowed to take on additional kids during the summer.

So, start looking for daycare providers (for me, in-home works better). Every public daycare provider I visited while looking, I noticed that most of the kid's noses were runny and the only time someone wiped them clean was when their parents were coming to pick them up. If you find the right in-home daycare provider, you'll be happy. Ask for references and trust your gut.