Hubby asks..what Is the Difference Between Preschool and Daycare.

lisa; daycare is like a baby sitters place, just more of a place with more kids more adults to watch over your kids than just a babysitter, preschool may be given through the school district and it is more a learning facility, pre school also prepares your child for kindengarten, if needed, most kids can go straight to kindengarten without any issues, however with both parents working preschool came available, either way have fun with your children and have a great day , D. s

Yes, preschool can be productive because of its scheduling... BUT... free time is esential also.

I am a daycare provider and recently went to a showing of a documentary... http://www.wfum.org/childrenplay/index.html PLEASE watch what they have on this site...

The standards of what kids "need" to know to get into school is insane... I have not sent my kids to any kind of preschool... No, my 4 yr old can not read... But he knows his numbers, letters, colors, etc... By sight and to write them. He rhymes and LOVES puzzles and thinking games...
I do more of the EVERYTHING is a learning oportunity. When on a walk we are looking for colors or letters, etc. He is a bodily kinestetic learner and processes things better by coupling it with movement.

My almost 8 yr old can read a 100 page chapter book in one day. And retain the book to discuss later. She did not go to "preschool" either.

You may be suprized about the structuring of a daycare center. Yes, there is free play... But it is structured free play. Why? Kids need scheduling... Especially when there are a lot of them together. It may not seem to be structured to some, but just cause they arn't sitting at a desk doing book work does not mean that the "tactile crafts" are not structured. :-)

Personally, I agree with hubby. The only difference between MOST daycare centers and preschool classes are the title. It just sounds better for the parents to say their kids in "preschool" instead of "daycare"... Just like a daycare provider would rather refer to their job as "daycare" and not "babysitting", a "sanitary worker" instead of a "garbage man" etc... :-) (I am refering to centers and SOME home daycare set ups. Yes, there are those that are totally unstructured, but those are usually unlicensed. To be licensed you have to submit a plan of your typical day and have it approved.)

free play with other children and age appropriate materials is very important
play is a child's work
some structured play can be good but free time is needed too in order to explore and develop
often some structured time is offered in a daycare setting, sometimes not so you have to check it out
i don't thnk repeating the same structured lesson each day is ideal. Repetition is good if they are interested in it but repeating everyday is not necessarily going to interest your child and then you could have behavior probs start to arise after a while

when my daughter turned four a few years ago i had our second baby so i stayed hoem for a year and was able to take her out of daycare and put her in an actual preschool. they offered preschool but i liked the idea of preschool better, and i think it was better for her too. but you get to say you are right daycare has some structured time but maybe just an hour or two then the rest is play.

Lisa,

Some daycares are preschools too. The daycare I send my son to is very structured. He learns so much and we even have conferences to discuss his milestones. He has "homework" once a week - this week we discussed the colors of the rainbow and what else are those colors. It is also a christian daycare so we also discussed being thankful for the colors God made.

Sure they have free time, but for the most part their day is very structured and routine as children thrive on routine. Free time consists of a half hour of free play, playing outside, taking a walk with the teachers, etc.

I am not sending my son to a preschool, rather keeping him at his daycare with all his friends until kindergarten.

The difference depends on the place. Most "home" daycares won't have as much structure as a "institutional" daycare. I would think that a little variety would be preferable, so I would pick either morning or afternoon preschool and do the other half day in daycare, or do a full day of daycare. I would guess that the daycare is pretty structured anyway.

Preschool is DIFFERENT. Keep her in the 2 sessions or find a school that offers all day. My son's program is from 9-3 bascially. It is very structured.

My thought, as a working mom is that I'm going to get the most education possible for my little people while I'm at work. They still get play time (and preschool is still fun) at school and home.

MOST daycares are just babysitting facilites and preschool is a structured learning program. I run an in home daycare but It is Montessori (I taught Montessori elementary) preschool based. My 4 year olds can recognize and write letters and numbers and are learning to read. Every program is different.

www.lilstarsmontessori.com