Is it a Daycare or a Preschool?

Question

My mom opened a Preschool about 8 months ago. She is the Director and I also work there. And it just kills me when parents refer to our school as a "Day Care." I know that some places are technically just daycares, but for schools like us who strive to teach children I just feel like we aren't appreciated for what we really teach the children. Do you think that parents today ( people in general) are underestimating the amount of teaching that goes on at their child's preschool? I think that fellow teachers/directors will relate to this.

Answer 1

preschool pretty much is daycare sorry. thats y i didnt even go to preschool. i went straight to kindergarten

Answer 2

There is a HUGE difference between Preschool and daycare.  I am looking for a job as a Preschool teacher.  I went to the daycare up the street because they had a help wanted sign out, and it was close.  I worked there for 1 day.  It was horrible.  Totally, completely different from Preschool.  Preschool is education based.  Daycare is a marathon.

Answer 3

I get this all the time.  I am a preschool teacher within a child care center, and parents just do not understand. That is why it is our job to educate them. I send home a lot of articles on the value of learning through play.  I also write newsletters that explain the activities that the children are doing and this helps parents understand what the kids are learning.  I am working on my masters in early childhood education, so I could get a little offended when people think that I am just baby-sitting.  But we also have to remember that as teachers it is our job to educate the parents on what we are doing so that the parents understand how children learn, and what they are learning.  This is a job that is always going to be underappreciated.  Do it because you love it, and know that you are helping the kids!

Answer 4

Yes Jill we can tell you didn't go to preschool, or you would know that there is huge difference between daycare and preschool. Teachers who chose early childhood education go to the same colleges and earn the same degrees as elementary teachers. We have yearly trainings we have to attended, advocate for the littlest voices, and receive the smallest paychecks.  

Answer 5

Day Care and Preschool are interchangeable terms.  Any way you look at it, these institutions are used by parents who need a place to drop off their children so that others can raise them. I worked in a school that had a day care where children were dropped off as early as 6am and picked up as late as 5pm.

Answer 6

Yes, I agree with you.  It definately is a generalization that takes place.  Even with me as a in-home child care provider...it irks me to be called a babysitter.  Because I'm not.  We do a lot of educational things here and I teach.  :-)  Now back to your preschool... is it only a preschool or is it also daycare?  Because if it also provides child care services beyond the preschool program... you really have no way around people thinking about it as day care.  Usually the families do not have experience enough to know how much teaching goes on...and they really don't mean offense when they call it daycare.  :-)  

Maybe this can be a marketing tool for you.  Is the word "preschool" in your name?  That makes a big difference.  Put the name on every piece of paper going home, make sure it's at eye level several places in the building, any advertisement-emphasis the name, etc.

Also, I just quietly and firmly correct families when they refer to me as babysitter as child care provider or preschool teacher.  You can do the same.  When you hear the comment daycare...with no anger in your voice just quietly say or repeat back to them what they said but use the term preschool instead of day care.  

One other thing I did was invest in a digital camera.  :-)  I took picture after picture of things we did and I sent home a CD with all the pictures for each family.  WOW! What respect I got...especially from the one dad who looked at me like I was nothing.  They just don't have a clue.  :-)    They need to be exposed...most of them do not volunteer time so they don't really see it.

On the regards of teaching...maybe you can start sending home a "tidbit" in your newsletter about what children are learning.  Maybe focus on a center a week...if you do play-based centers.  There are many a sign--printable--on the internet regarding what children learn at each center.  I found it beneficial to print out a half sheet sign and contact paper it onto the table in the center or near the center somewhere so when people volunenteer or come for programs they can see and read them.  

Good luck!  

Answer 7

I work at a daycare, but it is also a preschool during the school year.  I completely know what you mean.  Parents don't even take us seriously and we're just daycare, I can't imagine what the full time teachers feel like.  Our children in the preschool learn so much, and parents definitely underestimate everything, including the amount of time the teachers put into the lessons, how much the children learn, how much money is spent on materials.  Childcare and preschool teachers are completely under-paid, bless your mother for opening a preschool.

Answer 8

I agree.  It seems to me that Preschools are for children who are ready to begin their schooling and Daycares are basically, as the word says, places were children are cared for for the day; Daycares are glorified babysitters.  Preschools are so much more.

I went to a Preschool from ages 3 to 4.  It was so good, I learned to read, and I learned the days of the week, the months of the year and the basic colors, which might seem like such a simple thing to an adult, but not for a three-year-old baby.  When I got to "actual" school, I was skipped a grade.

Answer 9

I think in a parent's mind, a full-day program for a 2-5 year-old is going to be perceived as day care regardless of the curriculum.  Preschools are more often half-day educational experiences.  In fact, for younger children (2-3) preschool typically only happens two, maybe three, times a week.  Even for 4 year-olds, preschool is often only 3 to 4 days a week, though some are 5.  Also, preschools often have accredited teachers or accredited programs or a specific method of teaching (like Montessori).  Some preschool teachers have Early Childhood Education degrees.

This certainly does not diminish what your sweet mother is accomplishing.  I think it is so important for all people who care about and interact with children to be fostering social, cognitive, and emotional development.  I'm sorry you and your mother feel unappreciated.  Those children are truly luck to have you both.

Answer 10

I do understand the difference.  When my son was 4 I was a full-time at-home mom and I still enrolled him in preschool for a a two hour  class so he would have the experience of school and the expected behaviors.  I was very appreciative of what they taught him.

That was a long time ago, but I remember they also gave me a 'tasks to learn' list so that I could participate at home in the lessons they were teaching and then I got a 'report card' with things he had succeeded in checked off.  Perhaps something similar would help your school make the point that you are teaching as well as safeguarding.

Answer 11

The way I feel is you don't have to work at a Day Care/Preschool to know how hard the teachers/caregivers work.  I've seen and observed both grandchildren in Day Care.  

The teachers/workers are always on the go keeping the children interested while still trying to keep them

focused on what they're doing even if they don't particularly like what they're doing.  

It's interesting to me how these young children learn routine.  Espcialy at snack and lunch time.  Doing their part with getting the lunch table set seems to go fairly well once they get the routine down pat.  

Some children need a little prodding, while others are crying for one reason or another and then their are those who just go about their business.  Lunch is over and everything is put back where it belongs.

It's all about routine and sticking to it.

Of course you have your exceptions.  Those that don't take naps, still have to learn to be quiet so the other children can sleep and the list goes on and on.  Same routine, different day

I know my grand children weren't easy children to take care of.  Between their ADD and BiPolar they were always a real chanlenge to both teachers/workers and mom.  At that time the youngest was also a sensitive child.  Just getting her shoes on before leaving home was was traumatic.  She often times carried her shoes in her back pack instead of wearing them.  Clothes had to be just right ... soft, no buttons, no zippers.  She's now 10 yrs. old and still has some of the same charecteristicss of the sensitive child.

Not all teachers/workers are up on some of these unpleasentries.  They're learning right along with the child.  I've seen some teachers/workers go out of their way to learn about such things.  They go to the library and read up on special children.

As far as differences between preshcool and day care, that's a hard call to make.  Both work with numbers, letters and some reading.  Some children are faster learners than others, but that applys to any school.  

If the staff are understanding and know what they're doing then the same applys to preschool and day care.  I believe it's in the wording, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Answer 12

I agree with what you're saying, but where I'm from a 'preschool' is classified as such when it is only opened school hours and during school terms. If it is opened all day and through the school holidays it is classified as long day care.  

Answer 13

as a mother of 2 preschoolers, i can totally relate to this.

i don't even look for a daycare because what i want is a SCHOOL for my boys --not just a stranger looking after them because i'm too darn busy during the day to take care of them myself.  where's the value in that!

i would rather put my money where value is.  and that's in an actual preschool.

sadly, you're being called a daycare because most parents are just too shallow to consider what you're doing for their children.  all they know is that they're putting their kids in your school so they'll be out of their hair.

if i were you, i'd invest in some advertising just to let the parents know how good it is they got with your PRESCHOOL!

Answer 14

If you introduced formal teaching in kids following the curriculum in education and is accredited in dept. of education then its a preschool i guess. But day care is more on informal teaching that emphasizes social development of the children rather than formal teaching of alphabets,etc.

Answer 15

YES!!! I am a teacher in a preschool with ages three to five, and we rent a room in a day care facility. People are always asking me how things are going at the daycare, so I tell them, I don't know, I'll ask them. But things are going great in my classroom.

We did not go to college and work on our bachelors and masters degree to be glorified babysitters. I follow the creative curriculim, meet with parents for parent teacher conferences, individualize for children on IEP's and GEI's and individualize for all the other children as well. I think that preschool teachers work twice as hard as other teachers because there is so much for the children to learn at this early age, and it is extremely hard to get and keep their attention to learn.

I think that it's a lot of people in general who do not understand the difference in preschool and daycare. I try to get parents involved in their child's learning and development, and it seems that parents themselves in general are not overly concerned with what is going on in the classroom each week. I do weekly newsletters and calendars and I always ask parents to join us for a day at school with their child.

It does get frustrating, but when people refer to us as a daycare, I simply tell them; what daycare? These children go to school in my classroom and I am proud to be teaching them at such an early age. If you want a daycare I think there are a few listed in the yellow pages, these children go to school.

And it is not all daycares that just babysit, but I would say most of them just watch the children and preschool is just so different, it is truly a huge learning experience.