Preschool for four year old?

Question

My daughter will be four in august and we have her in daycare now. The problem is, we only need daycare three days a week. (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday). Every daycare we have found in our area does not allow part time children. You are required to pay the entire week whether the child is there or not.

Is this normal for preschools. or is it something unique to my area?

Answer 1

It is not unusual. particularly in an area with a shortage of day care slots. The problem is that expenses are pretty stable-the center is not saving much money if your child is not there. It may be impossible for them to fill the slot on the other 2 days. You might have better luck with a Family Day Care provider. Check in the Yellow Pages or on-line for your local Child Care Resource and Referral Agency. They might be able to help.

Answer 2

For daycares it will vary.  Most will require full time only but some will allow part time.  You should be able to find some that allow you to pay per day.

Preschools on the other hand typically have a 2 or 3 day option.  Typically a 4 year old preschool is Mon, Wed, Fri and a 3 year old preschool is Tues, Thurs ....not always but typically.

Answer 3

Normal. Although a few daycares where I live offer part-time, the majority do not. And the handful of part-time programs where I live are M-F, mornings only, not days that you pick. It's hard for them to keep staff if they don't have a set number of kids each day, due to state regulations on how many kids they can have to one caregiver. From past experiences with daycares my kids were in, when the child to teacher ratio changes daily, they end up losing good caregivers who don't want to be sent home for lack of kids, as they need the paycheck, and it creates scheduling problems in general. Your one kid wouldn't make a difference, but if they offered it to you, they would have to offer it to others, and then they would have problems.

Answer 4

This is the norm.  It is rare to find a school that will allow part-time.  Usually, only when there is someone else willing to fill the spot when your child is not there.  The school has to save spots for each student for 5 days a week - otherwise on the day your child attends, the school would be over ratio.  Also, for most students, they need the consistency and routine of going every day to get the full benefit of the preschool environment.

Daycares may be more willing to work with you than preschools in this area.  There are some in my area that charge by the day.    In-home daycares are probably your best bet if you want just 3 days a week and are not concerned about the education at this point.  There are also in-home preschools that can sometimes offer an even better education because their ratios are so much lower and they give personal attention. Your city's licensing agent can give you a list of licensed in-home providers in your area. :-)

Answer 5

Childcare centers often require full time hours for preschool age children, but you are getting more care than school for your money.  Many public schools provide preschool for a small cost, but usually offer programs for 2 or 3 days a week.  Often, the public school preschools are designed for special education students but the sp.ed. students comprise only 25% of the class.  These type of programs usually have waiting lists.  As a kindergarten teacher myself, the children that come from the parttime preschools with more school like curriculum come better prepared for kindergarten.  The children from childcare type programs are not used to any type of structered environment.  

Churches often offer preschool that provide a more school like environment.

Good luck in finding preschool for your daughter.  Preschool is important, but the most important experiences your child will have are with you.  Teaching your child self help skills such as blowing their nose, zipping and buttoning, taking turns with others are so important.  Of course, reading to her daily and talking about things with her are the most important steps to creating a life long learner.

Answer 6

I think that its pretty standard for all day preschools. If it was an after school program i think you would pay by the day, but i think this is normal. Good luck! :-)

P.S. Maybe you could get a neighboor or family member to watch your daughter those few days a week?

Answer 7

It depends on the preschool. I would check into more and even visit some of the ones that don't carry a big well-known name. My child attended one that worked with us on a 3 day/wk program. They had several children who needed alternate day schedules and that worked into the total roster. We were charged for the days he was scheduled to be there - whether he attended those days or not - but we didn't have to pay for the whole week. We only paid for the 3 days he was scheduled to attend.

If you are willing, you could even find an in-home daycare, many are licensed and approved by the state. Those will generally work with your schedule and not require a full week payment for part-time attendance.

Best of luck!

Answer 8

Our school program is MWF for 4-5 year olds and we have 3 year olds on TTh.  I think it depends on the school.  We are an

Adult Education parent cooperative preschool, where the adults are the actual students who learn through the "laboratory" of the children.  It looks very much like a "regular" school though there is one teacher - me - and four working adults.

It also depends on what you need  -- if you're going to school and/or working, you may have different needs than our school provides.

In Santa Cruz at Cabrillo College, for example, the children need to be there 5 days/week because the college is a teaching institution and the student teachers are trained every day.

Also, even in our school, children miss out on a great deal of curriculum if they don't come every day the program is run.

Good Luck!  TKaren

Answer 9

Yes, this is normal.  It all comes down to money.  It is difficult for a child care center to find someone who wants care for the other two days.  So the child who is filling 3 days is not paying for the full week.  The child care center is losing money on the other two days.  The centers just make it policy not to enroll a child for part time.  You can find centers they are just far and few between.

Child care centers in churches usually have part time spots as well