WWYD: childcare

[Lsquared]

Hey guys! Thought I'd make a thread instead of popping this into the randoms because I need some advice.

Our nanny is done in December of this year (she's graduating college). DD will be turning 4 and DS will be 2. I'm trying to figure out childcare for them and the preschool she goes to now has a full time childcare (with a preschool program built in.)

So here are my options:

1. Send both kids 5 days a week (for $360/wk)
2. Send both kids 3 days a week ($300/wk)
3. Send DD 5 days and DS 3 days ($330/wk)

I only *need* care for 3 days but the school prefers you send 5 days for obvious reasons. She made a compelling argument for sending Olive 5 days, by explaining the way they run their 4 year old class. I also can't send the baby until he turns 2 (so January) but they said they would hold his spot.

Right now DD goes to preschool for 2.5hrs two days a week so I feel like sending 5 full days would be a lot.

Thoughts?

[scorpioscuba]

So what was the compelling argument for sending her 5 days? I know you mention how they run the class but what does that mean?

DS never went anywhere full time (i.e. 5 days a week) until he started Kindergarten. As long as I was able to make it work schedule wise I only wanted him attending his preschool part time (he was in Montessori). I figured he has a minimum of 13 years to go to school 5 days a week, why start earlier than necessary? With that said, we gradually increased his time and the last year he was going 4 days a week. I didn't want it to be a complete shock to his system once he hit Kinder. Probably not the most compelling reason, but I wanted him to just be a kid and play, and be with us as much as possible, until I didn't have a choice anymore.

So my vote is for both kids 3 days a week.

[Lsquared]

Well I'm sure it was just her trying to get me to spend more money but she was saying that they do weekly lessons. For example, letter A would be for a full week and if she's only going 3 days she would (in theory) be behind her class mates.

If she went three days she suggested she go Monday through Wednesday which would mean I would work three 12hr shifts in a row (which would be annoying and exhausting) so that's also something to consider.

Thanks for the response!

[dizzycooks]

I really dislike preschool and daycare teachers saying yo. Red to be there 5 day/week to keep up with the program. An early childhood program should be play based and exposure, not mastery. I think it depends on your child if they need 4-5 days prior to kinder in order to be ready. That said, if 5 days for kinder would be a shock, wouldn't it also be a shock at 4? Either way it's an adjustment. I'd do 3 and 3 unless you want one on one time with ds. I'd also not do m-w because if your child gets sick they are likely to miss multiple days (Tuesday and Wednesday for example) rather than one day and then have a day off before returning to school. Does that make sense?
I have more to add but I don't have time ATM. I'll check back in

[Lsquared]

Good point. The more I've been thinking about it the more I'm leaning toward 3. I don't like the M-W thing, and now that you mentioned sick days I like it even less. I hadn't thought of that!

Would love to hear the rest of your thoughts when you get a chance!

[Lollipop]

I'm following this. I might have to find some sort of part time child care soon. H may be going to a 7 days on/7 days off schedule. And since I need to find a job, we'll need childcare at least part of the days he's on. I just have to find somewhere flexible, so I'm not paying for days that they aren't there. Finding something that will let us do a few days every other week might be tricky though.

[14joa31]

I am a huge proponent of unstructured play and I don't want my prekindergarten aged DS to be in a classroom environment for 40 hours a week - it's too much. His current daycare is 40 hours/week but only 1-2 hours per day are spent on instruction and the rest is free play. So I would be more inclined to do part-time for both kids if I were in your shoes. Good luck!!!

[tinydancer]

If I were in your shoes, I would do 3 and 3 too, for the reasons other people said. Plus, they'll only be young for a little while so if you really like having some time with them at home it's good to take advantage of this time. On the other hand, if you want some time to do things without both kids or one on one time it might make sense to add days. Are they flexible so that if you decided it would be better for DD to go 4 or 5 days a week you could add those on?

I'm hoping to start my LO in a half day preschool program this summer 3 days a week, and then they'll let me increase to 4 or 5 days later on if it makes sense for LO. (My calculus is a little different because I need childcare 5 days a week and our nanny is much more expensive than the preschool, so we may try to move towards 5 days a week for that reason).

[Lsquared]

So I spoke with my daughter's current teacher and she thinks Olive would do best in the three day situation. The teacher called me back today to say she looked in to what class Olive would be in, who her teachers would be, what classroom she would be in, etc and said she's confident she would do really well in the class and she would be separated from Theo's class by a half wall and they'll have breakfast together in the mornings

She said she spoke with the director and she's on board with them coming three days. I called the director today to confirm and we're all set!

I know I haven't been around much lately but I do appreciate the advice. I have been agonizing over this for a while and my husband is always "whatever you think is best". Annoying.

[Lollipop]

Lsquared men can be so frustrating with that. My H almost never voices an actual opinion. Makes me stabby

[nikiswimr]

I'm following this. E is on the waitlist for two different preschool programs, both of which start at 3 days a week at 3 years old and then have the option to either stay at 3 or increase to 5 days a week at 4 years old. I was leaning towards keeping at 3 (this is obviously still very far away). My mom currently keeps her while I work.