Preschool And/Or Certified?

[Countrygal]

Are any of you preschools - state certified or not? I would love to pick your brain.

How well does it work for you?
Are you in-home or group center?
What is the advantage of being state certified?
What's the difference between actually being a preschool vs. a daycare? (besides the fee charged )
OK, I've got like a hundred more questions, but those will do for a start.

[kendallina]

I run a preschool out of my home. 5 mornings a week, 9am-noon. Children can come either MW or TTH or F.

I LOVE it. Obviously, the biggest advantage for this schedule is that I'm done at noon (although it's not technically true, because I do have a couple of children that come just for child care a couple of afternoons a week). I love that I have only 3-5 year olds. I love that I don't have to deal with lunch or nap or have children here all day long.

In Ohio, the only certification for a preschool like mine would be a child care license. In Ohio, we're are not required to have a license unless we have more than 6 children. I always stay at 5 or 6, so I choose to be legally unlicensed. I haven't had any problem finding clients, but they are all word of mouth and no one has ever questioned me about not being licensed or shown that they are uncomfortable with it. If I ever find myself struggling to find clients, then I may choose to become licensed.

Difference between preschool and daycare--depends on who you ask. I have a graduate degree in child dev and have run preschool programs in centers for years. The program that I run is play-based and I make my own curriculum based on the children's interests. I do some teacher-led activities (teacher facilitated, is probably more like accurate way to describe it) and lots of free play where the children can choose what they want to do. I'm well aware of the kindergarten readiness guidelines for my state and plan our play with those guidelines in mind. I do 2 parent-teacher conferences per year with each family. I imagine there are some daycares that are very similar in how they do things and the only differences is in the number of hours they run and how they market themselves.

I've definitely found that a key to my success in this is making sure the parents are well informed of what we're doing and how they are learning from it. I have a website that I post pics on weekly with an explanation of what we did. I have a daily lesson plan written near the door (it's just a piece of copy paper with a list of 3-4 thigns we're going to do that day written in bright markers so the parents can't miss it). I also keep portfolios of all the children's work that they do while they're here.

It's fun, it's a lot of work (and I only do it for a few hours a day!) but I definitely wouldn't have it any other way.

[Countrygal]

Kendallina,

Sounds wonderful!

[Heidi]

gal-

B4 you go too far into your research, you might want to know....

the preschool program at St. James in Necedah charges $65 per month for non-members, $55 per month for members, for preschool 3 mornings a week.

Yeah.....that's how valued "early education" is in our county!

[kendallina]

gal-

B4 you go too far into your research, you might want to know....

the preschool program at St. James in Necedah charges $65 per month for non-members, $55 per month for members, for preschool 3 mornings a week.

Yeah.....that's how valued "early education" is in our county!

Ugh...yeh, that wouldn't be worth it to me. I charge $125/month for 2 mornings a week. I live in a university town and there's a lot of stay at home moms, so not as much need for full-time child care. Definitely check the rates in your area, but also check and see if parents are happy with the current preschool options and if they'd be willing to pay more for better quality.

[Heidi]

Ugh...yeh, that wouldn't be worth it to me. I charge $125/month for 2 mornings a week. I live in a university town and there's a lot of stay at home moms, so not as much need for full-time child care. Definitely check the rates in your area, but also check and see if parents are happy with the current preschool options and if they'd be willing to pay more for better quality.

Oh, and every preschool in our area, as far as I know, uses some sort of "canned" curriculum. I see what comes home with my dcb. Basically, it's a curriculum they buy, and then it's 2 1/2 hours. Let me guess....

Morning meeting, art (craft) activity, snack, circle time...oh is school over? The parent provide snack (which is usually Cheetos and Sunny D or something along that line), and they don't go outside most days because the weather is "so bad". By so bad...anything below 60 degrees, I think!

I'm not saying there is no value in this....it certainly prepares them for our school districts in this area!

[kendallina]

Oh, and every preschool in our area, as far as I know, uses some sort of "canned" curriculum. I see what comes home with my dcb. Basically, it's a curriculum they buy, and then it's 2 1/2 hours. Let me guess....

Morning meeting, art (craft) activity, snack, circle time...oh is school over? The parent provide snack (which is usually Cheetos and Sunny D or something along that line), and they don't go outside most days because the weather is "so bad". By so bad...anything below 60 degrees, I think!

I'm not saying there is no value in this....it certainly prepares them for our school districts in this area!

Oh wow! That's so sad. I wonder if there is a market for a higher quality preschool there?

[Countrygal]

bbo - ROFL!!! I can tell you have a high regard for the educational systems in this area. We have GOT to compare stories sometime!!! ::::

I know that what you say is true - I had never heard of any with rates THAT low, however!

But education is not, overall, highly valued around here. Neither, for that matter, is quality daycare. But there are a few parents who wish better for their children. That is why I do daycare instead of a preschool. But I'm still wanting to gather information..... I need to plan for what might happen, right???