Childcare/School

Hi Robin!

You have gotten a lot of advice, and apparently what school everyone thinks your kids should go to is a huge deal. The only advice I can give you, is do your own research, figure out whats best for you and your kids and your budget! If you can afford the schools that are basically a house payment, if thats what you like then by all means go for it. But if you cant, dont beat yourself up about it. Im sure you can find a great place.
I mean I stay at home with my kids, we read, work on numbers letters, all kinds of stuff. But do I require then to count to 5000 or speak a different language by the time they are 5? No. and I wont be sending them to a preschool thats going to put us in a poor house either. I think you will be surprised that you can find a happy medium for your children without it driving you crazy. Anyways good luck in your search and dont worry, you will figure it out. Hopefully without someone telling you what your "supposed" to do. Good luck!

My kids go to a Montessori preschool that accepts kids 18 months to Kindergarten. I have been pulling my kids out of in-home daycare at about 2 to 2 1/2 years old and then moving them into the school. I agree that at 2 they start to need something more than just play. As the others have stated it is expensive but I find it to be worth it. I have a 4 year old, 2 1/2 year old, and an 18 month old. For my 4 & 2 year old to go to the preschool I pay $1669.00 a month.

Good luck. By the way my kids go to www.christots.com in western Shawnee.

Good luck.
M.

I'm sure you've already done the math - how much you'll make vs. childcare costs, gas money etc. If the money is nominal, what about a part-time night job? My husband and I have been very fortunate to work opposite shifts and it works well for our quality of life. One of us is always home with the kids but we also have dual incomes. We have weekends off together so that gives a fair amount of quality family time as well. Just a thought, although I'm sure you'll do what's right for you and yours. Best of luck - I know it's tough.

I have found some great smaller "center" childcare places. The Johnson County has one ran by the parks and rec. I think they only take 2 1/2 and up.

Also I've found home daycares that were very school based with the chance of doing more structure time.

You may check in your area for church's that have daycare centers.

My son has gone to a daycare center since he was 15 months old. I also steered away from a home daycare because the few I found that did have the structure I was looking for either had long waiting lists and/or were only open 9 to 3.

His current center is a small non-brand name center but they have a curriculum and set time for arts & crafts, music and even science experiments.

I pay 150/week for my son and many centers offer a deal for the 2nd child

I can't offer you specific reference because I'm in the DeSoto area, but as a reminder make sure you ask for references and go with your gut.

My son goes to Kinder Care, yes its a Center, and some Mom's balk at that, but it is a GREAT learning environment. But you are going to have to weigh the cost of daycare/school versus going back to work. At the one we go to in Shawnee, for a 2 and a 4 year old, you would be paying over $400 a week, its not cheap, but the care and the learning are fantastic!

Don't count in home daycare out. If you spent the time on daycare discussion lists I do, you would know how much work a large percentage of providers put into their programs. It's very unfair that providers get such a raw deal when people put us down and assume we don't do anything with the kids. My kids learn TONS and parents always rave about how much they are learning while with me. I don't even put HALF the effort into my program I know many others do. There are many ways to teach and many ways to learn. My own daughters home schooled for many years and each of them developed personal talents and academic skills that would rival kids from formal private schools.

I believe there are a LOT of misconceptions about how children learn best and how children are supposed to learn.

Suzi

Hi Robin. My name is T. and I actually run an in-home day care. I offer a structured preschool curriculum, so it never gets boring around here. If you are in need of care for them you are more than welcome to check out my website and we can set up an interview. You might be surprised at how much fun your little ones can have at a home day care!

My website is http://www.thepeapodonline.com/

Good luck with going back to work and finding care for your children, I hope that whichever choice you go with works for you and your family!