What’s the Difference Between Preschool and Daycare? A Comprehensive Guide for Parents
There are so many different types of care available for your child it can feel daunting to explore them all, let alone understand the differences between them. Finding the right way to nurture intellectual and emotional growth is essential for your child. It can be daunting to navigate this fact as a new parent looking for spaces where your child can excel. Daycare is an environment that fosters growth for young children, and preschool is the next step where young kids climb to the next level of learning. Our daycare and preschool guide will give you a comprehensive overview to help you understand the childcare space as a parent.
What is Daycare?
Daycare involves childcare options for young children that promote emotional growth through nurturing. This can involve many types of daycares, such as nannying, babysitting, part-time daycare, or full-time education centers like The Goddard School®. Daycares can also have extended operating hours to meet the needs of working parents who may need to pick up their children later, unlike preschool and primary school hours, which usually take place during regular working hours.
How to Prepare Your Child for Daycare
Since this is a huge step for your child’s evolution, you will want to understand what it takes to set them up for success. Actions that you can take as a parent should include visiting the childcare center where your child will attend so you both can familiarize yourself and (especially for your child) grow comfortable with the space. This will also involve other forms of emotional preparation, like formulating a goodbye ritual and creating a morning routine. At Goddard, we want to partner with you so you can understand how to prepare your infant for daycare.
What is Preschool
Preschool involves education that builds on the emotional learning children cultivate in daycare and introduces them to concrete subjects. Your kid will start engaging with topics like reading, writing, science, and math, preparing them for kindergarten. Goddard’s Wonder of Learning approach leverages children's curiosity to help shape how they grow as young learners, so they are not only prepared for the important subjects but also engage with them in ways they enjoy.
Getting Your Child Ready for Preschool
Preschool is an exciting opportunity for your child to build on the experience they gained in daycare and reach new heights as a learner. As a parent, it will be essential to get your child ready for preschool so they can adapt to the latest educational environment. Some prep work is like preschool prep work, such as touring the facility and emotional preparation. Newer areas to consider include ensuring they are prepared to operate more independently.
Daycare vs. Preschool
Although preschool and daycare have similarities, there are notable differences that make daycare different from preschool. Age is a major differentiating factor, as the age for daycare has a wider range, starting from 6 weeks old and potentially going up to 5 years old. At Goddard, our daycare program includes ages from 6 weeks old to 6 years old. Preschool, on the other hand, focuses on ages 3-5 because that cohort is old enough to learn a curriculum that prepares them for kindergarten. Essentially, daycare emphasizes care and social skills, while preschool prioritizes a dual emphasis on emotional and academic learning.
There are also structural differences between daycare and preschool. As mentioned previously, daycares often are open outside of working hours to accommodate parents who have busy schedules, while preschools are usually open during standard school and work hours. Daycare overall has more flexibility when it comes to operations, as there are both part-time and full-time forms of care that suit the work schedules of many parents.
Similarly to how preschool usually operates during normal school hours, their year-round schedule mirrors other forms of primary school that prioritize seasonality and time off. This schedule is critical to consider because you should ensure that the schedule of the facility can accommodate your work obligations or other responsibilities you might have.
In terms of preparation, children will receive more individualized attention at daycare, as the staff-to-student ratios are smaller (1:3 or 1:5), while older students who are enrolled in preschool may have ratios around 1:12. This means that your child should be prepared with skills like potty training if they are entering preschool, so that they can operate independently and efficiently. With daycare, there is more room for your child to grow and more special attention they can receive so that daily obstacles can be handled quickly.
Health and Safety for Daycares and Preschools
At Goddard, we take childcare health and safety. We ensure that our policy guidelines are top-notch so that your child can thrive in a secure and clean environment. Some of our procedures include deep-cleaning physical spaces, having the children practice safety and fire protocols, training the staff in critical childcare skills like CPR. We also emphasize educating yourselves on how to keep your children safe and healthy at school so both of you can worry about what should matter – learning!
Daycare and Preschool Costs
As early childhood education is an important part of a child’s life, the cost of daycare and preschool reflects that. These costs may differ depending on the area that you live in, your child’s schedule, or the program you want to pay for. At Goddard, costs would factor in all the services and expertise that we provide, including enrichment programs, our educational model, a Goddard app that provides live updates, and so much more. Learn more about the costs of preschool and daycare at Goddard.
How to Find Childcare Opportunities
Parents educated in childcare spaces have only embarked on the first part of the journey. The second part of the process is knowing how to find the right childcare opportunity that suits you and your child. You will want to look at childcare opportunities in your area to get a view of the land. Once you perform this search, the next step is to understand what to look for in a childcare center. This will involve investigating the quality of the facility and its staff. Looking at barometers like user reviews and quality reports from the state you reside in are just some ways to vet a facility or program and see if it is worth the investment for your child.
What are Summer Camp Programs?
Summer camp programs are another form of childcare where your kid can grow and learn. It is a great way to keep your kids active and engaged with their peers – especially if your work schedule makes it difficult to watch them during the day when school is out. These programs provide additional activities for children to have fun with and can even be focused on specific interests like outdoor activities or arts and crafts. Some may be held only during the day while others are overnight camps. At Goddard, our school owners prepare many fun events for the kids, and they may differ by location. There are many benefits to summer camp that complement the experiences and education they are getting while in traditional learning environments.
Why Goddard is a Good Early Childhood Education Opportunity
Goddard is not just a childcare program; we are continuing to help shape the next generation of young learners. We are recognized by Cognia as an accredited school, meaning we provide quality education to families across the country. This is reflected in data showing that 97% of parents are satisfied with how their kids are performing 5 years after completing our programs. Our Wonder of Learning® Program takes an innovative approach to education where we teach through fostering curiosity so your child can learn through finding their interests. We will work with you and your child so that they can flourish as learners. Learn more about us or find the nearest school in your area to enroll today!
