What do we do when they get to pre-k and kindergarten???

momofolivia

I've looked up a few Montessori schools in town and they are all just school-year (Oct-Apr), school-hours programs.  You can do a half day or a full day, but the full days are still like from 8:30am - 4pm.

Both DH and I work full-time and these are schools are about a 20-30 minutes drive from our home.  It would be very difficult to work a 40-hour week and have her attend these schools.

How does this work?  Do the kids attend the school for a half day and then get shuttled to daycare for the rest of the day? Do you work out the schedule with your DH?  DH and my schedule is pretty similar (8:30-5:30) schedules.  There is wiggle room, but it would be very inconvenient.

How do the summers work? Do daycares take the kids on summers only?

Looking long term, what do parents do when they kids get to kindergarten (I sound like an idiot, huh? you would think I would know this)  They usually don't start until 8:30 - 9am here.

madhatter2003

The daycare I use has a before and after school program. The school bus stops there, a teacher makes sure all the kids get on and off, and then the parents just pick up/drop off like they always did.

They have snacks and homework time for the older school age kids, as well as outdoor play, etc.

 

abpdjs

madhatter2003:

The daycare I use has a before and after school program. The school bus stops there, a teacher makes sure all the kids get on and off, and then the parents just pick up/drop off like they always did.

They have snacks and homework time for the older school age kids, as well as outdoor play, etc.

 

ditto.  my niece starts k next week.  my sil now stays home (lost her job) but before that this is what they were going to have to do.

gypsywitch

MOST schools have programs where they bus the kids to daycare or designated place for the kids to go before/after school. My sister went to Kindergarten in the mornings and then took a bus from school to daycare, and stayed there until myself or my mom picked her up.

qw23fv09ij87tf23

We recently had our 5 year old nephew move in with us and enrolled him in school. I had no idea that kindergarten is only 3 hours. We put him in home daycare that will drop him off and pick him up. The free after school program at his school only takes 6 and over and there is a waiting list. Then there is a club that charges you and arm and a leg to keep him (about $10 an hour). I have no idea how they stay in business. During the summer the provider will keep him all day.

jlw2505

The public schools in my area have both before and after school programs.  I know my neighbors kids go and they love it.  They also have a summer program.  My daycare also has a school age program where you take your child to daycare and they bus them to school and then pick them back up and they also have a summer program.

RunningMom

My children's school has an after program (student arrive at 730 and school starts at 750- or they can pay $1/day to arrive at 7am and the after school program ends at 6) (and it's a small private school). ?During the summers there are numerous camps for school aged kids to attend while their parents are at work. ?Some people also hire college aged children to watch them.?

YellowBride

The public elementary school kindergarden has a program at the school with the local Y where they offer before and/or after-school care. It is also full-day kindergarden and starts at 7:30 or 8 so we won't need the before school care.

I have no idea what to do about pre-school though - DD goes to an in-home daycare so we need to figure out the transportation to and from pre-school - which is typically 9-11:30 or so...

duchess0727

Most daycares have a summer camp option.  Ours does.  Our daycare also has a full day kindergarten program.  This is common in our area b/c many districts do not have full day kindergarten.  They also offer before and after-care if you wish to send your kids to the local kindergarten. 

Many montessori schools and pre-schools in our area do extended day because there are a lot of working parents in our area.  To be honest, I wouldn't look at a pre-school that didn't have extended day because the logistics are too complicated.  You  could look into finding a babysitter to pick up from school and watch for a few hours until you get home.  You might also inquire about after-care at the montessori schools.  They might have someone willing to stay later if you pay for it. 

krub

My kids go to a Montessori school FT, which offers before/after care for kids of WOH parents.  They also have camp in the summer, so they go year round.  We had some problems with looking at other PS's b/c of their hours and calendars (lots of time off during the year).  But, we managed to find one gem and it's worked out great for us.

dpdw

We had to find a preschool with a full-day (8 am - 5 pm) program and a summer program.  Thankfully we found one that was close by.  The Catholic school we are sending the kids to for K-8 also has before & after school care with a full-day summer camp.

There were many more options for preschool that were not full-day programs, but they wouldn't work for us.