moms w/ school age kids - how does after and before care work?

KathrynMD

DD won't start kindergarten for another 3 years, but I'm just trying to figure out how that will work.  Our neighborhood school is just up the street.  I'm pretty sure they have all day kindergarten, but its 9 - 3:30.  DH and I need to leave between 7 and 7:30 and don't get home until 5:30 at the earliest.  DD is in daycare/preschool now for 7:30-5:30 now, but so are alot of the other kids and they have lots of activiities to engage them all day.  I'm not sure what the before/after care options are at the school itself (and how those are regulated?) or if I should start looking for a SAHM/in home daycare provider, etc.  I just don't want DD to sit at somebody's house watching cartoons for 4 hours a day, KWIM?

madhatter2003

My DD will still go to the same child care/daycare/preschool she goes to now when she starts kindergarten.  They have a bus come to the school to pick up all the elementary school children, and a bus brings them back in the afternoon.  I can still drop off and pick up at the same times I do now....which will be great as DS will still be there.

A LOT of centers around us have the same set up for working parents, maybe look into those especially since ours also has a built in preschool that all the kids starting K together attend starting the fall before they go to 'real' school....so they have a built in group of 6-8 kids that they know when they start school.

shouldbworkin

My ILs take DS to the bus in the AM and get him off the bus in the PM.  If they weren't there, I would probably drop DS and DD off at her daycare at the same tiem.  they have a bus from DS's school that picks a few kids up.  He could go there after school or could go to primetime at his school (he actually begs to go somedays, lol).  If my ILs weren't there, I might also consider a babysitter to be at home in the AM or PM or both eventually.  I really like my kids being home after school.  DS's school runs from 9 to 4 and he's so tired by the end of the day.  It's nice for him to come home and relax a bit before I get home and start the evening routine.  Eventually he's going to have homework (he's actually starting daily reading logs this week) and I think it's a little easier if there is 1 person waiting at home to help out with this sort of thing.  Sometimes I think a babysitter would be better than my ILs b/c then I could ask her to start dinner for us too.  ;-)

lmdbww

Thanks for asking this because i'm curious how others do this, too. DD's elementary school is about a mile away from home but will not have full day K when she goes, and I work a half hour away (8:30-5). I cannot think of anyone that could get her on and off the bus for us so i'm guessing some sort of after school program is what we'll have to do.

The preschool DD will go to is right down the street from my work (and in a completely different school district) so using them isnt' really an option.

shopgirl78

School here is 8-3pm however the school doors and cafeteria (breakfast) open at 730am.  We also have a neighborhood school and walk DD to school.  MH and DD leave the house at about 7:35am and she goes to the cafeteria for a (albeit crappy, usually a muffin & milk) breakfast.  MH helps her find her breakfast card before he leaves.  She goes to her classroom (on her own) at 8am.   She has a couple of friends she eats breakfast with and one of them is our neighbor and in her class. They walk together.   All the schools here have free breakfast.   You might check what time the doors of the school open for students.

DD goes to an afterschool program afterwards (at our daycare).  It's 40/wk.  They also have before school care.  You might check if there is a program like that near you.   I know they don't watch TV for 4 hours a day! 

 

brrrzrrrs

I'm in Columbia, too.  Many (but not all) elementary schools in Howard County have before and after care offered through the Howard County Parks and Recreation, I believe.  You can find details in the Activity Guide that is published a few times per year.  Maybe your neighborhood school participates in this program. 

KathrynMD

brrrzrrrs:

I'm in Columbia, too.  Many (but not all) elementary schools in Howard County have before and after care offered through the Howard County Parks and Recreation, I believe.  You can find details in the Activity Guide that is published a few times per year.  Maybe your neighborhood school participates in this program. 

This is really helpful - I didn't know this!  I just looked online though and our school doesn't offer this.  I think I'm going to call the school and ask them.

GingerSB

Our school doesn't have any organized before/after care. Just in-home daycares in the community. There are no daycares that bus to her school. 

Lots of parents keep their nannies even when their kids are in school.

Angela814

DD's elementary school for next year has before and after school care in the building through the YMCA. I believe before school starts as early as 7am. Kindergarten runs 8:30-3:30. After school care goes to 6pm. That's $400/month.

Another option would be to pay for before and after care at daycare and have DD take the bus from daycare to school and then from school back to daycare. Our current daycare is on the bus route for a different elementary school in our district, so it's really not a good option for us.

Floridamom224

I would contact the elementary school she will attend as well...they might have a program they run or the YMCA runs.  GL!

lmdbww

Floridamom224:

I would contact the elementary school she will attend as well...they might have a program they run or the YMCA runs.  GL!

Our district has this but they only allow kids in from grades 1-5 (on the elementary level).

lewis514

My daycare offers before/after care through 3rd grade with busing & care on school holidays (like MLK day, etc).

Our local Y also does a pre/post school program at the school as well.

I will investigate when it gets closer to what is best for us. Also, when I was growing up, I went to an in home provider after school (walking distance from school) and then later, my parents had a local teenager come and stay at the house until they got home. It was a $$ oppty for her and we would play outside and do homework.

vanessaipadilla

my DD is in first grade. Thankfully I was laidoff from my job during the entire year of kindergarden so it wasnt an issue for me. But now i've been working full time and my works has been really flexible. I bring DD with me to work at 7:30 then we leave at 8:15 to drop her off at school. My mom was watching her before since she had also gotten laid off , but now DD's dad drives from 30 minutes away to pick her up from school and drop her off at my work at 5pm then he drives all teh way back home in traffic. 2nd Grade was gonna be a tough one for us. I was going to put her in a school that has a YMCA on campus and i could drop her off before and pick her up after work. They charged about $400 a month. BUT i got really lucky with my job and they want me to stay here longer ( its a temp job) so they're going to hire me part time to where i can take DD to school and pick her up. This will work perfectly since baby #2 will be on it's way in November.