Sending kids to different daycares

blueandgray

Absolutely crazy idea?  Anyone do this successfully without driving themselves nuts? 

When LO#2 arrives next spring, we'll need to put both of them in DC.  The school dd is at now is great for infant care, very nuturing but much less learning focused than we originally were led to believe.  I'd like her to be taught more and switch her to another daycare that is more curriculum focused (of course, it's pricier), but I have a hard time justifing the extra cost ($300/mo more per kid than current place) for just infant care with LO#2.  Would it be worth it in the end to just pay the extra and not have the headache of 2 drop offs?  MH goes to work before DC is even open, so I'd be on drop off/pick up duty solo every day. 

Or is curriculum for pre-schoolers over-rated, and I'm sounding like THAT mom?

shannm

I will be doing this after labor day.  We put DS in a different preschool and are keeping DD in our current center.  Neither are close to our place of work.  It is going to add 30 minutes on to our already 60 minute commute each way. (In emergencies, we can get to either place during the work day in about 30-40 minutes.)  We share a car so we will either pick up/drop off together or some days, one of us will take the bus to put extra work hours in.  We think that it will be worth it.  The new school seems really awesome.

jamiedsgirl

Two drop offs, two pick ups?  Hell no, I would never do that!  And my daycare are all within 7 minutes of my work!  Plus, now you'd have to get one kid in and out of the car twice, which sucks, in my mind.  For $300 a month, I would gladly save all that extra time and effort. 

92405bride

It's a really personal decision whether or not you want a daycare that's "learning focused" for your older child - I don't think it matters much, kids learn primarily through play anyway. If you wanted to make a change, for me, I MIGHT only do that once my child was in the one year prior to starting kindergarten. I've been shocked at how much my 2.5 year old has picked up just from simple things like crafts and songs from her in-home daycare.

I have a friend who does 2 drop offs and pick ups because her older child's school does not take kids under 16 months and it sounds like a huge pain in the butt

preggersin2011

It would be worth it to save money IMO & I wouldn't want to hold my child back on their learning potential since they are exponentially learning until age 3. If math and science aren't a part of the curriculum my child wouldn't be there past 18m! There is a reason why our country doesn't even rank in the top 20 and is ranked closer to 2nd and 3rd world countries than other industrial nations.

ccm1203

I would not consider it until the older child was closer to 3 yo, it is just too much with a newborn to have to drop one child here, another here.       Also it is possible that the current "class" she is in is not as learning focused as the next level? 

Lotsofloveandkids

I wouldn't be able to handle it, but if you think you can go for it! I'm just not understanding how a 1 year old can be in preschool? Isn't preschool 2+? 

dragon_chica

We do.  DD goes to preschool and my parent's watch DS.  We don't plan on enrolling him at the same school until Fall 2013.  So for another year I'll be driving 20 min. to pick DD up, go back in the direction toward work (my parents live near work) for 20 min. again to pick DS up, and then drive north for about 10 min. to home.  Sounds a bit crazy but it's a great preschool that happens to be in the town over and to me it's worth it.