TKW Consulting

Preschool or Daycare?

Preschool or daycare? Is there a real difference between the two? Is one better at getting your child ready for their first day of kindergarten? Most working parents are faced with the question of where to leave their little one during their 9 to five and often preschools and daycares are where they turn. But is there a difference when it's time to go to kindergarten?

Getting ready for kindergarten means learning numbers letters and some manners before that first big day at school. Kids at central Christian preschool in Danville do just that and workers say their kids are more than prepared. The center director, Linda Richey says several key elements make up Central Christian’s curriculum. She says, “The things we center on are numbers, letters, sight words, addition, subtraction, those things. We want these kids to be ready for kindergarten when it's time to start kindergarten.”

And at Central Christian training starts as young as two years old. It's the same thing across town at Tammy Clows in-home daycare.

Clow’s been getting kids ready for school for more than a decade and parent's say they
couldn't be happier with the results. Mom Alina Zentz says, “Tammy is great with the kids. She does just as much, if not more than the preschoolers I've experienced.” Zentz's brought two of her children to Clows daycare and says it's just like dropping her daughter off at school every morning. ”She's doing well on her ABC's numbers so I think she's very ready. She's a young 4 to be starting kindergarten but the doctor thinks she's right on schedule.”

No matter your preference both can beef up your child’s social skills so saying goodbye to mom and dad isn't such a shock the first day of school.

Richey adds, “Because they do bring their children here they already have that experience of goodbye mom. I know you're going to work; I have to go to school. It's so much easier when it comes time to go to kindergarten. They're all ready.”Kindergarten teachers we talked to say there really is no difference between preschool and daycare. They say if your child spends their time with a babysitter, rather than in a school or social setting it's up to parents to level the playing field with things like play dates with others kids and at home study.