daycare pre-k vs. school pre-k

need some opinions ladies.
DS is in a daycare he enjoys right now. there is a catholic school nearby which has a pre-k program. we are thinking of switching but not sure what the right decision is. some of my reasoning:
while i want my son to get a good education, i also want him to be a kid. i feel daycare is more relaxed and gives him the chance to be a kid.
i'm afraid if i leave him in daycare, he'll be behind for kindergarten when he starts at 5 years old. i spoke to the daycare director and she said it's not a pre-k class per se. they are in the same room with the 3 year olds, but their "learning time is longer" they do more math and science than the 3 year olds.
daycare is more expensive, but i have the option of paying per day so can always take vacation when i need to to alleviate costs.
school, even with afterschool, is cheaper.
daycare is open just about year round (dh has all the same holidays daycare does). school has alot more holidays PLUS the whole summer. the summer camp would be an added cost.
afraid of sending my kid to summer camp where the ages are mixed and he's being watched by teenagers.
with daycare my mom picks him up by 4 and he gets to stay at grandma's (which he loves) his daycare is roughly 7 hours.
with school, he would be in afterschool (again mixed ages together) and I would have to hope and pray i make it to pick him up by 6pm. grandma is too far in case of emergency. his school would be 11 hours.

sorry this is so long. what do you ladies think?

daycare pre-k vs. school pre-k

From a personal side we are keeping our dd in daycare till kindergarten but our daycare has a pre-school curriculum they follow once they hit 4. Maybe see in your area if one of the local daycares has a more structured "pre-school" program if not personally I wouldn't worry about it.

daycare pre-k vs. school pre-k

Ds is staying at his daycare. They have a great pre k program.

Re: daycare pre-k vs. school pre-k

Plan is to keep dd at her daycare, really to make it easier on us for when we have #2. However it is a pre-k program.

daycare pre-k vs. school pre-k

I would definitely look for daycare with a structured pre-k program.

daycare pre-k vs. school pre-k

Our daycare is run by a BOE member in the local school district. She is focused on prepping the kids for Kindegarten. DD will go to pre-k there. If I were in your situation, I'd either keep him where he is or find a new daycare with a more structured pre-k program. Eleven hours is a really long day for anyone, especially a kid.

daycare pre-k vs. school pre-k

I had the same thoughts and I put her in a 'school' pre-k via Montessori. Honestly... there is no behind in Kindergarten. Some kids are better at some things than others. Kindergarten is the great equalizer.

Fair Warning:

Our issue was that she wasn't spelling or reading as much as I'd like by the time she got to Kinder. She is now doing both. She was well advanced on math and counting, colors, alphabet, sorting, categorizing, shapes and geography. Unfortunately, that means she was BORED OUT OF HER MIND for most of the first grading cycle. She had to sit there as other children learned to count to 10 then 20. She was counting in 10s to 100 before she walked through the door. She had to be quite and patiently listen as they taught upper and lower case letters. Something she already knew. It was problematic. She is back at the top of the class in testing but its been a struggle to keep her focused. This isn't fun or new to her. Its only NOW just starting to get interesting and we are in the 3rd cycle.

I am glad she got ahead but she's losing what she learned. They don't teach geography like she was doing. Learning land masses, river vs lake, island vs peninsula, etc. They don't teach continents vs countries yet either. But she was learning that in Montessori at 4. She can point out Germany and China on a map. I took her out of Montessori for kinder instead of leaving her because I wanted her to readjust to taking directions, group lessons and learning to wait on a group. She was used to doing her own work at her own pace and work on what she chose. I am glad she had both experiences. But I am so very glad I was aware the issues she'd have with Kindergarten and how she could potentially be bored. It hasn't been easy. but its worth it, right?

Re: daycare pre-k vs. school pre-k

Message edited 1/27/2014 11:10:24 AM.