3yr old Council run kinder VS Child Care based kinder....????

[Beach Mama]

We just got Izzy's kinder acceptance for next year. It is our second choice and the days are Tuesday and Thursday from 8:45-11:15.

I will more than likely be working the Thursday again next year so it would mean that to go she would have to go to mums and kinder on that day.

I am considering just leaving her at CC for the days that they go anyway while I am at work because they will have a fully qualified kinder teacher there running a program.

What concerns me about this is that when I have asked them about it nobody really knows much as they don't have one there now. I also asked if the program is run for certain hours and they said no she will run it each day for the full ray which seems a bit odd.

I know it's only kinder and 3yr at that but I don't want her missing out somehow if this program at CC isn't as good as the council one even though it is for less days. I also know the girls do a wonderful job at my CC but they have alot of kids - there are 30 in Izzy's room on a Wednesday, she copes beautifully however there isn't alot of one on one and although they say programs are individualised I know they aren't really when there are that many kids and fair enough.

Ok so anyone in the know out there who can clear up my fuzzy questions?!

[*Efjay*]

Sounds like you are best leaving her where she is. She is happy there, it suits your work hours. I probably wouldn't be concerned with changing at this point. She is going to gain more from the place she is happy & comfortable at, being the one she is most familiar KWIM?

[feeb]

I would use CC one as she is there allready and happy. Sounds like it suits you all better.

Good luck

[littlelara]

My two go to a cc for a full day once a week and they have a kinder programme. I adore the teacher, she really loves the kids and they learn so much from her. She is only there from 9 - 3:00, so after that they move on to extended care programme with the other carers.
Beth only got accepted into 4 year old kinder this term, so before that I had her in for an extra day at cc to make up for it as I thought she needed more stimulation at 4. The cc prog she goes to encorporates 3 and 4 year old kinder so J will be in it as of next year.
They need accreditation to run a kinder programme, so I'm sure it will all be organised properly when the time comes.
Also, fwiw I thought the hours for 3 year old kinder were a bit all over the place and messy. It's fine if the child has never been in that setting before and you want to ease them in, but if your child is content at cc I would leave her there
HTH

[Beach Mama]

Thanks Lara and everyone! I think that is what I needed to hear, because the CC girls sound like they don't really know how it runs with a qualified teacher, they dont have one right now so Im not sure why or what happened but Im hoping whoever starts there stays. There is a bit of a turnover at the place they go to, thank goodness both DD and DS's fav carers have been there since they started in Jan.

I think I will leave it as it is for next year and might look at 4yr old at the Montessori Pre-School the following year when J will start 3yr old.

[Floweryfields]

I think you will find that a good childcare centre will provide a program that is on the same par with a kinder. Just as you may find badly run kinders - just because someone have a bachelor qualification doesn't mean they are a good teacher iykwim.

[Liviam]

Tan we have just gone through the same thing too. I talked to kinders and CC and it seemed silly for me to take DD out of CC and put her in kinder (with the same kinda hours) which neither DH or I could have picked her up for the same experiences/activites as she would be doing in CC. So we are keeping everything the same for next year and may re-look at it next year for 4 year old.
Two things that also swayed us is our CC has a full kinder program. Kinder starts at 9am to 3pm (can't remember exact times) and is in a seperate room. So the kids have to get their bags, are lined up and they go into the kinder room for their kinda day. They then do their kinder program. At the end of kinder they can either be picked up or they go back into their room until home time. So it is kinda both. DD is still getting the kinda experience and they make it different from the CC day and we don't have the nightmare of trying to pick her up when we are both at work.
DD loves where she is going so i don't want to risk moving her and having her upset. Plus we can drop DD and DS off at the same place and not having to do two different drop offs.