Private vs public kindy vs preschool?
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Category: Have A Baby?
Forum Name: Kindy and Beyond
Forum Description: So you've survived the sleepless nights and toddler tantrums, now the fun really begins! Talk to other parents of older children here!
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=28499
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Topic: Private vs public kindy vs preschool?
Posted By: Nikki
Subject: Private vs public kindy vs preschool?
Date Posted: 02 September 2009 at 3:18pm
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Hi guys,
We have two local public kindys and a private one. I looked at the closest public one and it seemed to be very good ... then looked at the public one and have put his name down there. Partly cos they do mornings to start with, and as Jake still sleeps for up to 3 hours in the arvo, I'm not sure if he will have dropped his nap by 3?! They offer a couple of "full time (ie 9-3ish) places to 4 year olds so that may be good if I'm working, and you can also pick your days / how many days, and he could still attend daycare (splitting the 20 free hours if necessary) the other days if I'm working. Also the ratio is 1:8 which seems to be higher than public from what I hear. what are the main differences? It only costs $2/hr - so 18 per week, which is nothing compared to daycare. Is public free or a small cost too? Also, whats preschool? (I've heard it mentioned). And do they follow the same curriculum in daycare (I think they do eh?). And if they go the playcentre - is the same stuff taught there too, just by parents? Thanks!! ------------- DS (5yrs) and DD (3yrs) |
Replies:
Posted By: Rachael21
Date Posted: 02 September 2009 at 9:26pm
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Preschool and daycare is the same thing really, different places have different philosophys.
I know nothing about kindys so can't answer there. Playcentre has two co-ordinators which are trained to a certain level and get paid. They may or may not have children there. Then there are three (Depends on numbers to how many really) parent helpers and between the five of them they set up the activited for the day and do learning stories for some of the children each day. Once the kids are TT they can be left there but there are always heaps of parents lurking around as the ones who aren't TT need a caregiver to stay. Every parent has to do at least course one but can go on and do more and eventually become a co ordinator if they want (its all free). Course one doesn't take long and is all quite interesting. There are monthly meetings and everything is run by the parents so you have a say in how the money is spent and everything. Parents have certain jobs (mine was to be in charge of book club) but if you have a little baby they don't expect you to do too much and you have to help clean up at the end of term. Its not as much work as a lot of people think and you can see the benefits and want to help out anyway. We used to go 2 days a week and it cost $50 (I think) a term. We had themes and things but it was mainly freeplay and child led learning. When you were on parent help you had a certain child to write a learning story and you had to read their past stories and build on that. Nowhere near as structured as preschool but the kids learn heaps. Hope that helps a bit, I got a bit carried away 
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Posted By: Nikki
Date Posted: 03 September 2009 at 3:54pm
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So if they start playcentre - is it exprected that they stay there til school? Do you think they're learning as much as they would at daycare / kindy? Kindy kinda looked like just free-play to me too! But I assume the 4 year olds are prepared for school, in the same way my daycare prepares them?
Gosh - too many options!! ------------- DS (5yrs) and DD (3yrs) |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 03 September 2009 at 4:48pm
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We have looked at kindy (public) and montessori (private) and there is such a huge difference between them. I didn't look at playcentre.
When I called kindys I basically got told it was indoor and outdoor play with some mat time. Montessori has a cool cirriculum they teach, they also teach and encourage indepedance and have structured learning/time while they are there. But theres also play time too. We are going to send Daniel here once hes TT (eek lol). But its expensive. |
Posted By: Rachael21
Date Posted: 04 September 2009 at 9:21pm
| Nah its not expected but it really depends on the playcentre. At the one I was at it was pretty relaxed and quite a few kids also went to kindy/preschool and we only went for a year but I found it fantastic when trying to juggle a baby and toddler, they both got so much out of it. I have actually been told playcentre can better prepare a child for school as they can chose what they want to do rather than always looking for instruction like preschool kids. However that was told to me by a very passionate playcentre woman who thought children should only got to playcentre until school. |