[Pup-pup]

I have my DD on a waiting list for kindy at a C&K centre for 2014. She starts school (prep) in 2015.
She actually goes to daycare 1 day per week currently. I have her younger sister in the same centre.
The daycare will be running an accredited kindy program this year.
I have asked a question a few times, well how do you distinguish between the 'kindy' kids and the 'daycare' kids, and no one knew what I meant. I suppose I assumed that kindy ( meaning only in the year prior to prep entry), had a better learning program or teachers?
Also, as my DD2 is an August baby, she technically won't be eligible for 'kindy' until 2016, if it's all in together she'd really benefit from going in 2015.
So can anyone explain how a C&K differs from daycare kindy. Other than the hours.

[3hearts]

My son did a kindy program through a daycare centre. There was a different group of children every day. Some go full-time, some mon,tues or any other combination etc. My daughter did the same and it was okay. For my son I hated it. My youngest is going into a C&K this year. 5 day fortnight with the same group of children. You can really only compare individual centres with each other and the personality of your child. For me I was completely blown away 2 minutes into our orientation. This particular centre has a very good name though. There's also a smaller child to teacher ratio compared to the daycare centre I'm comparing it to.

This post has been edited by 3hearts: 07/01/2013, 10:00 PM

[aidensmum]

Hours at C&K are shorter that what Daycare can offer. Our C&K was 9am to 2.30pm. Doesn't work well if your working. The C&K felt like more like the kinder I went to as a child. We did three years at one and the staff were generally women that had been kinder teachers for more than 20 years, or mums that had gone to uni after their kids were off to school and were restarting their careers. Their experience and enthusiasm showed and I was really impressed. C&K had a purpose built building and grounds, rather than a kinder room and a shared playground and equipment. Lots of parental involvement at the C&K, where more of the daycare parents are working.

[MissingInAction]

Kindy programs in long day care centres are supposed to be run by Kindergarten Teachers (ie; someone with a uni degree in teaching)... however, sometimes, centres will have the "approval" (the kindy TICK) because they used to have a teacher but don't any more. My last workplace continues to display the tick of approval and promote their "kindy program" even after I left and wasn't replaced by an actual teacher. That bugs me! So, please, check that the person running that room is a bachelor qualified teacher and if they aren't, I'd be asking questions!!

The main difference between kindy in a c&K and kindy in a daycare is that C&K kindy teachers have much better working conditions and consequently will probably be a lot happier, less stressed and more able to do their job properly. In a daycare... well, it depends on the centre and the teacher and the other staff but generally the conditions aren't real great. C&K: shorter days, clear start & finish times for the kids. Daycare: loooong days, no clear start & finish times.

I'm all for kindy in longday care, however, i think it all depends on the individual centre and teacher and whether that particular program is right for you and your family.