The Difference Between Day Care and Preschool Parents...What Parents Should Know

National Network for Child Care's Connections Newsletter

Jan Dickson, M.Ed.
Visiting Teaching Assistant
Child Development Laboratory
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Copyright/Access Information

Parents and teachers often think that day care centers and half-day preschool programs perform very different functions. Day care is often viewed as custodial care. Preschool programs are often seen as preparing children for kindergarten. However, children who go to day care and children who go to preschool programs have similar needs and interests. Because of this fact, the National Association for the Education of Young Children does not distinguish between these two forms of care when considering what factors contribute to quality care.

Both parents seeking child care, and teachers looking for jobs in child development, should rate full or half-day child care programs according to the same standards.

These standards for quality care are the same whether they apply to full-day child care or half-day preschool programs.

Both full and half-day programs should include a plan of activities that matches the children's needs and promotes their independence. The plan should contain activities and exercises that help children to develop social, motor, language, and thinking skills. Programs should also provide a variety of experiences designed to encourage exploration and problem-solving, and an awareness of how diverse the world is beyond the home. As shown in the sample schedule below, the daily morning schedule for preschools and day care centers should be very similar. Unlike preschools, day care centers will also schedule lunch and afternoon rest time. Day care centers will also repeat many elements of the morning schedule in the afternoon (e.g., group time, free play, story time, outside play, snack). The other major difference between the two settings is that preschool children tend to arrive all at once; children arrive at day care centers according to their parents' work schedules.


Half-Day Classroom - AM

8:30 - Arrival - quiet or free play
9:00 - Group time
9:15 - Snack
9:30 - Free choice/activity centers
11:15 - Story time
11:30 - Outside play
12:00 - Dismissal

Full-Day Classroom - AM

7:30 - Arrival - quiet or free play
9:00 - Group time
9:15 - Snack
9:30 - Free choice/activity centers
11:15 - Story time
11:30 - Outside play
12:00 - Lunch


Early childhood professionals in both preschool and day care settings must actively work to provide education in a nurturing environment that matches the needs of the children. Preschool settings should stress physical, social, and emotional growth as much as they stress thinking and academic skills. Similarly, teachers in day care settings must strive to avoid the trap of providing only custodial care. They should encourage parent involvement and provide regular lesson plans that support both educational and developmental goals.

The goal of the entire child care community, then, must be to encourage and support day care providers, and to raise standards in our nation's day care centers to appropriate educational levels. Preschool programs should also be evaluated to ensure that their plans and activities are safe, appropriate, and that they promote a variety of skills. When we as educators rise to this challenge, we will be showing society our professional abilities, our dedication, and our insight into the needs of young children today.

DOCUMENT USE/COPYRIGHT
National Network for Child Care - NNCC. Part of CYFERNET, the National Extension Service
Children Youth and Family Educational Research Network. Permission is granted to reproduce
these materials in whole or in part for educational purposes only (not for profit beyond the cost of
reproduction) provided that the author and Network receive acknowledgment and this notice is
included: