If you contact your local dept of human services, they will have a list of county certified day care providers in your area. I have used an in-home day care provider for 10 years now. I find it easier to deal with one person than a "chain daycare/preschool" I feel very comfortable with her and we are so much more like family . She has really gotten to know my kids very well. There have been enough new kids coming and going, but also some long term ones like us. Ethan has learned to follow some very specific rules and some structure/schedule, but at the same time, there is lots of time for free play and spontanaity He is really starting to watch the kids and try some interacting with the ones close to his age. Also, some of the older kids have really bonded with him over the years. He has been going there since he was 4 days old. As much as I wish I could quit work to spend all my time with Ethan, I'm sure he would be missing the socialization he gets there. Something I could never provide him with. A perfect balance would be just 2 or 3 days a week. When I win the lottery
"Child Care Aware is a non-profit initiative committed to helping parents find the best information on locating quality child care and child care resources in their community. We do this by raising visibility for local child care resource and referral agencies nationwide, and by connecting parents with the local agencies best equipped to serve their needs."
Here's the link: http://www.childcareaware.org/en/
Good luck with everything.
In my area, there's not much difference between the two. My NT daughter does both private preschool and regular daycare. My ASD child needs constant redirection which is more than "glorified babysitting" can do. I started with my town's health department which pointed me to a daycare referral office, which handed over a list of hundreds of daycares (many were also in-home daycares). All of my daughter's teachers and care providers are great, but with so many other kids in their care as well, I felt that my other child would get lost in the crowd. Anyway, I recommend starting at your county health department.Thanks momoftwins,
I'll check into that. As far as 'glorified babysitting' - I really want less structure rather than more. I want the girls in the mix with a bunch of kids, not just being herded around from station to station in some structure curriculum. I'm looking for unstructured social exposure for the girls, and I intend to send a shadow in with them to help them out, but if there's too much structure, there won't be much room for spontanous social interactions... I think...
What's the difference between traditional day-care and private pre-school? How do I find a day care? Everything around here gives the appearance of being some sort of "learning center" or "academy" - I just want glorified baby sitting - though, of course, with nice, nurturing people - how do I find it?
Fred,
For my ASD son, we did all day preschool which was through the school district.
For my NT son, we did preschool in the mornings through our local park district (4 days/week 8:45 - 11:30, and then because he was lonely in the afternoons without his brother we had him in daycare 3 days a week in the afternoons for 9 months. This is when he was 4. Here is my take on both.
Private preschool is typically half-day, either morning or afternoon. There is a mix of structured and unstructured time - perfect for social interactions. For example, there was typically a 45 minute period where the kids worked on an art project at a table (lots of glue, glitter, construction paper, etc.) However, the kids came over to the table 3 - 4 at a time to do the art project, which only took about 10 - 15 minutes. The rest of the kids were doing "free play" where they could play independently or with other kids (puzzles, doll house, pretend kitchen, blocks, puppets, etc). There was also "circle time" and "story time" which were more structured but very interactive, and "outside play" which was unstructured. I think a preschool environment would be awesome for your girls. It is not so structured as to preclude spontaneous social interaction.
Daycare tends to be a bit different. We were at Kindercare, which is a major nationwide chain and well regarded here. In the morning, it was run very similar to preschool. However in the afternoon, the kids had lunch, took a nap (all kids in daycare are REQUIRED to nap, or at least just lay there quietly), and then it was all unstructured play except for a story by the teacher. It was during this long span of unstructured afternoon play that my son picked up a ton of bad habits and language from the other kids. It was like a giant babysitting operation, and the "teachers" in many cases were twenty-something girls being paid minimum wage who were just making sure the kids were safe, behaving somewhat and having fun. R really liked it there, and the people who worked there were nice, but it didn't compare to the experience he had at the local preschool.
Based on my experiences, I would recommend sending the girls to preschool with a shadow rather than day care if you have the choice. Like anything else, you'll need to take a day off work and observe both options.
Fred,
I think its a wise move. My son is not quite 3.5 and I really hope in the next year I'll be able to do the same sort of thing. I tried him at a regular daycare before (I watched him on the video monitors) and I did not like what I saw. As long as your shadow can give you an accurate report and the daycare workers know you're vigilant, I'm sure you'll get a good feel for how the girls will interact. I found that keeping my twins together really limited their ability to interact with others. Mine stick together like glue and ignore everyone else around them!
Fred, you might want to consider the unstructured thing ...
We used (fulltime) a Regio Emilia (philosophy) Child and Family Development Center. Euphemistic title, yes. But -- there was a TON of parent participation, and the emphasis was on teaching SOCIAL INTERACTION, not academics. So ... start by asking about how they handle disputes between kids. Many of the teachers were highly skilled in teaching negotiation, collaboration, and compromise. And of course identification of the child's own feelings.
Unfortunately, just because the admin pays lip-service to a philosophy does not guarantee any particular teacher they hire will be skilled at this, so make sure you observe in your kid's own potential classroom and teachers. Pop in unannounced to observe if you can pull it off.
Make sure all of the staff is fulltime and of course NAEYC-accredited (but even then, there are some stinkers).
Sound lofty? It is. But worth it, in retrospect. I swear, the gods were on the side of this kid ... we got her slotted in even before she came home, before she was diagnosed, and it was in many ways the PERFECT setting for her. I do not know where social skills would be now without it.
... my only concern is, a lit-tle more structure might -- MIGHT -- have helped, in her case. At our center if kids did not care to participate, they did not. So sometimes, T just wandered around the room to different centers, doing her own thing ... it might have helped her socializing AND attention span skills, to be brought back to the group a bit more.
Have you looked into a Head Start program? Nick has been attending that since 3, and it is a teaching environment, but not too over-structured.
He goes to his sitter after that, and she just keeps a few kids, and he is comfortable and happy there.
day care and pre school are two different places. day care they do of course teach the kids but a pre school it says it all, its a school where they learn what they need to learn. our kids are special and not all daycares are ready for this or have ppl certified in special needs like pre schools do. the kind of preschool you looking for is early childhod preschool. my son gets there all his therapies and graduates this year! he is only 4 ,im so happy..he ha sbeen 1 year in the school and has progressed so much!If you're seeking small but nurturing and not super-structured environment, family day care (or a day care home) may work for you. Also, a daycare center that uses the "learn through play" philosophy may be preferable; there's still some structure but it's less "academy-like."