Brandon’s Buddies

You can only get the free when your kid is four. This is called Head start. Mothers and Fathers who work have to get the child care before then so they can work.
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1.Pros and Cons of Private School

a.Private schools may range from new and limited operations to endowed academies with histories stretching back for centuries.

b.There are several advantages of a private school:

i.In most cases private schools have smaller classes; this allows for individual attention for each child.
ii.Academic standards are sometimes higher and more rigorously aged than in public-school settings there is likely to be stronger control over the social and classroom environment.
iii.Private schools are free to include religious Leaching as part of the curriculum as well as prayer and promotion of moral values that support those taught at home.

c.The disadvantages of private schools include:

i.Unless your state has a voucher system in place, it could cost a significant amount of money for tuition and other fees for private education.
ii.The school may have limited resources for programs such as athletics, arts, or science.
iii.The school may not be equipped to deal with children who have special- needs or learning disabilities.
iv.Find out if the school is properly accredited and learn about the teachers who are on staff.
v.Ask about the school’s curriculum and approach to academics.
vi.Find out about the school’s approach to discipline and maintaining order in the classroom.
vii.If the school is church-based or has commitments to teaching biblical conntent and values, how is this carried out?

2.It’s not uncommon to hear parents with infants-and even soon-to-be first-time parents-talk about applying to nursery schools.
3.“In the first five years of life, you lay down the foundation for the child’s cognitive, social, emotional and physical development for the rest of their lives,” says W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University.
4.There are more parents than ever engaging in the private nursery school admissions process, there are others who are opting out, seeking alternatives for their child that seem less fraught and less expensive, but sound, safe and wonderful all the same.

5.Here are a few key rules of thumb to follow to ensure that your child’s early-educational environment is appropriate:

a.Before signing up for anything, make sure you visit the program or facility.
b.Barnett, of Rutgers, says that ideally you want an environment that is “intellectually exciting for their child to be in and emotionally comfortable for the child… learning and feeling really go together.”

6.Activity and Enrichment Centers with “Preschool Alternative” Programs
a.Responding to the demand, many of the private children’s activity and enrichment centers around the city have established programs under the “Preschool Alternative” umbrella.
b.By speaking to the program directors, you can get a sense of their focus.
c.Andrea Marsiano-Lepore of Culturehouse Kids adds that their program provides a “culturally enriched environment,” in which children can socialize and explore.
d.One more key point: C.Z. Zuckerman, of Citibabes, pointed out that the teachers in “preschool alternative” programs don’t have to be accredited (like they do in nursery school) and often aren’t.

7.Public Preschools

a.Public Pre-K programs are offered at hundreds of public schools, as well as at community-based organizations like childcare centers, religious institutions and nursery schools, though the latter are not directed by the Department of Education.
b.Last year, applications for admission into public school preschools had to be mailed by mid-April, and applicants were required to list five programs they would like their child to attend, in order of preference.
c.The downside of opting for public programs is that they only take children who are 4 years old (as of Dec. 31) and you’re not guaranteed a spot: it’s based on availability.
d.Darcy Jacobs, an editor at Family Circle Magazine and mother of two, decided to put her 4-year-old daughter in public school for pre-K, even though her 9-year-old son had attended a private pre-K program.

8.Daycare Centers With Pre-K Programs

a.There are also high-quality daycare centers that are essentially preschools with longer schedules for parents who need full-time childcare.
b.The House of Little People, for example, accepts children aged 3 months to 5 years old, and starts teaching the children as infants.
c.Learning then continues in the toddler room and 5-year-old group.
d.“Each Bright Horizons center develops expectations and practices in concert with the local schools that the children will be attending,” says Megan Kendall, regional manager of Bright Horizons in New York.
e.Because these daycare programs offer full-time care, they can be more expensive than other preschool alternatives.

9.Parent Cooperative Preschools or Homeschooling

a.Parent-based nursery school co-ops, like homeschooling
b.A parent cooperative preschool c
References :
http://ourtownny.com/?p=820
http://www.familyhomesnetwork.com/family/prosandconsofprivateschool.html

The program and teachers are often the biggest differences between free daycare/nursery school and one you pay for. Schools relying on public funds are more likely to have to cut programs and be more like daycare than school and the staff may be less than qualified because they are making less to work there than a teacher with a degree employed by a privately funded school.
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cjvw622 answered this question perfectly. I agree completely.
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