DSM Metro Daycare Costs

[CtownCyclone]

Our center was just a hair over $300 per week per kid for infants. Goes down a bit as they get older.

Maybe I try to justify it to myself, but we have a friend paying a little more than half that at an in-home. It seems like they basically just watch TV all day and play the rest. Our kids could write their names by age 3, it seemed like.

Yeah, I noticed the same with my kid. They even have them picking up some "Sight" words.

 

[Mr Janny]

Yeah, I noticed the same with my kid. They even have them picking up some "Sight" words.

Agreed. That's what you're paying for with a center. Both of my kids had a learning curriculum at daycare from the time they were 2 years old. And it's worth it. It's not that you can't get the same out of an in-home, it's just harder to come by.

 

[BCClone]

Agreed. That's what you're paying for with a center. Both of my kids had a learning curriculum at daycare from the time they were 2 years old. And it's worth it. It's not that you can't get the same out of an in-home, it's just harder to come by.

I had read a study that mentioned kids put in early schooling (head start I specifically remember being discussed) and by the second grade any of the advancements they had were already lost. The greatest correlation was those that had parents that were active in their lives and development.

The idea why I did t worry too much about the education level received at a daycare center.

 

[BCClone]

my wife is a former head start teacher and would tell you that loss can mostly be explained by the home they are raised it and not the schooling. but that's not PC

I figured it was due to the flat level of the education system we have now. A lot the education has to be put at a level so the 25-50% range students can understand and keep moving through. My oldest had 3 year preschool and kprep and by 1-2 grade he was getting the same level of education as the rest. He was considered to be one of the best problem solvers in his class because that is the stuff that I worked on with him. Always thought if I could teach my kids to think on how to personally attack something instead of just knowing 2+2 facts that they would be ok with whatever they did. Whether that is PC or not.

 

[Waukee4Cy]

We have done the in-home approach and the center approach and a key issue with in-home is reliability. To be able to take your kid on a given day, think of all the people that need to be reasonably free of contagious illness: the caregiver and every one of his/her own children. Plus, if the caregiver's spouse is home sick with something nasty, do you really want to take your kids there? On top of that, you have occasional doctor/dentist appointments for the caregiver and said kids. And finally, you're pretty much taking vacation whenever the caregiver's family has decided to take vacation. In-home is often the cheaper option, but you do pay a price in other ways.