[lozoodle]

My DD will be starting school in 2014. At the moment she attends LDC because I work, so I need the longer hours.

Next year I will be on maternity leave, so mum mentioned I could move her to normal pre school given I wont need the early starts anymore.

Can someone tell me what the difference between the two are?

Does preschool cost more, less?

How many days a week would it be, or is that up to me? (She will be 4yo)

Can you still get the childcare rebate for pre school?

Are the wait lists massive for pre school, have I left it too late?

I basically want to do whatever is best for her in terms of school readiness, but I dont really know anything about it.

Hope someone can enlighten me

Edited to add - we are in NSW, not sure if that makes a difference.

This post has been edited by lozoodle: 11/08/2012, 10:16 AM

[SlinkyMalinki]

Which state are you in?

FWIW I'm in Queensland, and I'll be taking DD out of her 2 LDC days she's been attending this year, and put her into a 5 day fortnight Kindy program.

It will be quite a bit cheaper for us.



This post has been edited by SlinkyMalinki: 11/08/2012, 10:17 AM

[cinnabubble]

I think the OP's in Sydney, which means that you need to have been put down for preschool from birth.

[lozoodle]

I think the OP's in Sydney, which means that you need to have been put down for preschool from birth.

Yep in sydney, are the waits really that bad? EEK!
Still,not surprsing really given how bad daycare waits are

[Leha]

You may not have left it too late. My dd is the same age as yours and she goes to LCD 1 day a week. About 3 mths ago I had the same question and decided I would send her an additional day to preschool. I thought I had left it too late but was offered one day at all three of the preschools I applied for. I think you live in loftus from memory. Is that right? I got sienna into engadine Preschool but was also offered a place at heathdene and Ku at heathcote. I would get yourself a list of all the preschools in our local area and ring around and get your dd on a wait list. I think that if your flexible with days you will be able to get a spot.

Good luck.

[mayahlb]

I have heard pre-school waits in sydney are very long but it can't hurt to ring around and see if there are any places and put her name down if you want to go that way. Pre-school here is 15 hours a week, which is done as 2.5 days (7.45/8am-2 then either 7.45/8am-10.45 or 11.15-2pm) so the days are not as long as daycare but they are run by a qualified early education teacher where not all daycares have a pre-school programs run by a qualified teacher. But I live in WA and most pre-school programs are actually part of the primary school programs with uniforms and everything. Price wise I have heard it is cheaper, but some are cheaper then others, I don't know if you get CCR or anything but suspect you don't.

[SlinkyMalinki]

Not just a Sydney problem - I had DD's name down at the centre she'll be going to since she was about 1, and I was down the wait list, and very lucky to get a place.

[Leha]

Forgot to add that you don't get a rebate for preschool but it doesn't cost as much. Around $40 I think.

[lozoodle]

Thanks for the info.

Leha yes Im in Loftus. And no issues with days - v flexible.

I might make some calls and see. worst case scenario i leave it as it is

[SeaPrincess]

We're in WA, and when I looked into it for DS2, it didn't make sense at all, even though the kindy was across the road from our house. Main reasons:
~ no flexibility - one morning and one afternoon session/week
~ Morning drop off and afternoon pick-up were at the same time as DS1''s school times, and his school was 10 mins drive away.
~ No CCR

As our LDC was running educational programs in the kindy room and was flexible enough to accommodate my uni timetable (and changes), we stayed with LDC, and will probably do the same with DD.

R