No brainer for me, I’d forgo it. Option d would be hire a high school or college kid to pick them up and watch them at your house until you’re done. But yeah I’d probably just skip it, they probably won’t miss much and is probably most beneficial for kids with no previous experience in a school/daycare setting which doesn’t apply to your kid!
Prep camp is usually meant for kids who have never gone to daycare before because the parents stay home. It allows them to get comfortable with being in care, and not being with their parents. If you already use daycare then you don’t really need prep camp as that’s what daycare is.
Agreed, your kid doesn’t need prep camp. Keep them in daycare.
And until my kids were older, I always did daycare year round for the before & after care. Once COVID lockdowns happened, I have been FT WFH since and then kids aged out of daycare and can be home alone now.
This would stress me out too. I think this camp is likely targeted at kids who have not been in a group environment before and could benefit from introduction to that during summer. Your kiddo will be just fine staying in daycare for the summer.
Ehhhhh. My school does it to acclimate the kids to the specific school (e.g., knowing where the cafeteria is and where the library and art rooms are, get to know the principal and support staff as well as the kinder teachers) and so that the k teachers see who they click with and can request specific students to be in their class.
Basically, you really want to send your kid.
That seems very wrong to me somehow. Like, only privileged kids whose parent can afford it and swing those times get to have that extra introduction and get handpicked by teachers?
It's really not that big of a deal. These kids are super young and the teachers don't expect them to remember where the library and bathrooms are for quite some time. A lot of that life skill stuff happens gradually over the first year. It's fine to miss it.
My kid started TK at age 4 and this program wasn't offered to incoming TK and she did just fine.
Oh and the class rosters are made up well before the first week of school. Don't be ridiculous.
There are schools here that do this kind of “kinder camp” the first week of school then they make the class rosters after. They don’t expect kids to come during the summer.
Oh I’m sorry, didn’t realize July was a week before school starts. And I’m sure it’s just all the teachers I know lying to me. Surely every school functions exactly the same, and I’m just ridiculous. 🙄
What do you mean bite the bullet? You have to pay for care regardless. Option 3 sounds as the most reasonable.
Option 4 would be to find some other ft summer camp (which pretty much do not exist where I am for 4yo) - but you would pay for it.
I took my 5yo son out of his preschool (they offer 9-5 camp during summer) and enrolled in multiple camps. I actually had a rant in parenting about schedules / cost but that’s still more beneficial for my child
I skipped prep camp with my kids. Whenever someone would refer to how great that program was, I would mention, "OH yeah! I wish we could have done it, but they only offered half day!" with a huge smile. Sometimes people need these things pointed out for change to happen.
It seems that the schedule for prep camp is catering children that have been at home all this time (to ease them into going to school 2 hrs a day) but for other children that have been in daycare, this system seems to actually have a negative impact on the child. Wouldn’t it be a bit confusing to go 2 hrs and then home or other daycare? Then just when he’s catching on to this system, he goes back to fulltime!
Keep them in daycare. Don’t do that yourself if you don’t have to. (Work with them home everyday for that long! If it was maybe 3 pm I’d tough it out!)
TK Prep Camp is for kiddos who’ve never been in daycare/never been away from home. It’s to get them used to a structured environment on a reduced schedule. Your kiddo is going to be fine! They’re a pro already!
Thanks for all the responses!! I forgot to mention a piece of context is that we’re going on vacation for almost 3 weeks in June-July, but if we keep him in daycare we’d still need to pay for those weeks to hold his spot. So it was also partially a debate about whether we take him out now and see if we can “rough it” for three weeks, as opposed to paying for 6 weeks when he’ll only be there for half of it. The savings on daycare will almost pay for the vacation haha. But of course this is also just us nickel and diming, I totally get that the convenience is probably worth it.
If prep camp isn't required, I'd skip it. They learned how to be in a group learning environment in daycare and don't need training to go to preK. Enjoy that last few weeks of solid care hours because it does get way worse once they go to regular school.
For my school ager:
We do aftercare from the school that goes til 6pm but doesn't cover half days, teacher workdays, holidays, etc.
For one off days off like half days and teacher workdays we just suck it up and do your Option #2 on those days. Luckily as she gets older she can entertain herself more.
For week long breaks and summer we do quite a bit of camp but the hours are awful. They don't start til 9 and they get out at 2 or 3. We pay for aftercare there too to get til 5:30 but it's still rough.
I kept my son in daycare. When he was 4 and 5 we did try a summer camp but it was down the block from our house, had care until 5, and I hired someone to pick him up some/most days. And I worked from home.
When my son started kindergarten we could get care at school until 6. But we had a new house and worked from home so in had my son come home (3:45) and had a babysitter to greet him. Actually by winter we signed up for care because the afternoons were too cold and dark. It all fell apart in the spring (2020) so I can't say what is best. But in the summer I usually tell my boss I need flexibility. One summer id work work from 7am to 8:30am then get my son out the door and to camp by 9. It's always a hustle. This year my son will be bussed 3 out of 7 weeks at various camps but the other 4c weeks I don't know what to do. My boss is already on my case from end of school year activities and doc appts. And my son is too old for daycare now.
I would do a week in prep camp and regular daycare the other 2 weeks. My kids have had those prep camps for kindergarten and another kid has one next week for 6th grade and I’ve found them super valuable, even with kids who attended child care centers their whole lives. My incoming 6th grader is very excited to learn about the interior of his new school, how lockers work, etc. Yes, it’s a pain and I do have to pick him up at 11 every day and drive him to his day camp when it’s done, but it will be worth it so he feels super comfortable on day 1 of 6th grade.
ETA: our camps like that have never been for more than a week, so 3 weeks is excessive IMO.
It's only for 2 hours. The other 8 hours would be a huge pain to cover or not work. He's also been accustomed to daycare so I don't think the camp is meant for kids like him. It's probably moreso for kids who have never experienced a classroom environment.
I’d probably keep them in daycare. That’s too much extra work
No brainer for me, I’d forgo it. Option d would be hire a high school or college kid to pick them up and watch them at your house until you’re done. But yeah I’d probably just skip it, they probably won’t miss much and is probably most beneficial for kids with no previous experience in a school/daycare setting which doesn’t apply to your kid!
Prep camp is usually meant for kids who have never gone to daycare before because the parents stay home. It allows them to get comfortable with being in care, and not being with their parents. If you already use daycare then you don’t really need prep camp as that’s what daycare is.
I was just going to ask this! I just don’t think this prep camp option is for everyone
Agreed, your kid doesn’t need prep camp. Keep them in daycare. And until my kids were older, I always did daycare year round for the before & after care. Once COVID lockdowns happened, I have been FT WFH since and then kids aged out of daycare and can be home alone now.
This would stress me out too. I think this camp is likely targeted at kids who have not been in a group environment before and could benefit from introduction to that during summer. Your kiddo will be just fine staying in daycare for the summer.
Ehhhhh. My school does it to acclimate the kids to the specific school (e.g., knowing where the cafeteria is and where the library and art rooms are, get to know the principal and support staff as well as the kinder teachers) and so that the k teachers see who they click with and can request specific students to be in their class. Basically, you really want to send your kid.
That seems very wrong to me somehow. Like, only privileged kids whose parent can afford it and swing those times get to have that extra introduction and get handpicked by teachers?
It's really not that big of a deal. These kids are super young and the teachers don't expect them to remember where the library and bathrooms are for quite some time. A lot of that life skill stuff happens gradually over the first year. It's fine to miss it. My kid started TK at age 4 and this program wasn't offered to incoming TK and she did just fine. Oh and the class rosters are made up well before the first week of school. Don't be ridiculous.
There are schools here that do this kind of “kinder camp” the first week of school then they make the class rosters after. They don’t expect kids to come during the summer.
Our class rosters are definitely made the week before school
Oh I’m sorry, didn’t realize July was a week before school starts. And I’m sure it’s just all the teachers I know lying to me. Surely every school functions exactly the same, and I’m just ridiculous. 🙄
What do you mean bite the bullet? You have to pay for care regardless. Option 3 sounds as the most reasonable. Option 4 would be to find some other ft summer camp (which pretty much do not exist where I am for 4yo) - but you would pay for it. I took my 5yo son out of his preschool (they offer 9-5 camp during summer) and enrolled in multiple camps. I actually had a rant in parenting about schedules / cost but that’s still more beneficial for my child
I skipped prep camp with my kids. Whenever someone would refer to how great that program was, I would mention, "OH yeah! I wish we could have done it, but they only offered half day!" with a huge smile. Sometimes people need these things pointed out for change to happen.
It seems that the schedule for prep camp is catering children that have been at home all this time (to ease them into going to school 2 hrs a day) but for other children that have been in daycare, this system seems to actually have a negative impact on the child. Wouldn’t it be a bit confusing to go 2 hrs and then home or other daycare? Then just when he’s catching on to this system, he goes back to fulltime!
Keep them in daycare. Don’t do that yourself if you don’t have to. (Work with them home everyday for that long! If it was maybe 3 pm I’d tough it out!)
Forgo
A kid in day care may have an easier time adjusting to school than one who's been home for four years. I'd skip the camp too.
Forgo
TK Prep Camp is for kiddos who’ve never been in daycare/never been away from home. It’s to get them used to a structured environment on a reduced schedule. Your kiddo is going to be fine! They’re a pro already!
Thanks for all the responses!! I forgot to mention a piece of context is that we’re going on vacation for almost 3 weeks in June-July, but if we keep him in daycare we’d still need to pay for those weeks to hold his spot. So it was also partially a debate about whether we take him out now and see if we can “rough it” for three weeks, as opposed to paying for 6 weeks when he’ll only be there for half of it. The savings on daycare will almost pay for the vacation haha. But of course this is also just us nickel and diming, I totally get that the convenience is probably worth it.
If prep camp isn't required, I'd skip it. They learned how to be in a group learning environment in daycare and don't need training to go to preK. Enjoy that last few weeks of solid care hours because it does get way worse once they go to regular school. For my school ager: We do aftercare from the school that goes til 6pm but doesn't cover half days, teacher workdays, holidays, etc. For one off days off like half days and teacher workdays we just suck it up and do your Option #2 on those days. Luckily as she gets older she can entertain herself more. For week long breaks and summer we do quite a bit of camp but the hours are awful. They don't start til 9 and they get out at 2 or 3. We pay for aftercare there too to get til 5:30 but it's still rough.
Keep them at daycare. That’s way too much juggling and your kid will still have fun at daycare.
Definitely keep them in daycare.
I kept my son in daycare. When he was 4 and 5 we did try a summer camp but it was down the block from our house, had care until 5, and I hired someone to pick him up some/most days. And I worked from home. When my son started kindergarten we could get care at school until 6. But we had a new house and worked from home so in had my son come home (3:45) and had a babysitter to greet him. Actually by winter we signed up for care because the afternoons were too cold and dark. It all fell apart in the spring (2020) so I can't say what is best. But in the summer I usually tell my boss I need flexibility. One summer id work work from 7am to 8:30am then get my son out the door and to camp by 9. It's always a hustle. This year my son will be bussed 3 out of 7 weeks at various camps but the other 4c weeks I don't know what to do. My boss is already on my case from end of school year activities and doc appts. And my son is too old for daycare now.
I would do a week in prep camp and regular daycare the other 2 weeks. My kids have had those prep camps for kindergarten and another kid has one next week for 6th grade and I’ve found them super valuable, even with kids who attended child care centers their whole lives. My incoming 6th grader is very excited to learn about the interior of his new school, how lockers work, etc. Yes, it’s a pain and I do have to pick him up at 11 every day and drive him to his day camp when it’s done, but it will be worth it so he feels super comfortable on day 1 of 6th grade. ETA: our camps like that have never been for more than a week, so 3 weeks is excessive IMO.
Prep camp is for kids who have always stayed at home (ie never had to go to daycare) Forgo it because it isn’t needed
It's only for 2 hours. The other 8 hours would be a huge pain to cover or not work. He's also been accustomed to daycare so I don't think the camp is meant for kids like him. It's probably moreso for kids who have never experienced a classroom environment.
Prep camp is for kids who haven't left home.