I am a teacher, and I am planning to go back to work in one year, when my son is almost 3. I have already enrolled him in a part time toddler Montessori school that offers a full day for kids the year they turn three. Early drop off is 7:30. The earliest early drop off I have found in other schools is 7:15. In the district I teach, high schools start at 7:20 am and K-8 schools start at 8:15. Since I am certified in 7-12, I could get assigned to either. Has anyone been in a situation where daycare or preschool didn't start early enough for you? What do people do in this situation?
You make friends with the other moms and ask one of the them if you can drop junior off at their house and they drive them both. So long as you can find ways to pay it back most are happy to do it.
Perhaps they drive to and you drive their kid home.
My neighbors paid me to watch their daughter for an hour in the morning and then take her to preschool.
Can your Husband drop off your child?
When does he start work?
You, can possibly apply for schools, elementary level. Since they seem to start later.
Or yes, get to know other Moms, who can drop off your child and/or pick him up.
The next thing you will have to think of is pick up time.
When is that versus when you would finish work? Or your Husband?
How late does the school end and what is the after care hours?
For the many parents I know who work, it is either the Wife or Husband that takes the child to school, whomever has the later work start time. And same for picking up their child.
OR, the Grandparents, do that duty. For both drop off and pick up.
OR, you find another school, for your child that has workable timelines per start/drop off times.
Also, is your child potty trained or not?
Some schools will not accept kids who are not.
But you have already enrolled your child into a school.
You could hire a babysitter and she/he could bring him to daycare for you or you could talk to one of the workers at the daycare and see if they would like this job.
My sisters neighbors (both HS teachers) pay her to take their elementary school kids to the bus in the morning.
The YMCA offers the same service. It's called Before School Care, and starts at 6am in our area.
((During my exhisband's weeks with our son he's up at 5am, in before school care at 6am, then after school care until 8pm)).
Schools offer early drop off, but it's generally only an hour before first bell. To go earlier, you're looking at the YMCA, church group, private, etc
Find a carpool - someone to drop off in the morning and you pick the kids up. It's that or you pay someone to do it. Hire a nanny or find another mom from school who lives close and offer to pay her for time and gas. Many SAHMs will jump at the chance to make a little spending money while being home with kids. Alternately, you find a different daycare situation. Many do have before and after care. Most preschoolers are only going 3-4 hours a day but often there are daycare options for before/after. You will just have to find a different school.
So, the preschool doesn't have before & after care, it just offers a full day program? Doesn't sound like it cares about working parents.
I would find another alternative that did have before & after care & more flexibility, personally.
find a commercial day care.. not a montessori.. we have kindercare and childtime and tutor time here.. they open early and stay open late... usually 6 am to 6 pm or 630 to 630..
Find a mother whose child attends who lives in the direction of the school you work at. Drop your child off at her house. Then reciprocate by picking up her child at the end of the day and dropping her child off at her house. You need her more than she needs you, but at least this is workable if she is willing to do it.
The school should be able to give you a fdew names of moms who fit the criteria.
Otherwise, you'll have to ask a neighbor to do it.
Good luck!
Dawn
Get to know the parents at your son's preschool.
When my daughter was four I took one of her classmates to school every morning because his mother needed to be at work earlier than the drop off. I didn't charge her anything because she brought him to my house fed and ready to go so it was no extra work for me (though I think if you find someone you SHOULD offer to pay them something.)
The only thing that could be tricky is the car seat situation. At the time I had a Volvo with those built in pop up booster seats and that was sufficient for a four year old (he was big.) But with a barely three year old you will probably need to deal with a full on car seat. Though I imagine if you find someone willing to take your son it would be worth it to have an extra car seat in her car.
Hmmmm... does the montessori have any kind of daycare for kids younger than 3 or is it just "preschool?" My son's preschools (he went to two different ones) both officially STARTED at 8:00, but the centers were open at 6:00 and 6:30 for daycare. Similarly, pre-school ended at noon, but the centers were open until 6 with more free-choice/playtime/activities.
Since you still have a year, you have time to figure this out... but you will either need someone ELSE to drop him off, or you'll need some other childcare option. Even if you start at 8:15, your report time will probably be more like 7:45 or 8:00, and unless the preschool is right next door, that doesn't leave you much of a window to get to work and get settled and ready for the day.
My thoughts would be either A) find a different preschool. One that is a full service daycare/ child development center as well so that they have longer hours. or B) Hook up with another mom and arrange to drop your son off with HER and pay her some small amount each week for keeping him the half hour and then taking him to school.
Good luck with this.
T.
Almost all child care facilities start by 7am and close around 6pm. I don't know of any child care facilities in my county that open later than 7am, some even open at 5 or 5:30am.
Find one that has the pre-scool program you are looking for that also has the hours you need.
You might try one at a local V-Tech where they teach child care to both high school students and adults who work in the field. They will be open school hours.
I would check with your local park district to see if they have any extended care programs available. Ours does. The kids come early, and then the park district busses them to their school for the day.
You could also check to see if another parent at the school might be able to watch him for that time, and then to drive him to school. If not another parent, perhaps you could get a neighbor, sitter, etc.
