Many parents ponder this question when looking to enrol their child in the early years. There are a couple of differences to consider.

A Preschool is different from a Daycare, as a Preschool is an early childhood education centre and a Daycare is a childcare facility.

Preschools have children aged 2.5 to 5 years of age. Daycares have as young as 6months old to 12 years of age.

Preschools have set classes a week, that run 2-4 hours and are not open on weekends or holidays. Daycares are generally open everyday, 6-8 hours a day.

In both, each day is set up with a consistent routine, and the activities presented, are designed to challenge the children developmental growth for their age group.

In a preschool, the ECE(Early Childhood Educator) will access each childs abilities when doing these daily activities, and can then assess if then child is developing on a consistent basis for their age group. The teachers are then focused on nurturing the childs developmental milestones, their social interaction and behaviours, providing the child with life skills, as they start to experience and explore the world around them, outside of their family units.

In a preschool, if your child seems to be developing at a slower rate, or you just have a feeling about something, a preschool can also provide you with knowledge to aid your parenting, to help and understand your child, and also get you the help you need from other professionals, to ensure your child has the best chance at education in the future, when they enter in the the k-12 school system.