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I am a full time working mother with a toddler who will enter school in 2017.
I have the option of:
1) sending her to after-school care until 6pm or
2) hiring a nanny who will pick her up at 3pm and stay home with her, help her with homework or drive her to any other activities if needed until I come home at 6pm.
The 2nd option is 1.5-2x more expensive than the 1st option but I can afford it and I am willing to do it if it's best for my daughter.
However, I'd like to know from you all what are the pros and cons of each. I've not had a child in school, so there must be things I have not considered. My daughter goes to daycare/pre-school now and I pick her up at 6pm. My gut feeling is that I don't want this to go on forever, that's why I am considering going the nanny option. But I want to think through why. Would it be bad for her to be at after-school care with friends vs staying at home with a nanny? Is there anything I need to consider?
My kids were in preschool/daycare as well until 5pm until they started Kindergarten a couple of years ago. The difference between her having someone to help her with her homework at home and maybe not getting to it at after school and having to come to do it could be huge.
She will get to do extracurriculars and you won't have to rush to get her, feed her and to the activity.
Does she have friends in the neighborhood? She could still play with her friends after school if you did go the nanny route.
It's a long day. I think it's different then daycare/preschool. They are learning much more and having to sit much more in school VS daycare.
My kids were in preschool/daycare as well until 5pm until they started Kindergarten a couple of years ago. The difference between her having someone to help her with her homework at home and maybe not getting to it at after school and having to come to do it could be huge.
She will get to do extracurriculars and you won't have to rush to get her, feed her and to the activity.
Does she have friends in the neighborhood? She could still play with her friends after school if you did go the nanny route.
It's a long day. I think it's different then daycare/preschool. They are learning much more and having to sit much more in school VS daycare.
My son did the afterschool program. It was nice that he could easily do the school-based afterschool activities, and also, they took to kids to the basketball and other games that were held at the school, and he enjoyed going to those. They had an hour of playground time every day, and I think that was more fun with a bigger group of kids than it would be for a nanny to watch him playing by himself.
I never had a nanny (not in my budget and it would have been a lot more than 1.5 or 2x the cost where I am) so I can't compare directly, but the afterschool program worked very well for us.
My kids were in preschool/daycare as well until 5pm until they started Kindergarten a couple of years ago. The difference between her having someone to help her with her homework at home and maybe not getting to it at after school and having to come to do it could be huge.
She will get to do extracurriculars and you won't have to rush to get her, feed her and to the activity.
Does she have friends in the neighborhood? She could still play with her friends after school if you did go the nanny route.
It's a long day. I think it's different then daycare/preschool. They are learning much more and having to sit much more in school VS daycare.
My son's friends had a nanny last school year. They played together all the time after school. It wasn't just with my kids either. They played at my house and at their house.
Aftercare pros - no transportation worries. They just stay at the school. They are with their school friends, playing and doing structured activities. They usually cover school breaks and teacher work days with an all-day program. There are lots of people around, so I worry less about a child being abused in a group situation. They are always open and available. Cons - There is a huge difference between a 5 year old and a 12 year old, and they will all be together in the program. Older kids can use adult language and expose younger kids to things you might not want. Younger kids can get picked on. They can't take the kid to after school activities.
Nanny pros - They can basically do what you would do if you were home - help with homework, drive to activities. They might be able to watch the child if she's sick. After care won't do that. Cons - accountability. I worry about having an adult or teen I don't really know alone with my kid, or driving my kid. You are at the mercy of their schedules/whims. The nanny could quit on you with no or little notice. Her school schedule could change. She could get sick.
If your child doesn't have after school activities, I'd probably use the after care program. If she does, and that's important to you, I'd go with a nanny.
We have never used a nanny. My kids have been in an after school program since 1st and 3rd grades. Getting them to practice was really difficult, but my husband had some flexibility with that, so we managed. As they get older, practices become more frequent. Getting off early one day/week is easier than 3 days/week.
My kids did after school care for a few years (pre-k through 1st/3rd grade) while I was still working and they loved it. They got lots of exercise and play time with their friends. They also had homework time which was nice because the teachers assistants were the after care workers. To me, time with their friends running around on the playground was all the extra curricular activities I felt they needed at that age. When we did sports, it was on the weekends.
But you have to look closely at the program. We have done it at 3 different schools. 2 were good...lots of free time/play time. One was terrible. They fed them junk food for snacks and then parked them in front of a movie almost every single day. So I think its important to really dig in and find out how they will be spending their time. Another thing to look into, many schools offer extra classes (for a fee) in the after school times. My kids have done music, dance, tutoring, lego robotics classes in their after care. Thats a nice bonus.
That said, if I was to need after care now, I would need to hire a nanny. They are in 2nd and 4th. Now they have after school tutoring across town, lessons, etc. They also have more homework. And if I was working until 6 or so, I would really want someone to get dinner going, even if it was just for the kids. There just seems to be not enough time. I mean, they go to bed at 8pm. It would be really hard to get all the homework done and them fed, bathed, etc in those 2 hours.
I don't think there is one perfect way, both have positives and negatives. You just have to figure out what works best for you guys.
Aftercare pros - no transportation worries. They just stay at the school. They are with their school friends, playing and doing structured activities. They usually cover school breaks and teacher work days with an all-day program. There are lots of people around, so I worry less about a child being abused in a group situation. They are always open and available. Cons - There is a huge difference between a 5 year old and a 12 year old, and they will all be together in the program. Older kids can use adult language and expose younger kids to things you might not want. Younger kids can get picked on. They can't take the kid to after school activities.
Nanny pros - They can basically do what you would do if you were home - help with homework, drive to activities. They might be able to watch the child if she's sick. After care won't do that. Cons - accountability. I worry about having an adult or teen I don't really know alone with my kid, or driving my kid. You are at the mercy of their schedules/whims. The nanny could quit on you with no or little notice. Her school schedule could change. She could get sick.
If your child doesn't have after school activities, I'd probably use the after care program. If she does, and that's important to you, I'd go with a nanny.
I've never seen an after school program that didn't keep the kids apart by age group. If that were the case, I wouldn't use it. So that is something to look into, OP.
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