child care/daycare for 2.5 year old (Glen Allen: low income, credit, day care)

[beene]

Hello all,

I am looking for child care/ daycare for 2.5 year old in Glen Allen area (zip 23060). I would appreciate a lists of good and affordable care facilities. Also, what are difference between regular child care and church child care? My understanding is I need to wait until my kid is 5 year old to send to Pre-K. Are there schools where early learning starts before or at 3?

Thanks,

[novanwbie]

You should check out the Virginia Social Services Child Care listing on line -- it's the easiest way to get a complete list of licensed day care programs. In VA, kindergarten starts at 5, not pre-K. Many schools have pre-K or headstart available for low income or special needs students as young as three who will benefit from early intervention. You can choose to enroll your child in a private pre-K program that has an academic focus; many of these are at day care centers, like Goddard or Primrose. Most of the larger facilities provide an excellent educational foundation for kindergarten, regardless of whether they call it pre-K or not.

Church programs are not required to be licensed in VA, but you'll find some opt to be monitored, either for accreditation purposes or to assure clients of their high standards. Church programs are typically preschool, and may start from 2-3 years old. they usually require kids to be out of diapers, but some don't. Preschool is often half-day, or three days a week, building up to a full day. Some of the larger programs offer full day, or after care. I don't know much about the actual programs in the area, but both the Methodist and Presbyterian denominations have made strong commitments to early childhood education and typically have excellent programs.