Government can provide daycare any cheaper then private daycare – in fact, it will probably cost more, because of the extra costs required to administer it. Trade union, like teacher unions, will then emerge at government daycare centers, which will force costs up even higher as they have done at public schools. Of course, this will all be justified by a requirement for child care degrees, which will help keep down the number of people providing daycare and rationalize the need for higher wages. There is no doubt that cheap but good daycare would be nice to have. It used to be that mothers stayed at home to provide ‘free’ daycare for their own children. This service is considered to be ineligible for payment when you take care of your own children, but not if you take care of another’s!
Given that people may wish to work outside the home, they should pay for their own children’s upbringing for that 5 year period before our professional childcare jobs -um- schools take over. Given that some people want to take care of their own children, or may not see the benefit of working outside the home given the amount daycare will then cost them. What this would mean is that many more people who may want to stay at home during their children’s’ developing years can afford to do so, with their contributions acknowledged with an income. This alone would free up more daycare slots for other children whose parent(s) are working.
First of all, daycare *is* education. The first five years — in fact, the first N years, for any small N — are the most important learning years. We traditionally used mothers to provide this education, and we should try to keep that option open for those who want it, perhaps by paying mothers but more likely (since paying people to do women’s work is a pretty radical idea) by providing tax breaks of some kind. But many mothers need to work, and many more want to. If it’s just “want to”, then I see nothing wrong with the present arrangement, namely a tax deduction for the partner with the smaller income; this is my situation, and though it’s expensive as hell (let the Minister of Revenue look for daycare at $2000/year, the maximum deduction per child!) it’s basically not unfair.
If preschool is a necessity in getting a child ready for kindergarten? As someone who sent her kids to preschool really early, and believes firmly that a good preschool is a Good Thing…no, they are *not* necessary. If you are teaching her stuff already, and you have play arrangements for her to meet other kids frequently (preferably the same kids so that friendships develop), she’ll be as well off as her preschooler peers. About the only thing she would have no experience of is a class-room setting and taking directions from non-Mom; but then if you enroll her in just about any class or group activity, you can. There are also many childcare jobs available.
In Maryland, the childcare jobs salary varied, depending on the applicant’s education and experience as well as the location and company. If one was teaching in the public schools, the starting salary was about $9-10 per hour. If one was in the private, daycare sector, the starting salary was about $7-9 per hour. If the applicant had an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, the salary was slightly — and I stress slightly — higher. Benefits ranged from full medical dental via salary deduction and vacation, usually 5-12 days per year. Daycare reduction varied from place to place, position to position. For example, my former daycare center offered daycare at half-price for preschool and up, but at 3/4 price for twos, toddlers, and infants. Some chain places give free day care for one child, if the applicant is going to be the director or in a senior-level position. Most just offer a discount.
The time to tell you that your child may not go on a field trip because he misbehaved on the last one is immediately after the last one. It is absolutely inexcusable for them to tell you on the day of the trip, unless it is based on his behavior that day. I’m afraid I don’t have any suggestions s to what you can do about it; I think I’d probably tell him that I thought they were being unfair (unless you think this would cause worse problems in his behavior at school), and take him by himself or with a friend to the place they were going on the field trip.
In 21st century India, spaces at even ordinary preschools are far fewer than the demand. But now a child would have to take an exam to get into a neighborhood preschool. Many parents were sending their children to rigorous cram schools. The tots were memorizing poetry and learning the proper way to walk, all to prepare for the preschool tests. a child of small age should not be bothered with all this. It’s useless information they expect them to learn, and it’s harmful for the child to undergo this stress. And if a child is supposed to know everything, then why are we sending her to school? There is a high demand of preschools than childcare jobs.
Since the investment in good child care pays big dividends in reduced costs for prisons and greater income to municipalities, school boards, states and the federal government. All levels should contribute to the cost; it is in everyone’s best interest, Guillermo. At the same time, I fear relying too much on government for social services. Through our own negligence–or worse–we have allowed the government(s) to replace charity with welfare, and I’m not convinced that government is doing a very good job of it. In fact, quite the contrary: government services are much more effective at buying the votes of recipients, government employees, and kind-hearted people than they are at actually helping the needy. But the principle of subsidiary–that large, impersonal organizations should not do the childcare jobs that smaller, more human agencies can do better–carries a lot of weight.
Childcare jobs shouldn’t have to “haggle” for a salary she is MORE than worth. You have the money; She needs it, stop being so damn stingy. If you can’t stay home and take care of your child yourself, and you’ve found someone who CAN and Does – Well, I assume – then you should compensate her accordingly. Yes, women who get into this line of work do so because they love children, or they’re good at being a nanny, they bring all kinds of good things to the table, etc… But they ALSO need the $$$$! They are not just doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.
My sister went to Colorado(from Texas) with a family when she was just a little bit younger than that. I think that they just paid her expenses (all of them except spending money). I tend to think that you should pay all her expenses and, if you can afford it, pay her something during the times when she really is babysitting when you go out. She is going to lose out on childcare jobs while she is away from home. It worked out well for my sister. She said that most of the time she was just a member of the family, like an older sister. She and the adults worked together to take care of the kids and had lots of fun. She was only expected to take total care of the kids once in a while – at nap time for example (the adults would go to the pool or shopping) and once in a while in the evening.
