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Usually the difference is price, time and program certifications.

The schools our kids go to is more like a daycare/preschool. For the younger ages it's more daycare and a lot of play and fun crafts all day long. Then as you get to the older 3+ classes (like the one N's in), they do more academic focused things like she's learning about the solar system and fossils/dinosaurs right now, and they also work on reading/writing, etc. So ours is kind of both! I would consider J in daycare and N in preschool even though they go to the same place.

I worked at a preschool, everyone had to have at least a bachelor's degree as well as experience. I suppose it differs, but that was the top preschool where I worked- it was an actual school with a curriculum and 4 year old kindergarten. Also, what @looch: said. Truthfully I don't know that much about daycare...

@Mrs. High Heels: Ours sounds just like yours, and I consider it "preschool", although it's a daycare-preschool. Also, like @Greentea mentioned about education, all of our primary room teachers must have at least a BA, which to me makes it more school-like too, and they have a weekly curriculum.

It's definitely hours, for one. Daycare-preschool has long hours and is year round. Solely preschool is either just half day or ends earlier like grade school, around 3 pm. They follow the school calender for openings/closings.

In our case, we switched from daycare-preschool at 3 to a solely preschool (Montessori). My daughter really needed something more than play based daycare by that age.

Where we live, people use the term interchangeably. DD has technically been going to preschool but the common name for it is dagis (roughly translated to daycare). But the curriculum is closer to a preschool, especially for 3+ yr olds since they add a compulsory add-on (more structured lessons for a portion of the day). But it happens automatically so her schedule doesn't technically change from our point-of-view. I think if your daycare works and your LO likes it, that's most important.

IMO, it's the hours that really make the difference. Most daycares (with the exception of in-home ones, likely) have some sort of curriculum that has started by 2 or 3. But, for me, the expectation is that a daycare would have full-time care: 5 days a week, 7a-5p or later, year-round. Preschools are more typically a morning, afternoon, or school-day (830-330) session, often have 2- or 3-day a week schedules, and follow the school calendar. That being said, some preschools also have before- or after-care to help extend the hours...but not all.

So I would say that a daycare very often functions as a preschool for the older kids, but a preschool doesn't always function as a (full-time) daycare.

daycare here is from 8-6pm. many people switch to a preschool at 3, which is what we did for olive. the hours are shorter, they're closed for the summer, and follow the public school calendar.

it is definitely more academic focused than our daycare was, and i'm glad we made the switch.

@sunny: it's not necessarily academic-focused so much as our daycare was mixed ages and free play. it was a very small daycare with limited resources and now we're at a much larger preschool with more resources. i loved our daycare because it was so loving, and small and that's what kids need at that age.

for the most part they play most of the day at olive's preschool, but they incorporate thinks like science (growing a plant, caterpillars, etc) and writing/math into their art, and generally have a much broader range of things they do.

3's programs are still pretty much play-based, which it should be!

@regberadaisy: I know this is slightly off-topic, but whoa, hold up. Daycares (and/or preschools) require their teachers to have master's degrees? That's insane. I wouldn't hold a degree of any sort against anyone if they went to get it based on their own interests and motivations--sometimes it's good for people to decide to change careers/jobs--but I definitely don't think it should be a job requirement. That would exclude way too many people who would be excellent caregivers, or force a lot of people to go get completely unnecessary degrees.

@honeybear: that is a requirement for all lead teachers at every preschool we toured. I don't think it's unreasonable, considering that these are private (and expensive) preschools, and parents want to ensure that their kids are properly prepared for school, and that the hours they spend there will be properly enriching.

@regberadaisy: yes, mostly SAHMs. I see nannies and grandparents for those that have two working parents.

@honeybear: that is a requirement for the lead teachers. All other teacher either hold a bachelors or working towards their bachelors in education. These were the more expensive and education focused day cares. Ones where the wait list is almost a year!

At my daycare, though the teachers are loving and I know LO is cared for, lead teachers have a bachelor or working towards one. And a lot of times fillers aren't even in education major. They just have prior experience and/or good with kids. I definitely notice the difference because at the filler teacher level there is a huge turn over.

@hilsy85: @regberadaisy: I understand that a master's degree in education is a requirement. My point is that it is a very silly one that is premised on marketing. In that respect, it appears to be working. I completely agree that teachers should be qualified to teach, I just don't accept that a master's in education is any guarantee of competence. The fact that this is the "industry standard" doesn't mean that we have to accept it uncritically.

@honeybear: in my state, Colorado, to be a lead teacher (or even a "filler" teacher) you need to meet a whole host of requirements. You need classes specific to child-care & an exorbitant amount of contact hours before you're qualified to be alone with a group of children. That's for every center, daycare, preschool, etc. I think it's a good thing; it assures that a 17 year old kid, no matter how sweet & loving, isn't left totally in charge. I don't think master's degrees are unnecessary, especially for true preschool classrooms meant to prepare a child for kinder; preschool takes a lot of skill & knowledge!

ETA: why would a person who took the time, financial burden, and effort to get higher education and then deliberatly choose the low-paying position of preschool be assumed to not be competent? Not trying to be snarky, I'm genuinely wondering what else would make a teacher more competent than other.