I think that depends on the state of public schools and what the private ones ahve to offer. I would pay 4-5 thousand a year to have my child in the german immersion pre-school here (they spend half the day speaking german, half english) Question is could we afford that? (Luckily that school is free to attend here :) )

No matter the quality you have to go with what fits your budget as a parent. A good education means nothing if your dinner plate is empty.

hmm for india am ready to pay 20k per year

Finding a preschool that is best for your child involves looking at the quality of a particular preschool program. Depending on what area that you live in, public schools can offer free or even less costly programs that will give your child a jump start to learning what they need to know for Kindergarten. On the other hand, private preschools also offer a variety of programs that may assist in teaching basic educational skills, but also can provide additional curriculum that will teach other non-conventional subjects such as music, arts and foreign languages. First, find out what you want the preschool program to accomplish for your child. Second, with knowing you and your child's needs, find a school that will assist your child with perusing those accomplishments. Third, make sure to do some legwork and take a tour of different preschools and interview the directors and teachers to see how their program and fit with your child's needs. With those factors, this should give you the ability to make the decision based on the needs of your child and what you can afford.

it depends on its ratings where its located and the teachers my son went to one for 3 days i thought it was great then they got shut down for abusing childen thank god my son wasent harmed but you cant judge just on the look and first impressions! i suggest doing a back ground cheak on the teachers and make sure they have camras

My older son grew up on a military base where preschool along with other educational programs were always free. My younger son attended preschool last year, but for $ 100/month he was only able to go twice a week for 2 hours/day. Sure, $ 100 may not seem like a lot, but he learned virtually nothing and the time spent at school was too short. He ended up being disappointed everyday when it was time to come home, as he wanted to spend more time learning and interacting with his friends at school. (My 5-year old is a very curious boy eager to learn about his little world, so he actually enjoys school). He was also upset that he was not able to go to school daily but rather only during Tuesdays and Thursdays. I understand that the school wants to ease young children into a school schedule and not overly exhaust them by letting them attend class for too long too soon, however, I think a half-day preschool, five days a week in a public school is definitely doable, since many children spend most of their time in daycare anyways from very little on. It can only be beneficial for the child and make them more independent when they become early learners within a school setting. And most children become accustomed to this new schedule very quickly. Should public preschools charge for providing education to young students? I think not, because once you start charging for education you are discriminating between children whose families are financially sound and those whose families are not doing so well and may not have the extra money to spend for preschool but would want their child to receive a similar education as a child whose parents make $90,000+/year. Unfortunately, some school districts have had their funding severely cut and have to rely on parents paying for their children’s early school years in order to retain the teachers at those grade levels. Our schools here also charge for Kindergarten if you want your child to go full-day. Otherwise you can send him full-day, every other day for free. Once again, I don’t think that’s enough time to prepare him for first grade and get him used to the routines and schedule of the school.

I based it upon if the cost is going to be greater than the financial gain of being away to work instead of being there to watch the kid myself.

On a couple of occasions, it was a dilemma, because I couldn't afford to not be working the extra time.

In once case I got lucky... a neighbor had hired a nanny to watch his own kids, of which he had five, and so in exchange for a few favors he let me park my kid with his while I was working.

For the other, I was renting some office space, and there was a room in the back that was being used for storage, so I cleaned it up, stuck in a small fridge, a book shelf, a sofa, a small desk, a radio, and a TV with VCR. I went to the second hand book shops and loaded up on stuff for him to read, then to a stationary store and got writing and drawing material, and then to a second hand video outlet and loaded up on stuff for him to watch, plus I stuffed the fridge full of healthy munchies.

He couldn't get out of the room without walking past my desk, so I didn't have to worry about him escaping, plus it was kinda neat being able to do lunch together, and I told him he could only come out and bug me while I was working if he could pretend he was a grownup and could imitate how he saw the other adults in the office acting.

That went okay for awhile... but he'd get fidgety, so I put in one of those mini-trampolines, but then he started getting an itch to "go out and play", however I noticed that started after he'd seen every video, and I knew the building had cable, so I patched in and let the TV babysit him.

Before long one of the building caretakers, a guy from Vietnam, noticed, and asked if he could drop his kid in there too, which was no problem. As long as there was just two of them it didn't seem to be an issue... plus the Vietnamese kid was kinda shy and extremely well behaved. Then some others noticed, and started using it as a drop-off center for when they were downtown and wanted to go shopping, and all of a sudden there were problems with fights and the space being too small... he didn't really need that much supervision until there were other too many other kids around.

By that time, however, he was in the first grade, and I'd worked my income up to the point where I could afford the cost of after-school daycare.

None of this is really helping you with your question, is it?

Sorry... it's just that I find it kind of annoying that I had to worry about *paying* for having a kid watched when as a kid myself I'd just cross the street and run a few doors down and hang out at my gramma's while mom was working and dad was in school - in fact, I liked breakfast at my gramms'a place better, because she really knew how to make waffles right, and my parents always seemed so rushed in the morning - and I still think it shouldn't be *that* much of an issue for workplaces to get organized enough for there to be some space to hold the kids while I'm working. It really didn't affect my productivity at all to have the kid run out periodically to show me a drawing, and nobody else in the office gave a hoot as long as he behaved himself and never got in the way... and... sorry... I'm ranting...

... I liked it better when families stayed extended with lots of aunts and uncles and grandparents, or when couples could survive on one income, but it's nuts to think that a single parent or both parents working are supposed to have kids without an extended family. I mean, come on... those grammas and great aunts are older and way more experienced with how to deal with a small child anyway... and... hmm... this just gave me an idea...

Given that old retired people don't really like to sit at home alone...

What if you've got a retired mom who doesn't want to go into a retirement home, and is still basically sentient and healthy enough to get around, but maybe needs a bit of help for things like getting in and out of a chair... but otherwise is mentally quite alright...

What if a daycare facility was set up where you could drop off both kids *and* retired people to spend the day together... with just young nanny-types there to help out with the simple, dumb things.

That would be way cheaper, because young nanny caregivers don't cost too much if they're not expected to do anything mentally challenging - where they're just there to handle requests to do errands and some heavy lifting - and I bet the kids would get way better supervision from retirees than from any diploma'd Montessori (not that I have anything against Montessori... but each one is very different, and... you know what I mean), and I bet the elders would find life a lot happier doing something like that than sitting at home alone while their son or daughter is away working.

Hmm... the kids get supervision from seasoned veterans of childhood behavior, the seniors who want to be sociable and feel useful don't have to sit at home alone, and overall is *should* be cheaper!

Hmm...

I know this isn't answering your question directly, but... (and tell me if this was out of line)....

I read an article and I can't for the life of me remember who wrote it or where it was or else I'd cite it for you, but the gist of the article was that for many two-parent families, the cost of child care, schooling, clothing for work, lunches, transportation and the stress and time for travel between all of these could be calculated and that one of the incomes could 'stop', stay home with the kid, take up a part-time job in the home, and actually SAVE money by NOT working.

Think about this:

Childcare - $500
Gasoline - $200
Lunches - $100 (I think that's conservative)
Clothing - ?
Wear and tear on car - ?
Wear and tear on you - ?
Lunches, clothing, expenses for the child @ school - ?

Even if all those other things with ? combined = 1-200 bucks more, you're looking at a minimum of about 9-1000 bucks per month, JUST for going to work.

If you make less then 2k per month take home, and you could work freelancing at home like I do, you would SAVE the 1k per month in child care, be home with your kid and could make income on the side to supplement and probably break even or come out ahead.

So to try to make it answer your question: when childcare become expensive enough that this option I've outlined above is true, you're paying too much for childcare.

(PS: I am 'assuming' the part about the two-income family - this does work with just one income for some people too - it did for me. My 'assumption' is that you NEED to put your child in preschool rather than 'wanting' to do so.)

50 $ a day??? 250 a week. No holidays or breaks. We have excellent public schools here outside of Portland Oregon, but our montesorri schools that are pre k generally run in this range.

I personally think anything over 200 per week is too much.

If I had the money I'd pay as much as the best school cost. Education and where one goes to school directly affects a person's future, their opportunities, who they become, who they associate with, where they work. It might seem that preschool is a minor part of education but I'm assuming if a family can afford a decent preschool, they'd also be able to afford the best elementary, highschool and colleges.

Maybe that's just me, but if I could afford better schools or more expensive ones, I'd definitely choose them over public and less expensive.

If you are a husband/father, then the answer to this is simple: You'll pay as much as your wife tells you to. Trust me...been down that road!

I pay $350 per month for two and I find that to be a rip-off.

Used to pay twice as much, bot luckily the government decided to encourage (i) foks to have more children and (ii) higher day care and pre-school enrolment. So they stoped charging for all additional children.

And before you ask. I DO NOT live in the US which is not all that bad overall.