Why Choose a 5 Day Early Childhood Program?

Choosing an early childhood program for your child can seem daunting and amongst those decisions you need to make is how many days to enroll. If your work schedule doesn’t require 5 days, why would you want to sign up for a full week program? Turns out there are some very good reasons:

1. 5 Days of care minmizes exposure. Having adapted to life with COVID, parents now have a greater understanding of the value of limiting the amount of people their child is exposed to. Programs that encourage a five day a week program are doing so to minimize exposure to their students, their families, and their teachers. Compare a classroom with a capacity of 10 children attending 5 days a week, to one with children attending 2, 3, 4 or 5 days. Your child may be sharing space with either 10 children or, over the course of a week, as many as 20 children. Five days is the safest choice!
2. Consistency of care offers the best possible bonding experience between the teacher, child and parents. Building a trusting, warm bond between your child and their teachers is vital to early childhood development.  More consistent days means less difficult drop offs, close communication between parents and the classroom team, and the opportunity for the teacher to get to know your child and their development very well. It also means your child will always have the same group of friends with them, no worries about who comes on what days.
3. Professional teachers value having the children attend more days. Five-day schedules not only allow teachers to build the best relationship with the child and their family, but it ensures they can offer the best data on their continuing progress on developmental goals. Planning curriculum is also richer as they can build upon skills day-to-day rather than needing to plan activities to repeat throughout the week to meet all children’s different schedules. Highly qualified teachers prefer to work in a school where families attend on a 5 day schedule. When the best teachers choose to work at a program, a required 5-day schedule can be a deciding factor!
4. Peace-of-mind for Parents. While a family may not need 5-day care to start, work and home schedules often change. A five-day program ensures that you are covered for whatever comes your way. You know your child always has a place each and every day, no matter what you need to take care of!
5. Community for Children & Families. Busy working families have a lot in common with other busy working families. Parents of children in a 5-day program can build stronger relationships with other parents who share this same schedule. And no one misses out on an outside playdate as all are enrolled 5-days a week.Many, many families continue the family and child friendships long past preschool days!
6. No FOMO! At times schools bring in specialists or have exciting activities or events. Many of these visiting specialists or field trips locations have tight scheduling parameters so only certain days will work. Having your child attend all five days, means they would never miss out on anything!
7. Less Child & Family Turnover. Experience shows that families who choose five days of care have significantly less turnover. This means more consistency for your child and less transition over time.

If you have a choice, a 5 day a week program can offer solid benefits to you and your child the best possible option. Thinking about a dedicated 5-day a week program? Consider the Tobin Children’s School or The Tobin School in Natick. Our licensed, NAEYC-accredited full-year, full-day classrooms for infants up to PreK could be the perfect fit for you and your family. Contact Lori Davis for more information.