Daycares in wasilla ak: Bright Minds Learning Center LLC

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many daycares are there in Wasilla?

There are 36 daycares in Wasilla, based on CareLuLu data. This includes 23 home-based programs and 13 centers.

How much does daycare cost in Wasilla?

The cost of daycare in Wasilla is $741 per month. This is the average price for full-time, based on CareLuLu data, including homes and centers.

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Kindergartens in France: how it works

Historians give France the title of creator of preschool education. Europulse figured out how kindergartens are arranged in modern France.

In 2019, France passed an education reform that shifted the start of compulsory education from six to three years of age. Now, from 3 to 16 years old, children are required to study, and homeschooling is allowed in rare cases and is associated, as a rule, with the child’s health.

In about half of the EU countries, compulsory education starts before school. Usually the last year of kindergarten is obligatory, that is, studies begin at the age of 5. Compulsory education from the age of 3 exists only in France and Hungary (as of 2023). Compulsory education has been getting younger since the beginning of the 21st century. In 2023, in 18 of the 27 EU countries, compulsory education starts with kindergarten. And ten years ago there were only 9 such countries

What and why do they study in kindergarten

One of the main reasons for this step in France is the need to integrate children from other cultures into society: in particular, people from Africa, who are not always fluent in French by the beginning of school. The other is the ever-increasing demands on young professionals and the need to master a lot during their school years. It is believed that by starting to teach children earlier, you can achieve better academic results.

Kindergarten was the first compulsory stage of education, at the end of which the child should be able to express his thoughts in French, control his body and have an idea of ​​his physical abilities, understand his place in space and time, as well as know numbers and understand the concept of number and accounts.

Toddlers aged 3-6 go to kindergarten 5 days a week. It may be a private garden, but public gardens are much more popular. Until 2019, there was another alternative – jardin d’enfance, where children from 2 to 6 years old were accepted, but since 2019 they have not been enrolled, and in 2023-2024 the last graduates will leave these institutions.

The modern system of kindergartens in France was formed by the beginning of the 20th century. By that time, the country already had quite a few state maternal schools for the children of low-income residents, created on the basis of shelters – this is how the state helped families (primarily women) to work and leave their children in a safe place.

The development of kindergarten programs is associated with the name of Pauline Kergomar, who lived in the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries. She emphasized learning through play rather than at desks; the development of not only the so-called elementary knowledge (counting, reading and writing), but also everyday skills and aesthetic taste. It is thanks to Kergomar that modern French educators are obliged to study music and musical notation: a significant part of communication with children goes through songs, dances and playing instruments.

In addition, Kergomar believed that preschools and schools should work closely with parents to make the transition from the family world to the social world for children as smooth as possible.

In fact, French children are introduced to the education system long before the age of 3. Compulsory parental leave in France is small by Russian standards, 16 weeks. It can be extended up to a year with the preservation of the job, but without a salary, and the payments due in this case are small (it is assumed that the second parent almost completely provides for the family). But employers have the right to refuse employees. As a result, many young mothers in France return to work after 4–9months after the birth of a new family member.

In France, 42% of children under 3 years old spend time in a nursery or with nannies. The rest are looked after either by parents or other relatives.

“I wish I could stay longer with Caroline,” says Lyubov, an accountant in Menton, southern France, and mother of two-year-old Caroline. But my employer didn’t like it. Coincidentally, we had several women on maternity leave at the same time. And I went to work when Caroline was 5 months old.

Nurseries , private mini-kindergartens and nannies

Therefore, in modern France, the state offers assistance in caring for children from the age of two months: there are public nurseries (crèche), mini-kindergartens (garderies) and nannies (assistants maternels ), the costs of which are partially reimbursed by the state.

Expectant parents are helped to understand this system even before the birth of the child. Municipalities organize seminars for pregnant women and their partners, where they talk, among other things, about the possibilities of combining work and parental responsibilities.

Future parents will find out what are the conditions, pros and cons of each of the three main options: public nurseries, private mini-kindergartens and nannies.

The most desirable option is the public nursery. They work 5 days a week and are completely free, while the qualifications of specialists and the conditions for children are excellent there. There are different groups in the nursery: for very young children and for those who are already walking and starting to talk.

— In our group, there are children from a little over a year to three, about 20 people in total. Next year, Karolina will remain in the nursery, and part of her group will go to kindergarten, and new kids will be recruited in their place, explains Lyubov.

There are strict requirements for staff – specialized education – and standards: no more than five children who cannot walk, and no more than eight “runners” per teacher. When a new child comes to the nursery, he is assigned to the teacher, who becomes his “acting mother” for him. She also keeps in touch with her parents.

There are fewer places in nurseries than there are applicants – according to official data, nurseries cover only 50-60% of the demand. Therefore, as soon as a new family member is born, the parents put him in line in the nursery, and at the same time calculate the chances of getting a place and prepare a plan “B”.

“Who gets a place in the nursery is decided by the civil committee,” Lyubov says. The position in the queue mainly depends on the age of the child and the income of the family – those who can afford other options get a place later. Medical workers, firefighters and representatives of other socially significant professions, regardless of income, also have priority.

— We got a place in the nursery when Karolina was a year and three months old, and I started working when she was 5 months old, continues Lyubov. – While there was no place in the manger, we had a nanny. We were very lucky because our nanny-assistant only resumed work after the quarantine. Usually their queue is also scheduled for 3 years in advance. Often families with a second or third child try to get to “their” nanny and conclude contracts with her in advance.

Babysitters and mini-kindergartens are a common alternative to nurseries. Both are paid services, but the state partially reimburses parents for the costs. The exact amount is calculated based on the income level of the family.

The difference between babysitting services and a mini-kindergarten is that the nanny takes care of the child at the family’s home, while the mini-kindergarten is usually located at the nanny’s home and accepts from one to three wards.

The schedule here is much more flexible than in the nursery: you can, for example, leave the child for a couple of hours on Monday and for the whole day on Thursday, and the rest of the days you can “truant” with peace of mind.

“When Karolina first went to the nursery, she was often sick, and we left her at home without a doctor’s note,” Lyubov recalls. – But it is inconvenient for educators, and accountability is violated. They need to understand, for example, how many servings to order the next day (both in the nursery and in kindergarten, children have lunch and afternoon snack. – Approx. “Europulse”). Vacation must also be announced in advance.

However, even in the nursery there is room for flexibility. It is still difficult for Carolina to spend the whole day away from home for five days in a row. Therefore, the Lyubov family organized their schedule.

— We go to nursery on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, the husband stays at home with his daughter. And Thursday and Friday are back in the nursery,” she says. But since this schedule is predictable, caregivers don’t mind.

What children and parents are taught in the nursery

The nursery tries to work closely with parents so that the child does not form two separate “worlds”, but one common one. For example, Carolina’s nursery organizes themed weeks and invites parents to joint workshops.

— We had a Christmas week in December, and parents were invited to make Christmas decorations together with their child, — recalls Lyubov. – Then the children hung these toys on a Christmas tree in the garden, and after the holiday they took them home.

In addition, over the course of a few months, the crèche held a reading week, for which parents were asked to bring a book to the group, a “sustainability” week, when educators offered to bring recyclable materials for crafts – cardboard, plastic bottles, and so on. There was also a week of taste, a week of carnival and a week of pop art.

— The nursery has recently launched its own website, where they post a schedule of activities for the week, — says Lyubov. – There you can also learn more about the topic and what exactly the children will do.

During waking hours several parallel activities are organized in the group. In one corner you can sing songs, in another you can get acquainted with kitchen utensils, in the third they read a book. And in the middle of the space there is a slide and a hammock where you can climb.

At the same time, children (and their parents) are taught more mundane but necessary things. For example, to facilitate communication, children are taught different gestures: “Change my diaper” or “Give me a drink.” The gesture is mastered by the whole group during the week, offering different contexts for its use.

Do you remember one of the principles of Pauline Kergomar – learning through music? In practice, this is realized in the fact that in the garden there are songs for almost all occasions: a song for washing hands, a song for dressing. There are exercise songs, for example, to calm down. Here is her text in free translation:

Hands up , on the head, on the shoulder, we walk deftly. They crossed their arms, put them on their belts, wound the coil and were silent. Shhh…

All these tricks can also be found on the site, as well as in special “communication notebooks” (cahier de liason). This is a traditional way of communication between educators and parents, which is preserved in kindergarten, and even in elementary school. Different concepts, topics and materials that the child encountered during the day are recorded, sketched and pasted into the notebook. With such a notebook, it is easy for parents to navigate in the life of a child, and the discussion of how the day went becomes much richer and more substantive.

Nurseries take the education of parents very seriously. So, before enrolling a child, parents come to a meeting with a psychologist. He tells how to gently adapt the baby to a new life and answers questions from parents. At first, parents can stay for some time with their children in the nursery, but gradually this time is reduced. Educators have their own methods to distract and calm the child, as well as an individual approach.

In addition, the administration of the nursery acquaints parents with the daily routine and general rules.

For example, children are not allowed to bring snacks from home. If a child cannot eat some foods, the issue is resolved centrally. There are catering companies that serve several children’s institutions at once, and they compose and think over the menu, taking into account children’s restrictions. In such a nation of gourmets as the French, they approach the development of the menu very carefully – they look to combine dishes, and the child would receive not only the norm of calories and essential nutrients, but also gastronomic experience. Every day, lunch consists of an appetizer, main course, vegetables, a dairy product and a dessert. For an afternoon snack, some dessert and a drink are served. A vegetarian menu is offered once a week.

Parents (and children) are also taught to wash their noses when they have a cold. According to Lyubov, her daughter began to take this procedure calmly after the briefing in the nursery.

Over three years old

Having reached the age of three, already savvy children are ready to start the journey from everyday skills to abstract knowledge. They leave the nursery and go to kindergartens.

Since this is a compulsory stage of education, there is no shortage of places in public kindergartens. Parents can enroll their child in a private kindergarten (with state accreditation). True, the cost of training will no longer be compensated.

Kindergarten in France, as the first level of school, organizes active activities for the child. But lunch and after-school are additional options that need to be paid separately.

“In the garden where my middle daughter now goes, classes are held from 9:00 to 16:00, with a lunch break from 12:00 to 13:35,” says Anastasia, a mother of three from Nantes. – At lunchtime, you can take the child home, or leave it at school (lunch is paid). Before and after classes there is a paid extension. That is, theoretically, a child can be in the garden from 7:30 to 18:30. The beginning, end of classes and lunch are different in different schools.

There is no longer a long multi-day adaptation in the kindergarten.

— On the first day, they are allowed to pick up early — before or after lunch, not returning to classes later — but not all and not always, — continues Anastasia. – In the morning they are allowed to stay with the children a little longer during the first day, to take them to class, but you can’t sit with them.

If in the nursery all the functions – educational, entertaining, and domestic – were performed by educators, then in the kindergarten there are teachers who are assisted by nannies. Teachers are responsible for organizing educational and cognitive activities, and nannies arrange life. Such a couple (teacher and nanny) has an average of 24 children.

— In addition, the city administration hires young people who entertain children while walking around the school grounds, — says Anastasia. – There are employees who keep order in the dining room. If the children have classes in the pool, then there is a coach with them (plus their teacher, plus volunteer parents in the water (if necessary) and on land). In the older group, my daughter has 10 lessons in the pool per week.

Unlike nursery groups, kindergarten groups gather strictly by age: in the younger group (children 3-4 years old) they only play and get used to the new environment; in the middle (4-5 years) they begin to learn skills that will be useful at school – for example, counting; in the eldest (5-6 years old) they are already preparing for school with might and main.

In the senior group every week there are classes in French (a foreign language is sometimes taught in private gardens), arithmetic, drawing and other creative activities, sports and music. Several times a year, “going out” is organized – to the city library, theater, museum, picnic in the park, and so on. All such outings are accompanied by educators and several volunteer parents.

Thematic weeks are also saved. Some, like carnival and Christmas celebrations, generally cover the whole country, but there are also more unique themed weeks. Topics can be reminiscent of nurseries—taste weeks are especially popular—or they can be deeper. For example, family history week, when children talk about their ancestors and favorite family holidays. Such weeks are especially interesting in groups where there are many people from other cultures.

All people are equal and everyone must be respected

Both Lyubov and Anastasia remembered representatives of other cultures in their children’s groups. In Menton, which is located on the border with Italy, there are several children in the nursery who speak Italian in the family, and in Nantes, mainly families where they speak Arabic fall into the category of foreigners.

“Children aged 3-6 usually start speaking a second language fairly quickly, so there are no extra classes in French as a foreign language in kindergarten,” explains Anastasia. – But in elementary school (from 6 to 11 years old), such children can attend special French classes 1-2 times a week if they do not have time to learn the language themselves.

In addition to representatives of other cultures, nurseries and kindergartens in France strive to integrate children with special needs. If such children cannot study on their own, then a tutor is attached to them, who goes to classes with them. The same tutor, as a rule, accompanies the child later, at school.

— There is a girl in a parallel group with a tutor — she easily becomes aggressive, — says Anastasia. – They try to convey to children from an early age that all people are equal, that there are people with disabilities and developmental disabilities, that this is normal and everyone should be respected.

Vaccinations and snot

During preschool education, not only the brain and the growing body of a person, but also his immune system, receive their share of new “knowledge”.

To be enrolled in any child care institution, you must have mandatory vaccinations. There are only three of them in the nursery, and by the beginning of the kindergarten there should already be 11 (including revaccinations).

In the nursery, a nurse checks every week.

— If she finds something disturbing — skin irritation, for example — she sends her to the doctor, — says Lyuba.
If a child has a high temperature (after the COVID-19 pandemic, this figure was reduced from 38.5 to 38 degrees), the teacher calls the parents and asks to take the sufferer home, and skip the next day in any case, even if the child’s condition returns to normal. People are also asked to stay at home in case of suspected contagious diseases, prolonged coughing or skin rashes. After such symptoms, you need to bring a certificate from the doctor that the child is not contagious. Moreover, if the certificate was received in the morning, then on the same day you can return to the nursery.