Hi,

I have twin kids and they are 30 months now. I want to know how to start their education in Ontario, Canada.

What is the schooling (Education) system here?

I talked to few day cares here and got little cofused. They told me that they have 4 sections- infant care, toddlers, Preschool and school age. Also they gave me their fees structure for 1/2 day and full day. What i do understand is that Day cares are meant for the children, whose parents are out to work and they need to be taken care by someone.

Now are these preshool day cares equivalent to the Nursery and KG classes as we have in India?

I have heard about the public shools in canada but i think they start from the first class, when the kid is around 5-6 yrs. old .

So Where should i send my kids at present age??

Thanx in advance

Kids start to attend a public school when the attain the age of 4. The schooling year starts in September, and the age of 4 has to be completed prior to Dec 31st the previous year. They will not allow even a day less (my kid lost a year, 'cause she was 3 days under-age)

The year in which the kid turns 4 - that year in/around Sep - Dec, you go to the school in your area and fill the form (for the following year).

Public schools have a JK (Junior Kindergarten) as well as a SK (Senoir Kindergarten). So at age 4 the child starts in JK.

Alternatively you could enroll your kids in a Montessori school. Lookout for a good one around where you live. Montessori schools charge upwards of $6000 / year. Kids start around 2 1/2 yrs of age.

For public schools you don't pay any fees.

And then offcourse you have the daycares and what not all over the place. Some parents start sending their kids to daycare for a couple of hours a day before they start school (ie before the age of 4), so that the child gets used to the school environment. But then again, you pay around $10 to $20 / hour.

Hope that helps.....

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SS
Reiki Grand Master

Thanx SS

I want to know one more thing here. I called the day cares which are organised by the city of windsor. And i found that they r expensive than the private day cares.

Is it true? or am i missing something to ask and so I am getting this response? I asked about their program and fees for 1/2 day and full day.
They told me that they have programs for preschools, they gave me the rates approx $25 for 1/2 day and $40 for full day.

I am quite surprised to find their rates b'coz i thought they might be cheaper than others b'coz they are run by the province.

Are these montessories better than day care programs?


thanx

It's not surprising that private daycares are cheaper than the ones run by the Govt. probably because of so much competition around.

As regards comparing Montessori with Daycare - you're comparing apples and oranges. Montessori is a method of teaching. Offcourse they are all private, hence the high fees. Montessori schools do have extended care (before and after school), which is something like a daycare. You could compare it to a traditional method of teaching (just like they have in public schools). For details on what the Montessori system check this link

http://www.montessori.edu/

My 6 year old has been in Montessori for 3 years now, and I'm very pleased with her development. Offcourse I pay around $6,700 / year for that. But then for the quality of education she's getting, I'd rather sacrifice my vacation and pay her fees instead.

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SS
Reiki Grand Master

Here in Alberta, I started sending my son aged 3 years to pre-school which is a part of the public school. It runs twice a week for about 2 hrs. a day. They charge $85 per month. The kids do not have to learn to write in this, otherwise it is like nursery in India. They learn to paint, rhymes, stories, play, etc.

For you if you are looking to work, best option might be to keep them in a day-care. Day-cares are very expensive. In Alberta, they charge around $600 per month. However, depending on the income of parents the govt. does give a subsidy on this amount. I had kept my son in day-care for about 2 months & I had to pay around $175 per month. Subsequently we stopped sending him to day-care.

I am not sure about Ontario but you can check up with the day-care itself if they have such a subsidy program.

Rgds.

Rajan.

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Let's make India a better place !

I am currently looking to see the differences between a Montessori and Private daycare.
Let me list the activities in the daycare talked about.
The only thing being taught are story telling and singing some rhymes + they do take the children out to the back yard for play (irrespective of the weather for 30 mins - 60 mins). The age of the person that I am talking about is 27 months.
It is a professional daycare but with most of the staff being chinese people payed around $8-$10 an hour. The day care head is a white lady and she sees this more as a business rather than anything else. This sets me off by around $9600 a year and all they teach is some nursery rymes. I was thinking that if I have to pay around $10K a year, that I might as well send the person to a professional montessori school. In the montessori school near my office (Steels and Kipling), they are open from 6:00 am to 7: 00 pm and they do teach (part from the montessorui curriculam), Piano, Ballet, Ice Hockey etc...

I would appriciate if Sudesingh and others could tell me the benefits of this montessori schools and what we could expect them to teach , since I have no prior knowledge of this.
TK A

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

Quote:

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Originally posted by sudesingh

Kids start to attend a public school when the attain the age of 4. The schooling year starts in September, and the age of 4 has to be completed prior to Dec 31st the previous year. They will not allow even a day less (my kid lost a year, 'cause she was 3 days under-age)

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Mumbai Maazi Ladki ...