What "full day" really means in child care

Ask for the closing time as a number, because "full day" means different things at different programs. If you work, three questions decide it: what time the doors lock, whether the program runs all summer, and what happens when schools close and your office doesn't.

A preschool that runs nine to noon, or nine to two, can be a good thing: a structured morning with people who know your child. But if you work eight to five, a program that ends at two means finding someone for every afternoon. One that closes in June means finding ten weeks of something else every summer.

In Frederick County the line is sharp. Most commercial centers open at 6:30 and close at 6:00 or 6:30. Most church programs run a morning and close for the summer. Both are good at what they do. Only one lets two parents work full time.

1. What time do the doors open, and what time do they lock? Numbers, not adjectives.
2. What's the late fee, and when does it start?
3. How many days a year are you closed, and which ones? Ask for the list.
4. Do you run all summer, with the same staff in the same rooms?
5. What happens on a school snow day, a two-hour delay, or a teacher training day?

Frederick County Public Schools close for weather more often than most offices, and many programs quietly follow the school calendar. You won't find out until the first snow. So ask: what do you do on an FCPS snow day, on a two-hour delay, and on a teacher training day when the roads are clear? The answer you want to the last one is "we're open."

Our plan: an FCPS snow day isn't our snow day. We open unless the roads are unsafe for our own staff, decide by 5:30 a.m., and text every family either way. A two-hour delay changes nothing; the doors open at 6:30.

Ask whether the program runs all year, and whether July looks like October: the same teachers, the same room, the same routine. For a three-year-old, summer isn't a break from the year. It is the year.

Get on more than one list, early. If a program's hours nearly work, ask about before- and after-care; it's not always on the website. And if you love a place that closes at 5:30, do the math: a half hour short every day adds up.

Rules change. The Maryland State Department of Education's Office of Child Care has the current ones.