Difference Between Preschool and Nursery

Preschool vs Nursery

There are many options in front of parents to make their child learn while being in playful and relaxed environs. Preschools and nurseries have been there for a long time now, but their importance is all the more being realized these days with ever increasing rate of kids being retained at the kindergarten level. There is not much to choose between a preschool and a nursery as both are educational settings that are designed to make a kid understand basic concepts in colors, shapes and alphabets that keep him in good stead when it comes to competing with other kids at the kindergarten level. However, there are differences that will be talked about in this article.

It is true that one does not require putting his child in either nursery or preschool as there is no compulsion in this regard by the law. In fact there were no preschools or nurseries only a few decades ago. It is only because of growing population and intense competition that kids face at the kindergarten level that has made parents aware of the importance of these educational settings.

Nursery School

In more ways than one, nursery schools resemble daycare facilities. However, there are rigid requirements by law in some countries like the US. Not only, nursery schools required to be registered, they need to maintain high standards of quality and are required to hire talented teaching staff. In UK, nursery schools are given great importance by the government, and most of such schools get government grants to maintain high standard. There is realization on the part of the administration that personality development takes place in these formative years of life, and quality education in playful manner in these educational settings goes a long way in making the personality of the kids.

There is no lower age limit in nursery schools and they start taking babies at a tender age of 6-8 weeks. There is of course an upper age limit as kids need to go to formal schools when they are 5 years of age. It is natural for nursery schools to have a special unit to take care of younger babies, whereas there is teaching staff to provide educational stuff to older kids. There are no fixed timings in nursery schools and these schools may remain open as late as 8 PM to allow parents to attend to pressing problems and to let them complete urgent issues. Therefore one can find all sorts of activities for kids being organized in nursery schools apart from education. However, the age limit and timing depend on individual institutions.

Preschool

Preschool on the other hand, is an educational setting that has a specific aim of providing knowledge to kids so as to prepare them for kindergarten experience. Though there is no set curriculum, care is taken to help kids improve their cognitive and motor abilities through various fun activities, while at the same time make them understand basic concepts in math, language and nature. Preschools have specific timings and are educational settings, where the focus is on helping a child gain enough knowledge to easily get in to kindergarten programs of reputed schools.