Erica Sakosho from Building Blocks advises private childcare centers to compete with free state Pre-K by offering smaller classes, extended hours, and enrichment like STEM and languages. She notes private centers struggle to match public salaries but can retain staff through flexible schedules and discounted childcare.
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Hey guys, Erica Sakosho here with the child care Directors chair. And we have a Ask the Expert segment. So I know many of us are faced with how are we going to compete with free? That's really, really hard. State funded pre K and Universal Pre K is coming in every state across the country. We know that it's been coming for a while. Many centers are trying to figure out, you know, do they get on board and start a state funded pre K program, do they have a classroom and then do, you know, a combination? So there's lots of different things to consider. Um, but I think here are some things that you can think about how you can make yourself different, special or unique compared to a state funded pre K. Number one is think about how is your curriculum maybe tailored or different than what you would find in a public school setting. Some things I would say is like Universal Pre K has standardized testing, standardized programming, and where you have a private program, you are able to really focus in on the children's interests and make it a little bit more individualized. Um, you can do that based on what the children's interests are, where they are developmentally and have like a more tailored approach and that will give them more of a emotional connection and be able to thrive academically. So in that social and emotional piece which is so important. So, so I think that that's one way that you can really think about how is your program different and your curriculum different and then be able to articulate that to your families. The other thing is smaller classroom size. When you are a private program, you have the ability to set the classroom size as long as you don't exceed obviously the state ratios. But maybe you decide that you're going to have a smaller group size in your classrooms and instead of doing 20 students in a pre K classroom, maybe you do, you know, 15, where children can get a little bit more individualized care and attention, which will also allow you to foster nurturing environment and be able to really provide high quality. And I think that that's something that a lot of families are looking for that personalized attention for their children, especially when it comes to developing, uh, before, before they hit kindergarten. Right. There's, there's a lot of social and emotional pieces that need to be in place before a child enters kindergarten. So I think that that is something that is different. And when you think about a public school setting, they usually are much bigger. There's big cafeterias. It's, you know, it's definitely a different environment. And all of you know that And I think that extended hours is another area that you really can compete. And I would say it's probably one of the strong areas. So most state funded pre Ks run the same way as a school. So they're usually a 9 to 2 program. So what do working parents do if they have to be in at 7 o' clock? Or what do you, what do they do if they get out of work at 4? So state funded pre K is not the answer for all families. Yes, it's a great option for those who are maybe stay at home or have a.
Option to do work from home and then be able to get their children and come back. But if you work on site at a, at a, any employer and you're not able to pick up your children or drop them off during outside of care time, you really still are going to need programs that offer full day care. So here's where you can be competitive. So you can offer both. You can offer, oh, you can offer all three. You can have a state funded pre K classroom, you can have a traditional all day pre K classroom, or you can offer a wraparound care where you offer before and after school for state funded pre K children. So it really gives you three options. And I don't think you have to pick. I think you can do all three.
That certainly will have different benefits, pros and cons. But if you are struggling with a lot of your children leaving your center, going into the free programs, as that's what I'm seeing on a lot of the Facebook groups, that could be maybe one way you can compete, maybe going with the tide. So instead of try to compete 100% against that, maybe you connect with the schools and you say, okay, who is offering after school care for your pre K children and maybe you can connect with those families too and offer that gap in care. So those are three ways with my business brain, not my teaching brain, but business brain, on how you can close that and really get competitive. The other thing is offering enrichment programs. So school.
Doesn'T always allow for additional programs such as STEM programs or cooking programs or science programs or additional enrichment programs. So maybe if you offer two languages at your school, maybe you offer sign language, you, maybe you offer, you know, languages, Spanish and English. Those could be ways that you can compete with free programming that parents would be interested in. So those are three different things. I think you can do a tailored curriculum, you can do smaller class sizes, you can do extended hours, you can do the three different models that are available now. And that's in my state, there's three. There could be more models out there. But in Rhode island you can do, you can elect to compete to have a state funded pre K at your program. You can do before and after care for those children and then you can offer the traditional services.
And I think too, even when we talk about competing with.
Schools, it's not only parents and families that we're competing for, but also staffing. Right. How are we competing with the salaries that they're paying at the school department? When you run a private program, sometimes that's a little bit harder. But maybe you can offer more flexible schedule. Maybe you can offer discounted or free childcare services for the teachers. Maybe you can offer a alternating schedule where they have a little bit more of a work life balance. Things that maybe they can't offer in a traditional school setting. So think about that too, because it isn't just families. I know that you guys are competing for. You are also competing for staff. So thank you for tuning in to child care Directors chair. If you haven't liked our channel yet or subscribe to our channel, please do so today. It really does help and it allows us to make more free video content for you. Visit our Facebook page and send us a question there. We'd be more than happy to answer on our show. So. So thank you for tuning in. Have a great day.
