Understanding early childhood care terminology and why it matters for your family
Child care is the umbrella term. Daycare is one type of child care. All daycare is child care, but not all child care is daycare. The terminology matters less than finding quality care that meets your family’s needs.
You’re searching for care options and keep running into different terms: daycare, child care, preschool, early childhood education. Are these actually different things? Does it matter what you call it?
Here’s what you need to know and why early childhood professionals have opinions about these words.
Think of it like this:
Includes all of these:
| Term | What It Typically Means |
|---|---|
| Child care | Broad term covering ALL care arrangements: centers, home-based programs, nannies, au pairs, babysitters, family members |
| Daycare | Center-based or home-based programs operating during daytime hours while parents work |
| Preschool | Programs focused on kindergarten preparation, typically serving ages 3-5 |
| Early childhood education | Professional term emphasizing learning and development, not just supervision |
| Early learning center | Similar to ECE, emphasizes educational component |
| Nursery school | Older term for preschool programs, less commonly used today |
If you have toured programs or talked with early childhood educators, you may have noticed some hesitation around the word “daycare.” This is not just semantics, it reflects how we value this important work.
“Saying daycare is like telling a professional chef they just make food. Technically accurate, but it misses everything that makes their work meaningful.”
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) encourages using “child care” or “early learning programs” because these terms better reflect what dedicated educators actually do.
That said: Most parents use these terms interchangeably, and there is nothing wrong with that. What matters far more than terminology is finding quality care for your child.
Often called “daycare”
Family child care
Care in YOUR home
People you know
This is where it gets a little fuzzy. In practice, the terms overlap significantly.
Supervision-focused, serves infants through school-age, full-day hours, year-round operation
Education-focused, serves ages 3-5, may offer half-day or school-year-only schedules
Modern reality: Many programs blend both. A quality “daycare” serving 4-year-olds likely includes kindergarten readiness curriculum. A “preschool” offering full-day care functions much like daycare for working parents.
Do not get hung up on what a program calls itself. Look at what they actually do.
Montessori is an educational philosophy and approach, not a type of care setting.
You can find:
Child-led learning within a prepared environment
Mixed-age classrooms
Hands-on materials for specific developmental purposes
Independence and practical life skills
Intrinsic motivation over external rewards
A Montessori program can absolutely meet your child care needs while providing a distinctive educational approach.
Instead of getting caught up in terminology, focus on these questions when evaluating any program:
Daycare and child care are not really different things. Daycare is simply one form of child care. The terminology distinction matters less than finding a quality program that:
Whether you call it daycare, child care, preschool, or early learning, what happens inside those walls matters far more than the sign out front.
We are a Montessori early learning center, but we function as full-service child care for working families.
10 weeks to 5 years (plus after-school and summer for 6-12)
Full-day programs, year-round operation
$200 to $365/week (all-inclusive)
4 San Antonio campuses
What makes us different:
We accept CCS and Military CCA.
In short: We provide the convenience and full-day hours families need, with the educational depth your child deserves.
Terminology only tells you so much. Visiting tells you everything.
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