General Childcare Information & Terms
Crèche /Fulltime Day Care: Back to Top
The meaning of fulltime Day Care, Crèche or Nursery care effectively means a
pre-school service offering structured day care for pre-school children for more
than 5 hours per day and which can include a sessional service for pre-school
children not attending the full day care option.
Generally each facility will be broken down into various rooms e.g. baby room,
wobbler room, toddler room, playschool etc and your child should be assessed and
assigned a specific room depending on their ability.
Baby Room:
A baby room as the name suggests caters for babies ageing approximately 4 months to 1
year old.
Generally your child’s day in a baby room should mimic the routine you have at home
and should incorporate time for sleep and bottle feeds.
Wobbler Room:Back to Top
This room is for children who are approximately 1 to 2 years of
age. It is the next step up from a baby room. Your child will start in the wobbler
room when they start finding their feet. The normal routine of a wobbler room will
incorporate meal times, sleep times and play. Children can spend 6 to 9 months in a
wobbler room before they make the next step to a toddler room.
Toddler Room:
This room is for children approximately 2 years to 3 years old. Advancing from the
wobbler room at the age of 2 your child will be slowly introduced to more advanced
learning as well as arts and crafts and a more structured schedule of activities.
Staff will work with toilet-training your child when you decide the time is right.
Also some toddler rooms have sleep time incorporated in the daily routine.
Part Time Day Care:Back to Top
This means a pre-school service offering a more structured day care service for
pre-school children for a total of more than 3.5 hours and less than 5 hours per
day. It can include a sessional pre-school service. The premises must provide the
same environment and sanitary facilities as a full day care facility.
Other services that may be covered by the above definition include pre-schools,
playgroups, crèches, Montessori pre-schools, naíonraí, notifiable childminders or
services which cater for pre-school children in the up to 6 years of age.
Some offer a 3 or 4 day week, allowing you to leave your child on a full or part
time basis to suit your personal arrangements.
Sessional Care:
“sessional pre-school service” is a pre-school service offering a programme to
pre-school children for a total of no more than 3.5 hours per session.
Drop in care:Back to Top
You can drop your child in for a period of time if you have something to do. You can
get an hourly rate from the premises owner/manager.
The following are drop-in care definitions as defined by Irish Regulation for
pre-school service in a drop-in centre and in a temporary drop-in centre
"Pre-school service in a drop-in centre" means a pre-school service offering day
care which is used exclusively on an intermittent basis.
“Pre-school service in a temporary drop-in centre” means a pre-school service
offering day care exclusively on a temporary basis.
A pre-school service in a drop-in centre refers to a service where a pre-school
child is cared for over a period of not more than two hours while the parent or
guardian is availing of a service or attending an event. Such services are mainly
located in shopping centres, leisure centres or other establishments as part of
customer/client service.
A pre-school service in a temporary drop-in centre refers to a service where a
pre-school child is cared for while the parent or guardian is attending a once-off
event such as a conference or a sports event.
Playschool: Back to Top
Normally for children of 3 to 4 years of age. Some facilities are playschool only and
others incorporate a playschool as part of a larger centre. Similar to a toddler
room, your child will be involved in play, arts and crafts and structured meal and
sleep time. However, playschool also begins to prepare your child for the move to
primary school and all that goes with it.
Montessori:
Caters for children approximately 4 to 5 years of age, Montessori emphasises learning
through the five senses, not just through the normal listening, watching, or
reading. Children in Montessori classes learn at their own pace and according to
their own choice of activities.
Naionra:
Usually for children aged 3 to 5 years of age, who have sessional play in the Irish
language with an Irish speaking supervisor. Naionra is preschool learning through
the Irish under the guidance of well qualified Irish speaking preschool
teachers.
High Scope Childcare:
This is an holistic approach to developmental learning around learning by activity
and socialising. Teaching is based on the theory that children learn best through
active experiences, the materials they encounter, events they become involved in and
ideas they have.
Afterschool Care: Back to Top
This is care for children of school going age after school has finished or until you
have finished your work. It usually incorporates a snack and supervised time to do
homework.
Summer Camps:
Day care during the summer holidays for children of school going age, usually
activity filled days. Summer camps are generally specific to an activity like GAA,
Rugby, or football.
Community Childcare Service: Childcare in your local community for residents usually
in a local hall or community centre
Childminders: Back to Top
Childminders provide a Childcare service in their own homes and are self employed.
Childminders cater for children’s physical, educational and emotional needs by
providing a warm caring family environment with stimulating play and learning
activities. It is the most common form of day care in Ireland with 70% of parents of
a pre-school child using a Childminder.
