The words overlap. A "preschool" may hold a child care center licence, a "Montessori school" may be a daycare center or a private school, and a home daycare may run a preschool curriculum. The licence type tells you what the state inspects. The program's own approach tells you what the day looks like.
Daycare centers
A daycare center is a licensed facility that cares for children in age-grouped classrooms, usually from six weeks old until kindergarten, for a full working day. Centers are inspected by the state, must meet staff-to-child ratios for every age group and carry a licensed capacity. See daycare centers by city.
Home daycares
A home daycare, also called family child care, is run by a licensed or registered provider in their own home. Groups are small and mixed-age, and hours are often more flexible than a center. States cap the number of children by the ages in care. Home addresses are private residences, so this directory shows the ZIP code only. See home daycares by city.
Preschools
A preschool teaches children from about three to five years old in the year or two before kindergarten. Many run a school-day or half-day schedule and follow the school calendar. Some hold a preschool licence, others are licensed as child care centers that serve preschool ages. See preschools by city.
Montessori
Montessori programs use mixed-age classrooms, long uninterrupted work periods and hands-on materials that children choose themselves. The name is not protected, so any school can use it. The American Montessori Society (AMS) and Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) accredit schools that follow the method closely. See montessori by city.
Head Start
Head Start and Early Head Start are free, federally funded programs for children from birth to five in families that meet income or other eligibility rules. Programs include meals, health screening and family services alongside early education. See head start by city.
Public Pre-K
Public pre-kindergarten is funded by a state or school district and is often free for four-year-olds. It may run inside an elementary school or at a licensed community program that holds state-funded seats. See public pre-k by city.
Before and after school
Before and after school programs care for school-age children outside class hours, and often on school holidays and through the summer. Most run inside an elementary school or a community center and hold a school-age child care licence. See before and after school by city.
Language immersion
Language immersion programs teach through a second language for part or all of the day, most often Spanish, Mandarin or French. Programs listed here state an immersion or bilingual approach on their own website. See language immersion by city.
How to choose
- Start with hours and age. Infant places are the scarcest. Full working-day hours rule out most half-day preschools.
- Then group size. Home daycares are small and mixed-age. Centers group children by age with more staff on site.
- Then approach. Play-based, Montessori, Reggio Emilia, academic and faith-based programs differ most between ages three and five.
- Then cost. Head Start and public pre-K are free for eligible families, and many programs accept state subsidy.
This directory lists 124,532 licensed programs: 59,122 daycare centers, 459 licensed preschools, 58,765 home daycares and 6,186 before and after school programs.