I have a 2 year old (he will be three in 4 months) and a 7 month old and am looking at putting the two year old in childcare/kindergarten for 1-2 days a week. The alternative would be to find a bao mu (nanny). Wondering if anyone has any suggestions on where to look? I am living near Keats school.

Is he potty trained? If not then most kindergartens would not accept him. If he is, then to put him somewhere for 1-2 days per week may not be cost effective. Usually you would pay a monthly fee and they likely wouldn't break it down by the day. I think you should just get a part time babysitter and she can watch him at your house or hers... I have experience with bao mus and kindergartens. However, not in this town so I couldn't recommend one. There are agencies you can contact that can supply a nanny.

Thinking out of the box. You could do a barter exchange. Some of your time, in exchange for childcare when you need it. The Kindy may not be allowed to employ foreigners, but you won't be employed as you are a parent. It would be good for their business to have a foreigner on board part time.

Example. If you WANT child care 2 days a week (work, recharge batteries). You take your child for a third day and you stay there and act as a helper. You would need to be strict about your time, so that you are not taken advantage of.

This may help your child settle in and help you make local friends and practice your Chinese. Additionally, your child will be better looked after when you are not there, as you are one of the team. You will also be able to see how the place is run, and it is easy to move if you are unhappy.

Forget how much your time might be worth moneywise, to a degree, and think about the convenience, and flexibility.

@goldie 122
I have never heard of any k-garten to reject a kid, if he or she is not potty trained.
Most of the daily chores of a preschool teacher [but shouldn't be] is cleaning up little wang's 'boom-boom'.

@OP
There are so called Qingzi ban, it's somewhere in the range of ECE training centers.
Or the traditional QZB, where you send your kid half days, 5 days a week, or a few hours a day usually 2-3h. A lot of preschools offer both, regular classes and the Qingzi ban.

The bigger question is whats you budget? You will pretty much find everything in Kunming, if the money is right!

I was referring to "real" kindergartens, not like ones on the 1st floor of your apartment buildings. I've worked at a few kindergartens and the workers there were not about to change any diapers.

A daily chore of the teacher is not changing diapers. If the kid is still in diapers then school is not for him, yet. Helping them wipe their butt is fine, but no diapers.

thanks for your suggestions. how do i find out about the jing zi ban?