Preschool?

[houseelf]

I have heard a lot about the importance of preschools lately, namely that it can be of the biggest indicators of success in the early years of elementary education. I'm looking into preschools for next year. (NEW MOMS TAKE NOTE--many preschools conduct registration the December/January before fall enrollment. Beware of the early deadlines!)

But I have so many questions and feel pretty conflicted about all of this. First, should he go to preschool at the school that we hope to send him to? Should he go at three or can we wait until he is four? Should I remove him out of his in-home daycare where he seems to be pretty happy and send him to an all day preschool or would it be o.k. to send him just two mornings a week and keep him in the same environment? Or--is preschool absolutely necessary? Could I just get him up to speed for kindergarten by putting him some parent directed activities? Do you all have any insight for a mom bumbling through this process?

Kelly

[SueC]

I'm trying to figure this out myself right now. My oldest is 3 months shy of turning 3 years old and I have been home with her since she was born. I do want her to have some sort of preschool before she starts kindergarten so that she can get used to the structure, listening to an authority figure besides me, and be exposed to children outside of our neighborhood. However, at this age I personally don't think an all day preschool is really necessary. My plan is to send her to a "mother's day out" maybe one or two mornings a week starting this Spring and then maybe move on to something a little more intense gradually as she approaches kindergarden. I think you kind of have to take the child's personality into consideration--in our case our daughter is a little on the shy side and new things scare her, so throwing her into a large program would probably freak her out. On the other hand, my neighbor whose mom has also been at home with him since day one has just started 3 days a week for half days and absolutely loves it. Good luck with your decision!!!

My friend in Minnesota was always talking to me about preschool programs and wondering what to do. It was huge there!!! I have a completely different attitude about it. It really all depends on what you want him to experience but I don't think it makes a HUGE difference in how successful they are.

I put Jacob in two years of preschool because he was so shy and I was worried about him socially. He was also held back because of his late birthday. It was good for him but I think one year would have been enough.

Zachary had absolutely no preschool at all, no play groups except his brothers! That wasn't necessarily a conscience decision. It sort of happened that way with moving to Arizona for Med school and the expense was too much at the time. I didn't know about Head Start programs then.

With Tyler ... two years of preschool, again he also had a late birthday. He was in Head Start so it was free being that we were so poor!! It was a lifesaver for me because .... honestly, I needed a break from poor Tyler a little every day and thought it would mellow him out a little. I didn't see a big difference in him though other than he picked up Spanish (they taught completely in Spanish two days a week).

I really think it does depend on your child's personality and what you want.

Robin

[PrincessFiona]

Preschool

Well, I put Andrew in preschool when he was 2 1/2 and it have done the same now for all of my children. The experience has always been very positive for all of us. This year, I debated putting Alex in preschool...and am very glad that the opportunity presented itself....he absolutely loves going to 'school'. The focus of the preschool here is definately socialization, not academics...which is fine. They go on field trips, paint pictures, and have different learning units every month..ie bugs, weather...you name it....

From what I've experienced, I would encourage every mom to send their children to preschool....I think that children benefit from this time socializing and learning w/o mom.....and moms benefit from having a couple of hours to themselves to catch up on everything that they need to do....

I say go for it, Kelly.


Kris

[Meenah]

My response may be outdated, since my daughters are older.
Amy is in her second year of college, Pre-Med at Penn. She went to pre-school 2 days a week at age 3, three days a week at age 4, and kindergarten at age 5. She is very happy, a great student with a 3.8 and very determined and a high achiever.
Caroline did the exact same thing, and she is a senior in high school, loking for a fun college that is easy to get into. She has applied to colleges in Florida and Colorado, sooo she can surf or snowboard!!!!!!!!!
I honestly think it depends on the child.
Luanne

[mommax3]

Kelly,

Here is my take on preschool -- it gave me (as a SAHM) a much needed break, and it helped Luke (my oldest) learn that he was not the only kid in the world. I am sending my others for the same reasons, although I don't feel so desperate about it on either count.

If your son is with other kids his age at daycare, I would say just let him be. If not, I think a couple half days would be sufficient. I haven't ever sent any of my kids 5 days a week.

I don't know about sending him to preschool where you eventually want him to go to school. I have used church based programs for my kids. The first one was accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, (NAEYC -- they have a website with links to member preschools) but the one we are in currently is not accredited. I would prefer that it was, but this one is close, has been open for years and years with low staff turnover, and the price was right. (The hourly rate I pay has ended up being about $2.25 here and in San Antonio -- and I know I am lucky.)

I believe that preschool is NOT about academics, but is more about social things and things like how to line up, how to sit in a circle, how to wait your turn to talk, how to deal with conflicts with others, but in a protected atmosphere that lasts just a few hours and doesn't happen every day -- "practice" for kindergarten, if you will. Having said that, I also believe that it is important to have a teacher trained in early childhood education who will not give in to misinformed parent concerns that "earlier is better" for all the academic stuff -- that is why I favor an accredited center. I don't believe that preschool is necessary if a child has lots of contact with other children on a regular basis -- but it is hard to find a neighborhood full of preschool children (or even one or two) that are home during the day in this day and age, so that is where preschool comes in, in my opinion.

I hope you find an option you are comfortable with -- I hope you don't stress out about this, though, because I am sure Cade will be fine with or without preschool!

Sally

I homeschool preschool

I am the odd one out here right now. I homeschool my preschooler. I don't push academics, although we do do Reading readiness, writing readiness, math readiness 3 mornings a week. I had 2 friends of mine with their masters in ed review the curriculum I put together to make sure everything was on target. I guess that was the only thing I was concerned about (would he get everything he needed from what I could teach him). They said that the curriculum met the standards and went beyond them, so I felt confident in that. So much of organized preschool, and kindergarden is spent in transition (moving into line, one room to the other, carpet to chair etc). Because I don't have to deal with that transition time, I get all that I need to academically in a very short period of time. That leaves us loads of time for projects, and just playing and exploring.

Next is the question of socialization. Ok, I hear about this a lot... "But he won't be socialized, he needs to play with kids his own age". I agree that he needs to play with kids his age..and he does that. He goes to playgroup once a week, to the pool once a week childrens church group once a week, and then still gets together just to "play" with his friends during the week. I think that is plenty of "socializing". He doesn't need preschool to get that socializing experience. Anyway, that is my $.02, and what we are doing! Good luck in which ever avenue you choose!

Re: Preschool?

I have heard a lot about the importance of preschools lately, namely that it can be of the biggest indicators of success in the early years of elementary education. I'm looking into preschools for next year. (NEW MOMS TAKE NOTE--many preschools conduct registration the December/January before fall enrollment. Beware of the early deadlines!)

But I have so many questions and feel pretty conflicted about all of this. First, should he go to preschool at the school that we hope to send him to? Should he go at three or can we wait until he is four? Should I remove him out of his in-home daycare where he seems to be pretty happy and send him to an all day preschool or would it be o.k. to send him just two mornings a week and keep him in the same environment? Or--is preschool absolutely necessary? Could I just get him up to speed for kindergarten by putting him some parent directed activities? Do you all have any insight for a mom bumbling through this process?

Kelly

Hi There I know its been a while since you posted this but I have been dealing with preschool issue myself. I've decided to not send my three yr old to preschool. Im a stay at home mom and have managed to really teach him his abc's, numbers etc already. I have decided to sign him up for some activities at the local "Y". After really thinking about it not to mention being shocked at the prices for private preschool here in MN. My husband and I came to the conclussion that all he really needs is interaction with other kids his age.

[houseelf]

Maria,

That is ironic since we've decided to only put him into one year of preschool when he is four. He is doing great cognitively and socially. (I'm biased--I'm his adoring mommy). However, he is really on the small side so kids his age tend to treat him like he is a baby which makes him feel frustrated. If I give him another year, perhaps he'll have a growth spurt and catch up.

Have you checked out ECFE (Early childhood/family education)? They have extensive, nationally recognized programming here in MN. We have been members for 3 years now and I feel like he is learning a lot of the same things in these classes that he would be learning in preschool (i.e. circle time, cleaning up after himself, nursery songs, arts and crafts, etc.) Since I work outside the home approximately thirty hours a week, he gets lots of interaction with his sitter's kids so I guess I have made some peace with this decision. Parenting really does present a million unknowns, doesn't it? Good luck!

Kelly

[SueC]

We are still struggling with this same issue and I think the latest for us is to also wait. Kelly, my daughter is also on the small side and the same thing happens to her! One of the little girls in our neighborhood even tries to feed her sometimes, which drives me crazy!!!