Can you have too much preschool before K?

Hi ladies,

I am making a big jump over here with a question (my kiddos are barely TWO and yet I am already thinking stressing about this). My boy/girl twins have a summer birthday and we will have the option to "redshirt" them for K. My husband and I work full-time and require all-day care for our kids. Currently they stay home with a nanny, but we are planning ahead to full-day preschool (or part-day preschool + nanny...still not sure how to make this work). I need some input on when to consider starting them in preschool.

Do you think you can have too much preschool before K? This will impact the decision to have keep them home with a nanny for another year, start full-day preschool at 4 and then start K at 5 or 6 (and is one year of preschool enough?) The other option will be to enroll them in full-day preschool at the age of 3 and then possibly have 2 years of preschool plus one year of pre-K before K. I am worried that it seems like too much school before K...like the novelty might wear off.

Do you have any thoughts? For whatever reason, I cannot quit thinking/worrying about this. I feel like we have to make so many decisions in advance these days (with over a year waitlist for preschool) that I end up really stressed because I don't have all the information in front of me (ie. will they be ready for K at a young age?).

Thanks for any help

 

You could do either.

But with a nanny already, I would look at Preschool at age 3- part time w/ a nanny to cover the difference.

That way if you do K at age 5--- they get 3 yr old preschool (2x a week usually), 4 yr old preschool/PreK (4x a week) and then on to K- all day.

Or if you decide to wait it would look like this

3 yr old preschool (2x a week)
4 yr old preschool (3-4x a week)
PreK (5yr) 4-5x a week
K all day.


There is no 'wrong' way. Some kids go into K w/o preschool. But if you DO jsut two year of preschool---it would be nice to have a 'social' year of learning about school (3 yr old) and then PreK. PreK for 4 yr olds can be exactly that--K prep. 3 yr old school is mostly play and learning to listen to another adult and wait in line. It is often only a few times a week for minimal hours.


By default we did 3 yr old Preschool and then PreK (age 4)...thinking my girls woudl go on to Kindergarten. Then we moved and the cut off date was different.....so they had to do PreK again this year. They were ready for K, but no early admittance allowed.

So after 2 yr of preschool we could have gone on to K.....but three will not be bad either. No harm and they enjoy 'school'.


A lot can change, I would not make a determination on 'waiting' a year for K until they are older and then take it as a child by child basis. Each one is different. But at age 3, it is important to socialize and developmentally appropriate. Kids start to play together at that age.

 

We did no preschool and my kids have thrived. I think that as long as they have social interactions and interactions from different grown-ups they'll be fine.

On the red-shirting, it's honestly a kid-by-kid choice. There are some red-shirts in my kids' classes. Some are bored stiff, some needed it. There are a couple of kids who were held back in kinder and first because they appeared ready, but weren't. There are some who are young, but doing well. I was almost the youngest in my class (Aug. 22 bday). I did fine. It's really and truly an individual choice. You might call the school counselor and find out what the trends are in your area and schools.

Marissa

 

My girls were late to prek due to cut off date. They have been in a preschool based daycare since 2. Starting prek they know all their letters, can write their names, know all their numbers and can write them, know all colors and shapes. They are leaps and bounds ahead of their class Mates but they are not bored. They are learning to better follow instructions and cope with more children(only 8 total in daycare class). I think 2 years of preschool, 1 of prek and on to k is good. They need prek to settle the "wild" out of then before k

 

I think it's really what you think your kids can handle and what you and your dh can handle. My girls are a Nov birthday and they went to 3yr preschool 2X a week and 4yr 3X a week and then to full day kindergarten (preschool is only from 9-11:30). They are both doing fine now in second grade but they were on the older side since they turned 4 while in the 3yr old class only 3mths in and 5 while in the 4yr class. Now my son just started 4yr preschool 3 days a week. We did not do 3yr because we couldn't afford it. His birthday is in Aug so he is on the younger side. We really wanted to send him to preschool this year so we saved up for it. He is definitely ready to go this year and enjoyed his first day (yesterday). Last year I don't think he was ready to go at all. We also figure since he is only the young side he might have to repeat kindergarten and we are fine with that.

 

We did three years of preschool

1st year - 2 days a week
2nd 7 3rd year - 3 days a week.

It really worked well for us. Was a great social experience, as well as a educational experience for them. I have twin boys and I really wanted them to be ready for school and this worked out well.

T