No preschool this year :(

Back in February, I toured our park district preschool with Matt and Ryan. They were SO excited. We got serious with PTing in late May/early June, and being able to "go to peeschool and see Miss Cindy" was a huge motivator for them.

We are having huge, enormous money problems. In hindsight, we've probably had them all along, but we've managed to stick our heads in the sand, and since last fall, they've taken music classes or gymnastics every week. They love it.

Well, DH and I have hit crisis mode, and I'm going to have to back out of sending them to preschool this year. :cry: Open House is Tuesday, so I'm going to have to call before then. Worse, there's no money for them to do any kind of class. I have never felt like a bigger failure as a parent.

Will only having 1 year of preschool make a huge difference in their future school years? (in your opinion, without knowing my boys.) Can I make up for no classes or school with library storytimes and play dates?

I feel defeated and sad. :cry:

 

:hug: I'm sorry you're having such a tough time. You are not a faliure as a parent at all.

I wouldn't worry for a second that having "only" one year of preschool will make a difference to their future learning. Remember many children don't go to preschool at all-it's optional because it's not neccessary. As for the classes/socialisation issue, yes I think that can be made up for with playdates and doing free activites like going to the library or park. Maybe you could also look for places or programs that offer inexpensive classes-that way it might be within your budget to still have them do one class a week.
You could do activites at home too. If you get some craft stuff (if you don't already have it) you can do creative activites. If you just have some paints, pens/crayons, glue and glitter then you can add in stuff from around the house (empty boxes/packets, packaging material, left over wrapping paper and ribbons, cardboard tubes, old wallpaper, old magazines/catalogues) to have a really good supply of stuff for making pictures or models. You can make your own playdough for next to nothing or, if they're really into that, make a dough that's part way between playdough and normal bread dough which you can bake and varnish so they can keep their creations (let me know if you want the recipe). There are also so many things you can do just within their normal play. For example if they have a water tray then when they're playing with it you can gather up various water-safe items (stones, leaves, plastic animals, toy food, lego bricks) and get them to guess if they will sink or float when you drop them in. Ask why they think that and talk about what the things that float have in common and what the things that sink do. What will happen if you add an ice cube to the water? What if the ice cube has been coloured with food colouring?

I'm sure your boys will quickly adjust to the idea of no preschool (especially if you talk up all the other fun things you'll be doing) and enjoy the extra time they get with you.

Edited to fix spelling mistakes and add clarity

 

We aren't going to put them in preschool at all. They get plenty of socialization through church and other activities. I agree that you can find a lot of great free and inexpensive activities where they can interact with other kids.

I am doing lessons at home, though. Just because they really enjoy them and I want to cultivate that love of learning! We tried it for a few weeks last year, but then DH had surgery, so we went on hiatus. I started concentrating on a letter a week. Now we are using the Letter of the Week website. It is completely free and just makes it easier to plan what to do. We are officially starting this Monday.

Do not worry one bit about not putting them in preschool!

 

We homeschool ALL our kids. They aren't behind in the least. In fact they are ahead. No social issues because they socialize with children and adults of ALL ages. They'll be fine. Many children don't go to preschool. Just look at it this way, you get to have more of an influence with them because they will be with you all the time. It's fun to have your kids around and fun to watch them learn as you teach them!

 

Don't worry!

The only reason I sent Ella last year, and this year as well, is that we live in a very rural area - we have no neighbors. I have never worked in the town Ella will go to kindergarten in, and we don't really know any families there. So, we really sent her only to meet kids her age. Ella learned her alphabet and numbers, counting, how to write her name, all that, before she went to preschool last year. So I wasn't concerned with sending her for that reason.

Anyway - since your kids have had the opportunity to be around other kids in the past, and you probably have access to free programs and activities for them, I think they will be totally fine!

I really wish we lived in an area with opportunities like that. We live an hour from a city with that kind of thing. Eeehhh, country life!

 

I taught Kindergarten, and am struggling with sending my twins at all. Everyone around me sends their kids as soon as they can, even at 2! I'm the only one holding off. First, because preschool for 2 is expensive! Secondly, this is their time to be kids. I take them places like playgroups, museums, nature hikes, etc. We read a LOT. They know their ABC's at 2 1/2. I think they will be prepared for kindergarten. Take them to the library for storytime and get into a playgroup. Maybe you could plan some arts and crafts within playgroup. Letter of the week is a great idea. Your children will be absolutely fine!

 

We will not be sending our girls until they are 4. I was feeling a little guilty about it too but it is just way to expensive and with the hours they are in school it would be almost impossible to find a job where we would have to get get some kind of additional care after school. I spoke to a friend of mine who teaches kindergarten and she said there is really no reason for kids to have 2 years of preschool unless they have some kind of educational issues.

I would just take them to story-time and places they can be around other kids and I am sure they will be fine. We asked for memberships to the Zoo and the Children's Museum for Xmas so we don't have to spend $$ every time we go.

Honestly I think things have gotten a bit out of hand with preschool and stuff. They will be in a formal education setting for the next 13 plus years - what's the rush.

 

I'm sorry you are feeling so bad!! :hug: They've had a huge bunch of fun and life changes. They'll be JUST fine w/o preschool!!! :hug:

 

I sent my boys to part time preschool at ages 3 (two mornings a week) and 4 (three mornings a week). For them, it wasn't about ABCs and 123s, which they already had down. They learned to behave in a group, listen to authority figures other than family members, follow instructions, etc., while still having plenty of time with me to do things around the community.

That said, however, I don't think missing one year of it would have had any great effect, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. I never went to preschool at all. I started K at age 4 and did just fine! I can understand how disappointed you are, though. But please don't blame yourself! Getting your finances in order is essential to your family's security, and that's more important then preschool. You're doing the right thing!

Have you checked into free preschool programs in your area? I know there are opportunities here in the public schools. Perhaps some private preschools might also have scholarship programs. It might be worth looking into if it's really important to you.

Best of luck!

 

They will be just fine!! FWIW I used to get annoyed writing a check every month for DD1's preschool because it seemed like nothing more than a 2 1/2 hour playgroup

Check around and see what local free activities you can find:
join or start a playgroup
library storytime
our parks dept has free kid activities
the local children's museum has free days from time to time as does the zoo and the Columbus Museum of Arts
a local showroom for those huge wooden swingsets has times when kids can come in and climb for free, and other times when it costs $4/kid
other storytimes - a local coffee house and Pottery Barn Kids
see what places might have free tours - we've done a tour of a farm, a firestation, an ice cream shop and a chocolate shop

as far as the academics, DD1 also already knew most of it at home anyway - teach them yourself, make it a game and have fun!!

 

I'm only going to send my girls when they're 4 also. Mostly because of the expense of sending two at the same time, but I really think they'll be more than ready for Kindergarten with just 1 year of Preschool. I was going to do some 'cirriculum' with them during the year to get them writing the letters that they don't already and to get them into 'classroom' mode a little. I belong to a moms group, so they get a lot of socialization with other kids. They love library storytime, so we'll make that a weekly thing. This is the first year I haven't worked PT since I had them, so I'm looking forward to having them home with me this year.

 

THANK YOU LADIES!!! You made me feel so much better. I'm so happy to know I'm not the only one in this situation - everyone I know sends their kids at 3 or even earlier. I was a preschool special education teacher before the boys were born, so I felt even more like I messed up in not giving them 2 years. :grouphug: I so appreciate your support.

 

WOW Mama, you definitely shouldnt feel bad about not sending them. they have their very own pre-school teacher at HOME available to give them undivided attention

 

We're not sending ours either. I want to send them, but I need to work more to send them and I didn't feel that being away from them more was worth sending them to PS for 5 hours per week so we're waiting another year. I'm very sad that they aren't able to go, but I ditto what Stacy A. said. They get some socialization through playgroups and I'm also going to do some homeschool stuff.

 

Patty, I'm so sorry for all that you and your hubby are going through. :hug: :hug: I think your two will be perfectly fine without preschool. :good: I never even took them to any classes and they are good. You can teach them alot at home. :hug: :hug: Don't beat yourself up over this, enjoy your time with them.