Pre-school?

My boys will be 3 in August and I'm debating on sending them to pre-school then or waiting til they're 4. When did you send yours? or did you?

 

i would vote wait a year. i didn't send mine yet and now I'm not going to ... i can do alot of preschool skills at home without forking out the money. we have other opportunities to learn social skills since i have them in other classes.

 

I sent my girls to school 2 months after they turned 2. It was a toddler class at the same place they are currently at for Nursery and they will also go next year for pre-K. DH and I had decided that since I was a SAHM they would stay home with me till they were 2 but we wanted them to attend somthing after that so that they could socialize with other kids. So I sent them for 2 days a week 3 hours each day. They loved it and I got some extra time to do things.

Now at 3.5yo they are in Nursery 3 days a week from 9-2. This works for us since we moved and don't live as close to the school anymore and they still love it.

 

Our children go to Pre-K when they are 4. There is no need for them to go to school so young - heck they do not even need to go @ 4.


We are so busy & social that preschool actually just gets in our way

I am a SAMH though and do not need childcare.

 

I'm a SAHM and I don't even know if I want to send them now. lol I teach them alot on my own. Maybe I should just save the $$ too!

 

QUOTE(AliPaige717 @ Mar 4 2009, 03:28 PM) [snapback]1214521[/snapback]
I sent my girls to school 2 months after they turned 2. It was a toddler class at the same place they are currently at for Nursery and they will also go next year for pre-K. DH and I had decided that since I was a SAHM they would stay home with me till they were 2 but we wanted them to attend somthing after that so that they could socialize with other kids. So I sent them for 2 days a week 3 hours each day. They loved it and I got some extra time to do things.

Now at 3.5yo they are in Nursery 3 days a week from 9-2. This works for us since we moved and don't live as close to the school anymore and they still love it.


Same here. They attend a toddler class how 3 days a week for 1 hour 45 min. Next year they will go to preschool 3 days for 2 hours. My main reason for sending them was to have some time away from me and begin how to learn to act with other children. It has been a wonderful experience for them.

 

My boys have an end of June birthday, and they started pre-school the following Sept. At first I sent them because they needed time to learn to be away from me, and to listen to other adults besides mom and dad. I knew from programs over the summer that Jonathan had a hard time separating from me, and I knew it would only get worse the longer I waited to send him. One huge benefit of them going to preschool was that the school was able to identify some behavioral issues that ended up being tied to an expressive speech delay. This resulted with him qualifiing for the preschool disabled program, from which he graduated with no special ed services at all. Even though I am a special ed teacher, I probably would not have caught the delay--it showed when he was in a large group, and would get overwhelmed, so if he had not gone to preschool, he would have gone to K with an even bigger problem.

As long as you can afford preschool, I would go for it, there really is no downside to sending them, as long as you can afford it financially.

 

My kids turned 3 at the end of July. They were getting special services with speech. They've been attending mommy & me classes with me since they were 4 months old. Socially they were fine with being away from me. They do have some improvements to make socially and dealing with other kids (vs each other) we are finding and preschool seems to be a great spot to worth those things out, along with getting help with their speech. I think it is valueable. That said, if they were not in speech at this point, we were going to hold them until they turned 4.
Like Sharon said, there is no downside as long as you can afford it.

 

Mine started preschool at 2 years and 9 months of age. They attended two days a week for 3 hours each day. The second year they had the same schedule. Next year I will send them three days a week for three hours each day. I personally feel it is very important to put your kids in a preschool setting. I think the socialization, learning and just generally being away from mom and dad a few hours each week is a good thing for them.

 

Ours were 3 in September and we won't be sending them at all. I am doing preschool at home (there is a very helpful sticky in the Homeschooling sub forum ) and they are learning a lot. They get socialization at church, so I feel no need to spend the money or have someone else teach them when I can do it myself.

 

We started when they were 3.5 and I love it! They love it! It's been REALLY good for my kids because of their clingyness to me. I needed the time for them to be somewhere so that I could have a little time. My Dh travels 90% of the time during the week (he was gone 48 weeks last year, home on weekends!) and it was what had to be done for my sanity!

 

We are planning to send them when they are 4. Preschool for two just isn't doable right now with our budget. We are planning to enroll them in a bunch of classes so they get a little socialization which will cost us about 1/2 of what preschool would cost us.

 

We started preschool when they were 3.5 and they adore it. They got T/Th 9-1. This coming year they will go MWF from 9-1. It really is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

 

Actually I just signed mine up today. They also have August Birthday's so they will start the first year of preschool at age 4. I asked a lot of advice from teachers and they all told me to wait.

 

My oldest son will start preschool at the end of August. He will go Tues-Fri. from 9-11:30. I can't wait for him to go....I think the socialization will be wonderful for him and it will give me a little break. All my kids are very very clingy, and I think getting them to become a little more independent at a young age is very important.

 

I signed my twins up for Winter 2009 (Jan-May) they were only 2 years and 8 months old. The twins goes on Monday/Wednesday for 2 hours. My daughter is the only one that cries for maybe a few minutes but then she's off on her own with 5 other toddlers along with my son. I do it for educational, socialization, learn to become more independent (than being clingy), and the joy making new friends for themselves. Also, it give me the 2 hours freedom with going to the doctor's appointment, grocery shopping, post office, enjoy sipping coffee at Starbucks, reading book to catch up, and etc.

When I go pick them up from preschool. My daughter come and say....Mommy, Mommy, awwww she love when I come back My son doesn't care if I am there or not......LOL I could certainly tell that they enjoy away from home and for us it is the best decision.

Secondly, the teacher is expecting baby #3 this Fall. She won't be teaching until Winter 2010 (Jan-May). By then I have to register both of the twins around that time for Fall 2010. They'll be 4 and potty trained which can be stressful if you decided to do preschool at '3'. We will be doing 1 or 2 classes after they turn '3' through Park District.

Wish you the best of luck!
RJ

 

I just signed mine up for Oct. 2009 they will be 4 in December. 3 days a week 9-11:30am. I couldn't imagine sending them last year they were just too small, not PT'd, etc. This year there is a big difference already from last year and I think they need to get out of the house and have a break from mommy, learn new things, meet new kids. They ask me everyday when can they go to preschool so I guess they are interested.

 

All of our preschools around here you have to be 3 by Sept. 1 to attend. Mine just turned 3 last month and they will start preschool, T/Th 9-11:30am, in Sept.

 

We just signed our kids up to start at 3.5. However, since our nanny was the former head teacher at a preschool, you could say they've been in "preschool" since 18 months!

 

My kids will be 3 on June 29th. We signed them up for preschool, two days a week from 9-1130. I think it'll be good for all of us. And it's a co-op program so I have lots of opportunities to be involved and the program is just great.

 

I did not read the replies but here is my 5 cents..

we put dd in at 2.5 for two hours a day twice a week. she thrived. She has always been way ahead academically and socially...then changed to 3 hours 3 days a week for 3.5 and 4.5 then K was LESS at only 2.5 hours a day. GO FIGURE.

now the boys we just put in at 3.5 for 2 hours three times a week. they are thriving now. they were not ready last year ...

i believe ALL children who are not in any day care setting should have atleast one year of preschool prior to entering K. More for social aspects than actual learning...whether you teach them at home or not many kids need it