question about preschool

I don't know anything about preschool. Do kids usually start at 3 or 4? Is there a difference between preschool and pre-k? Or is preschool the year before kindergarten called pre-K but it's the same as preschool?

I feel like I'm behind b/c my friends have known exactly what schools their kids would go to from birth and I haven't the slightest idea.

 

You can start your kids whenever you want.

For us:

Leah started at exactly 3YO and is doing her last year of pre-school (or PreK) and then she will start Kindergarten in August. When she was 3 she did 2 days a week and at and 4 and currently, she does 3 days a week. So she did 3 full years of preschool (2 preschool and one year of VPK or PreK). To me anything before Kindergarten is pre-school. ardon:

The boys will start preschool at 3 going on 4 this August. They will go 3 days a week. I just went to local preschools and asked for a tour and said I am looking into options. They gave me a tour and info about finances. Then DH and I sat down and picked what was best for them and us.

 

How did you find the preschools? In the phone book or by driving around or recommendations from people you knew?

 

Around here most preschools start at age 3 and you have to be 3 by Sept. 1 (they follow the K cut off). And then you need to be 4 by Sept. 1 to start the 4 year old program. So you go to preschool for 2 years and then start K. Some public schools around here have Pre-K, but it's on a "need basis" and you have to apply and be accepted based on income, speech, IEP, etc. So that is not an option for us.

Some preschools start at 2, but none around here do.

So my two started 3 year old preschool last fall (they were 3.5 in Sept.) and then this fall, they will go to 4 year old preschool and then the following year (Aug. 2011) they will go to K.


I found preschools by looking in the phone book and word of mouth. My twins are not going to the same preschool as my oldest DD went to. I found one for them that offered a 10% sibling discount of each of their tuitions each month. :good: And I definitely toured a few preschools to see which I like the "feel" of best.

 

Our kids all started at 3, two days a week for 2 1/2 hours. Then when they were 4, they went up to 3 days a week, 2 1/2 hours per day. The only reason I didn't keep L&L home this year & start them at 4 instead was because, with the preschool I wanted them to attend, if you don't get them in at 3, it's almost impossible to get them in at 4 because they run such a long waiting list. All of my kids have gone to the same preschool. I found it by word of mouth & we love it.

I've never known what people mean by pre-k. I assume it's another word for preschool. ardon:

 

I know about the local preschools from talking to friends and coworkers. Around here preschool usually starts at 3, but we do have a couple of 2 year old programs. Preschool for 3 year olds is typically 2 mornings a week (at least in my area), and 4 year old preschool is 3 mornings a week.

My school district has pre-k for all, so we are actually doing that instead of 4 year old preschool, and that is 5 mornings a week. My girls will start when they are 4 1/2 (because they need to turn 4 before september and they are march babies). We have opted to not do a year of preschool before pre-k because our sitter is doing a great job teaching them their letters, numbers, etc.

 

I found a preschool that I would like my girls to go to just by taking walks with my girls and passed by one and called on it and they can start at 2 1/2 yrs and have to be potty trained. Problem for me is the money it would be 2 days for 2 1/2 hours $50.00 a week per child they do give 10% of for second child but still we cant afford this right now and really bummed about it. We only have one car so this is the best place for us only 10/15 min walk but would really suck on rainy or really cold days. My pedi recommend that they should go to preschool for speech reason (They are alittle behind)So anyways not sure what were going to do. I wont send them until they are 3ys so I still have some time to win the lottery or get a job. :rotflmbo:

 

I found mine through word of mouth/reputation. And the fact that I drive by it about 10 times a week . We did two years of preschool (they are in their second year). Two mornings at 3 1/2 to 4, and then 3 mornings this year (just turned 5). I also got a discount for sibling/twin, so make sure you ask the schools you check out. Liam will start in September and do two years as well.

Around here, some are 2 years 9 months and some are 3 years.

 

Around here most of the preschools start at age 2. I knew where most of my neighbors had sent their kids for preschool so when it was time to look, that is where I started. I also went to a preschool fair at my local library.

My girls started at age 3 3 days a week from 10-2. If we had stayed at the same school for 4 year old class, they would have been doing 9:30-2:30 5 days a week, but I switched them to the FREE pre-K which is at the elementary school they are going to be going next year. They go to school for 2 1/2 hours a day five days a week.

 

I think Pre-K is just another name for the second year of preschool, but I'm not sure.

 

Mine go to a daycare that has a preschool program incorporated. I needed full days three times a week, so that works for us. They consider it "pre-K". Next year, my twins will be going to Jr. K which is a young 5's Kindergarten that our distict has. It is not preschool or pre-K, but rather a Kindergarten program geared for the younger 5 yr. old. They'll do that 1/2 day 5 days a week and then the 3 days that I work, they will go to and after school daycare/latch key that will help reinforce what they are doing in class. Most of the preschools around here start at age 3, but there are so many out there that it's def. not the be all end all. Like Montessori preschools start younger around here. Some are 1/2 days, some are only a couple of hours and it varies on the # of days/week.

 

Mine went to a church program starting at 2 for 2 days a week 4hours a day. At 3, they attend 3 days a week for 4 hours. This year, they attend a full day PreK class in the school system. If they weren't enrolled in the public school prek, they would have attended VPK (voluntary pre k) which is 5 days a week for 3 hours and FREE in Florida. The church program is held at our church and I knew many people who were happy with the program. The current class is at the school where I teach.