Will your DC go to preschool or some other program at 3?

Mjmksb04

I am thinking way ahead here. There are a few 3 year programs in my area, but it seems like all of them start at stupid times where I wouldn't be able to pick up or drop off without interfering with work. Example: One is a few days a week from 8:30-11:30. No pick up before 8:15, I have to be at work by 8am. I can't depend on taking an early lunch every single week to pick him up at 11:30. It would be awesome if any of these programs somewhat accomodated people a little bit or started at different times, but I know that isn't possible. And my H travels all the time for work so he isn't really an option for drop offs/pick ups. So I doubt that DS will do any kind of program at 3 and just start preschool at 4. As a sidebar, I don't think that I went to any school until I was 4 anyway so I doubt it makes a huge difference. I just thought that if a 3 year program was available he might as well go. When will your DC start school?

umbcpt

DS started preschool at 28 months...but it was a Montessori school with before/aftercare and a five day/week curriculum.  It was actually cheaper than daycare, I was shocked.  I had to find a program like this that had the before and aftercare, because my work hours were not conducive to other preschool programs in the area.  FWIW, though, I used an in home daycare, and if I authorized it, she would have taken DS to/from preschool and although I would have paid less to her, I would have compensated her for the driving and inconvenience.  Several other home daycares I looked into also took kids to and from school for working parents, whether preschool or elementary.  So it may be worth talking to your daycare provider, or if it is center based, they may have a preschool curriculum when they turn 2-3. 

hiltyn78

My DD will b/c my Mom owns a Montesorri preschool!  Unfortunately,e ven though my Mom owns it, her times are awful for me to figure out how I'll do pick up & drop off.  I have no idea how we'll do it but I'm going to figure it out...hopefully w/ a lot of help from my 'rents.

shouldbworkin

I was planning on sending DS to a separate preschool when he turned 3.  I would have paid extra to drop him off early and FIL was going to pick him up 3x a week and take him back to his daycare which was just down the street.  I would have been paying for FT daycare and an extra $3k for preschool.  Our daycare ended up closing because they moved OOT and I ended up finding a great preschool down the street from our house.  My kids go there M-F now and DS gets FT preschool (8:30 am to 3:30 pm) with option before/after care for the same price I paid for an inhome daycare.  It has worked out great for us.  As much as I hated to switch, I am glad I was forced to look into other options. 

bumpuser511563

yes DS will go at 3, but I would go with the daycare he is enrolled in. They have that program there and would be a great help with aftercare.

Pesky

DD will start around 3 but our daycare doubles as a preschool and has private kindergarten too.  One stop shopping.

jlw2505

My daycare has an amazing preschool program.  The kids move into a transistion room at 2 1/2 (from the toddler program) and stay until they are at least 3 and potty trained.  The school does a camp program over the summer so my DD who turned 3 this past June and was potty trained was held in the transistion (pre1 room) for the summer and than moved to Pre2 in Sept.  This is basically preschhol for 3 year olds.  She will most likely stay in this room through the summer camp program unless it is a numbers issue (last summer they got this rooms numbers down really low due to student counts and only had 1 teacher vs the normal staffing numbers).  She will move to pre3 in the fall which is 4 year old preschool.  The following fall she will start kindergarten but the school does have a great PreK program and also a great school age program which offers before and after school care until grade 5 and also vacation programs.  We are debating between doing that and the school districts before/after care and vacation programs. My daycare does bus the school age kids for an extra fee.

My 3 1/2 year old is in a special speech class with the school districts Early Chidlhood Special Ed program.  The class is every Monday from 9-11 during the school year.  The only way I am able to do this is my FIL.  He retired and volunteered to drive her both ways.  We would have had to do private lessons and pay for them if it were not for my FIL.

anglynn1124

My DD goes to a home care provider right now and we are very happy with her and there is a boy there that is 4.5 who she puts on the bus for preschool 3 days a week, so I know its an option if we decide to stay with our home daycare until then..But there is a new center that has opened up close by that looks awesome and I looked at their website and they offer many programs going up to kindergarten and even after school care for up to age 12, so we might place DD there around age 2 for a more structured learning environment.  It's a lot to think about for sure !

luvmagoldn

My boys will start preschool in the fall.  They turn three tomorrow. 

My boys are home with a nanny so I am trying to find a place with a start time where I can drop them off in the morning on my way to work, then the nanny can pick them up afterwards.  She could do drop off and pick up but I really want to be involved if at all possible.

blondie75

The center DD is at right now goes through PreK and the preschool and preK program is really good.   So our plan is to keep her there.

gypsywitch

DD's in FT daycare now at a center and they teach the kids there already...she will be moving up to their pre-school when she turns 3.

molldoll71

Billy's daycare has a preschool prgram too - some kids just come for the morning pre-school.  So he gets both - preschool and daycare.  Most daycare centers around here ofter a preschool program once they are around 3.

mauceddie

What will change for you when your child turns 4? Here the 3 yo preschool is typically 2 days, and 4 yp preschool is typically 3 days.

I have my DC in a centre and she does plenty of activities that I think negate any requirement for preschool. She'll go to kindergarten next year, no school before that. (And there's no 'formal' preschool component to her daycare like the other posters).

YellowBride

My kids are at a home provider who I love and I've been struggling with this very question. I was just about to sign DD1 up for preschool next year two days per week and the preschool (church-based) offered full day care. I would have had to pay for that PLUS the home daycare full-time (she can't do part-time plus I need the full-time spot for the summer).

I am starting to rethink this idea. I think I will just send DD to the church preschool full-time when she is 4 for a number of reasons - the money, the complexity of managing two places, teh fact that she already receives socialization and some learning at the home daycare. I think going at 4 will be plenty of prep for kindergarten. I also like that my girls are together all day right now.

It is really hard when you are a working mom to figure this stuff out!

AshlynsMom

My daughter started preschool this year at age 4 for a few different reasons:

We LOVED our daycare provider.  Loved loved loved.  She was beyond amazing.

DD is stinking brilliant and was obviously lightyears ahead of every other 3 year old on the planet academically anyway

The timing issues of anything less than fullday for her just weren't going to work for us

We enrolled her in one activity (her choice) at age 3 so she could get used to having a class-like setting before starting preschool

My work has an on-site preschool (they take 3 year olds, but not many) so it made sense to wait until she could go there