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Parenting
IYO: is preschool necessary?
Moreso from an educational standpoint that a social one. We are contemplating not sending J to preschool. He goes to a dayhome 2 days per week. Including our normal everyday stuff, he gets quite a bit of social interaction with kids and adults.
Then I have people telling me that he may miss out on some learning stuff. Most of the preschools I have found are very relaxed about their teaching. Which I think is good since I don't think that my 3/4 year old needs to have the rigors of school quite yet. We work on some stuff at home, but J has very little interest in learning how to write letters or numbers. So I don't push it. Honestly, I would be fine with sending him to kindergarten when he's 5.
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Re: IYO: is preschool necessary?
IMO it is important. Not just for the social part but it gets the kids ready for school and used to the structure of a school day. Kindergarten now a days is very different from when we went. There is hardly no play involved, a lot of work and even homework.
ditto everything you said.
The kids go to MDO 2x a week (starts next week WOOT) and honestly can't imagine putting them in a "more structured" environment until they are at least 4.
They have plenty of time for school.
This.
I totally get this. But somedays I think that there will be plently of time for all of that. So, why rush it now. But then again, I don't want my child to be the one who isn't down with how school works=P
From a learning standpoint, I don't think it's that important for dd. I do alot of learning activites with her and she already knows most of the things that they will be teaching in her pre school.
For my dd it is important for the classroom structure. She is very social, and I think may have a tough time not talking when the teacher is for example.
I think so. DS goes to an in-home preschool and they have a good mixture of learning and playing. He learns Chinese (the teacher is from China and speaks only Chinese to the kids), learns numbers, letters, writing, sharing, etc.
I think it is also going to be beneficial to him when he starts kindergarten next year. He is used to going to school 5 days a week (I work FT and DH is in grad school FT). He understands following the rules (as much as a 4 year old can). I think it lays a good foundation for them.
I think it's important and it has been shown that kids do better in kindergarten if they've had some sort of preschool.
Instead of MDO, why not send him to nursery school 2 or 3 days a week?
I don't have a child in that age, so everything I say here is purely academic.
I think it depends on what you would want to get out of preschool and/or how you feel about the current state of education.
Kindergarten is NOT about "play" anymore -- this, from what I have researched/read (I work in education) is not a good thing. Children under the age of 7 learn primarily through play.
Of course they can learn to read, do math, etc. The question is, should they? And a lot of the research shows that just because they learn these skills in preschool and kindergarten, in the long run, it does not make them any more prepared than their counterparts who learned these things later.
So...based on what YOU believe is important, etc., you could look for a preschool that was more academic or more child-centered (play).
I recommend this book or any other by David Elkind, among others.
I think we would send our son to a preschool perhaps more because he'll be an only child and would probably benefit from being around other children. But I would not send him to any preschool program that was primarily academic.
Okay read that wrong!
I do think preschool is necessary for most children. I DO NOT think "years" of preschool are necessary. 1 year tops prior to kindergarten.
Yes, I do think preschool is necessary from all standpoints.
One of my mommy friends was a kindergarten teacher in her pre-children life and she definately believes in a minimum year of preschool before kindergarten and went to great lengths to get her DD into a 4 year old program. She said that socially it is not just how to interact with other kids, but learning the routines in the classroom, being able to handle a full day of structured activities, listening well to teachers, following their directions and all of these intangible things we all learned back then. And she also said that kindergarten is now the old first grade and that academics are so stressed then that it is really a tough adjustment to have the academics thrust upon a kid who is also learning the social school rules... tends to be overwhelming... and why stress them if you don't have to.
I didn't even go to kindergarten much less preschool. And look how I turned out!
Maybe that's not a great example. lol.
I think it is for some kids and not for others. I think it's important for the social aspect and for learning to follow a more structured day. Academically, some kids may need it, some may not.
I can tell you that I did not go to any preschool. I was painfully shy as a child. I did not talk to any of the other kids the whole kindergarden year. I think socially I would have benefited a ton from a preschool program. Academically I have always been at the top of the class. I had no trouble following directions or adjusting to the schedule. I just needed the social interaction.
DD is also very shy, but she is doing really well in her daycare/preschool program. She's in a small center, and her class is primarily 2-4 year olds. I can see the change in her socially from 2-3 years. I think she'll be much better prepared for kindergarden because of that.
Some kids are more social but may have more trouble adjusting to the structure of school. Some may need the head start learning things like letters and numbers so they aren't behind and overwhelmed by the pace of the class.
I think some sort of preschool (a couple days/week, full time...) would be beneficially for all kids. It might not be necessary for all, but it would be beneficial for all.
Charlotte Ella 07.16.10
Emmeline Grace 03.27.13
I don't teach elementary school, so what do I know, but I guess my question is: isn't this what they should be learning in Kindergarten? In other words, why should they have learned this before starting school?
It sounds to me that the curriculum has made it hard for Kindergarten teachers. But maybe the solution should be to change the Kindergarten curriculum! And not to expect that children be prepared for it earlier and earlier?
I feel it is necessary. I am amazed at the difference one year of preschool has made for my son. He went 2 mornings a week.
In Sept. he will be going 5 mornings a week. We were fortunate enough to get picked in the lottery for Universal Pre-K. I think this will make a tremendous difference for him. Our kindergarten is full-day.
It's necessary for my sanity, LOL.
Whatever preschool decision we make this year [because we just moved I am just now tackling this] it will be a play-focused 2 mornings a week deal, that will likely be like his MMO from last year, which was 1 morning a week.
At his age and in our situation, it's about me getting a break and him meeting other kids since we're new to an area.
As far as an educational standpoint? I don't know; I'd say one year is necessary, anything else is just bonus, more of a break for you. Since you do a lot socially and you get a break, I would say one year of structured preschool would be more than enough.
Jackson won't start K until 3 years from now, so we're in no hurry to find the structured preschool.