Anyone not sending their 3 yo to preschool until they are 4?

bebemama · April 2010

Or does anyone have a four year old in preschool for the first year, if so how are they doing?

If you decided to wait, what was your reasoning?

AnnapolisLari · April 2010

DS will be starting this fall at 3 3/4. That will give him 2 years of preschool, which is plenty. Both my kids are December babies, and will be 5 3/4 when they start kindergarten.

penguingrrl · April 2010

I may not be because of cost. I'm in NYC and it's crazy expensive here (the cheapest I've seen was over 6K a year for 2 1/2 days a week) and we just can't afford it. At 4 we have universal pre-K so I'm guaranteed to be able to send her to something even if it's not a program I'm in love with. I'm looking into driving an hour since even with traveling costs it would be 1/2 as expensive and I'm not concerned about her making friends locally since we'll be moving before she starts K anyway.

Heidisean · April 2010

Giada starts in Sept and will be 4 years and 1 month when she starts. She is an Aug bday and we are sending her to preschool when she is 4 and 5 and k when she is 6. We don't see a need to rush her into school as there are no benefits to that so why do it. She is currently involved in sports, swimming, gymnastics, kindermusik and we belong to a stay at home mom's group and go to thing at least 2 times a week. She also plays with her cousins weekly. I would rather her be one of the older kids of her class than the youngest and struggling. Our cutoff is Sept 1 so she there will literally be kids in her class that were held back that are only 3 weeks younger so I only see holding her back as a positive. WHY THE RUSH?

DandR · April 2010

My girls got one year of Preschool before kindergarten. I did it for the "classroom behavior" part, they have plenty of social and educational opportunities at home. One year was enough for them.

penguingrrl · April 2010

Heidisean:
Giada starts in Sept and will be 4 years and 1 month when she starts. She is an Aug bday and we are sending her to preschool when she is 4 and 5 and k when she is 6. We don't see a need to rush her into school as there are no benefits to that so why do it. She is currently involved in sports, swimming, gymnastics, kindermusik and we belong to a stay at home mom's group and go to thing at least 2 times a week. She also plays with her cousins weekly. I would rather her be one of the older kids of her class than the youngest and struggling. Our cutoff is Sept 1 so she there will literally be kids in her class that were held back that are only 3 weeks younger so I only see holding her back as a positive. WHY THE RUSH?

We have no idea where we'll be living or what the cutoff will be or I would strongly consider holding J back. But if we're in NYC when she is 6 (very unlikely but possible if DH gets a postdoc here) they have a cutoff of Dec 31 and if you have a birthday before the deadline and try to hold them back they enroll them in first grade without having gone to K.

JOEBunny · April 2010

I am not doing it because I wanted some time with DS when he was small, but I do not want to have her in school any more than she has to be. I am a big fan of her being home with me. She gets plenty of social interaction in the afternoons on playdates and at the park. When she is 4, I have to send her 5 days a week and I hate that this is the only option here (at 4, the state has free pre-k for 6.5 hours per day, so the privates have it for 3-4 hours a day to compete, only a few schools have 4 day classes, and we did not get in to the one I applied to). It is a waste of valuable time IMO.

I have not been impressed with "early" education compared to a nurturing parent who is involved in the community with friends.

GingerSB · April 2010

AnnapolisLari:

DS will be starting this fall at 3 3/4. That will give him 2 years of preschool, which is plenty. Both my kids are December babies, and will be 5 3/4 when they start kindergarten.

Crazy, My kids both have December bdays but are starting kindergarten when they are 4 3/4.

I am interested to see responses, because I am considering only 1 year of preschool for DD2. Or maybe even no preschool.

DD1 goes to daycare and has never gone to preschool but DD 2 won't be going to daycare after this summer so I am not sure.

GingerSB · April 2010

Heidisean:
Giada starts in Sept and will be 4 years and 1 month when she starts. She is an Aug bday and we are sending her to preschool when she is 4 and 5 and k when she is 6. We don't see a need to rush her into school as there are no benefits to that so why do it. She is currently involved in sports, swimming, gymnastics, kindermusik and we belong to a stay at home mom's group and go to thing at least 2 times a week. She also plays with her cousins weekly. I would rather her be one of the older kids of her class than the youngest and struggling. Our cutoff is Sept 1 so she there will literally be kids in her class that were held back that are only 3 weeks younger so I only see holding her back as a positive. WHY THE RUSH?

This always pisses me off. My kid is going when she's supposed to go, and will be penalized because there'll be kids more than a year older than her.

AnnapolisLari · April 2010

My kids are also going when they are supposed to go. I'm not holding anyone back-- the cutoff here is Sept 30, and it was Sept 1 in Maryland where we lived until last month. They are well into the year. It's not as if they are Oct 1 birthdays with a Sept 30 cutoff.

JOEBunny · April 2010

GingerSB:
Heidisean:
Giada starts in Sept and will be 4 years and 1 month when she starts. She is an Aug bday and we are sending her to preschool when she is 4 and 5 and k when she is 6. We don't see a need to rush her into school as there are no benefits to that so why do it. She is currently involved in sports, swimming, gymnastics, kindermusik and we belong to a stay at home mom's group and go to thing at least 2 times a week. She also plays with her cousins weekly. I would rather her be one of the older kids of her class than the youngest and struggling. Our cutoff is Sept 1 so she there will literally be kids in her class that were held back that are only 3 weeks younger so I only see holding her back as a positive. WHY THE RUSH?

This always pisses me off. My kid is going when she's supposed to go, and will be penalized because there'll be kids more than a year older than her.

I wish schools would forbid this practice if there is not a really valid reason. It is super annoying that someones child will be more than a year older than my DD and be in her class. I am sure if you held her back 2 years, she would be even better than all the other kids.

UGAbride · April 2010

I won't do this, but my neighbor didn't send her daughter until she was 4, and she only had the one year of preschool (they kept her at the private church school for kindergarten this year though). She's a very bright and social little girl, so I don't think it matters that she only had one year of preschool!

luckyluvr · April 2010

Really, will 2 years in preschool teach them any more than 1? I think it's a scam on the part of daycare/preschool providers to get parents' money. DS will be going when he's 4 if we can afford it. I teach hs and can tell you that by the end of their "mandatory" education, you can't tell the difference between those who went 2 yrs., 1 yr. or not at all.

melmax · April 2010

Dd turned 3 in July and went to pre-school in september, I have no idea what all the "hype" is about. She goes SEVEN hours a week (3 days 9-11:30), that's nothing IMO. It's great socialization and good for her to learn to play, share, be in a social school setting, etc. It's not like I'm sending her 30 hours a week for god sakes. Sheesh...all the hype about not sending DC's to school too early is ridic.

shopgirl78 · April 2010

DS will be almost 4 when he starts Prek3 and almost 5 when he starts prek 4-sept bday; DD was barely 4 when she started Prek 4

firefightersgal · April 2010

My DD's birthday is in October, so she missed the cut-off for preschool/kindergarten by just a few weeks. She'll be almost 6 when she starts kindergarten. DH and I were the same way, though (all of us are October babies), and it was fine. It was kind of nice being the oldest in my class!

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