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Pre-School and Daycare
Planning ahead -- what to do about preschool?
Hi there, I'm usually on the Toddlers 24+ board, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I'm hoping you can help.
Curly is 2 years 3 months old. He's very bright and learns quickly. I am anxious for him to enter preschool, but since his birthday is in October, I think he's going to have to wait until he's almost four to enter a public preschool.
However, Curly can already do what a lot of preschoolers are learning. He knows all of his capital letters and most of the sounds they make. He can count pretty reliably to 30, and is learning 31-40. He knows all his colors and knows several shapes. His speech is very advanced and he can speak 6+ word sentences. I think, with the rate he is learning now, he would be bored at preschool by the time he's 4.
Is there any other option for a middle-income military family like us? We can't afford private preschool, and I don't want to wait for public preschool. How early can we start considering preschool for real? What else can we do for our budding Einstein?
Thank you for your help!
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Re: Planning ahead -- what to do about preschool?
For starters, I'm not a preschool expert, as DS is not even in one yet.
I do know that there are several local programs with a 2 year old program. Is anything like that available near you?
Also...knowing letters, shapes, numbers will not make your LO bored of preschool. DS knows of all of those things as well, but I know he still has a ton to learn when it comes to social interactions. Not to mention that he has started loving to play pretend, and I think he would have more fun doing it with peers rather than his little sister and his mom. Just learning how to be away from me, be in a group of kids, follow directions, etc. are all things he can learn at preschool.
I don't know. How would I find out?
Seriously, and sorry, there is no sentence in the world that grates on my nerves like this one.
I was listening to a director of a great preschool talk the other day, and she said it best - I wanted to stand and applaud. I will pass it on - her words not mine, although I whole heartedly agree.
She said (to parents of preschoolers - 2, 3, and 4 y/os) "If you come to me and tell me your child is bored, I will tell you that I am sorry your child isn't very bright. Bright kids do not get bored in play based learning programs. They figure out how to create more, do more, and challenge themselves."
MDO? City recreation center programs? Your sweet (undoubtably bright) child just needs to play right now. Really not trying to be sassy, but i just don't think your ideas/thoughts/beliefs are quite right on this issue.
GL, I truly hope you find a play based program that he can enjoy.
DD is in the same position, as are at least half thr children in her class. She is not bored. Very little of her school is focused on academics...more on social learning, social studies, skills, and music.
We have no options here for free preschool. We just budget the cost.
Ditto PP's. I think you're making an assumption here that may well not be true.
Pre-school is MUCH more about learning how to be in school than it is about the academics. I think he'll enjoy learning the ropes of how to handle a structured day, stand in line, interact with peers, learn songs, hear books, etc.
It's not a race and he's not so far out in front of the pack that he won't be able to relate to them or enjoy a class room with them.
His main job at this age is to explore his world.
We purposely didn't start pre-school until age 4. We spent the years before that encouraging them to be children. They will never again have a time in their lives where their #1 job is to play and explore. Once you start school it's going to be school or work on a regular basis for the rest of their lives.
I'd take that time and look at other forms of enrichment. If you don't work make it your goal to get him out into nature regularly. Take him to children's and science museums where he can explore and learn and see things that are only in books once he's in a class room.
Trust me when I tell you that he will learn WAY more from 1:1 time with you than he will from a pre-school class.
Foster his PASSION for learning instead of the actual learning itself at this age and you're going to give him the best leg up academically that any parent could ever hope for.
Total score: 6 pregnancies, 5 losses, 2 amazing blessings that I'm thankful for every single day.
I absolutely agree with this. Especially the bolded part.
DD had no interactions with other kids her age, and really wasn't left alone with anyone other than an immediate relative She adjusted to preschool beautifully, plays so well, truly adores her teachers. It's more than shapes and ABC's.
I also want to add that in DD's 3 year old preschool class there are 13 kids. By Christmas i'd say at least half of them had already turned 4 or were about to turn 4. The teacher said that you can definitely tell who was 4 and who wasn't, but mostly in their mannerisms and how they take direction, not in what they know or how/what they are learning. .