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Attachment Parenting
StarlitRN
member
Preschools - what age?
StarlitRN
member
DH and I have been discussing when/if we want to enroll DD in preschool. There is an amazing school in our town that is mostly Reggio with a little bit of Montessori mixed in (basically my dream school). It starts at 2yrs and is 8:30-12 everyday.
We can afford the tuition and the director said that spots are easier to get at 2yrs vs 3yrs....BUT I am having a hard time stomaching sending my 2yr old to "school" 5 days a week (She would start in August)! I stay at home with her and we do a ton of activities/teaching at home but I know I am not a trained instructor so not giving her the same as they would!
DH is all for it since he thinks it will make life easier for me (he is deploying soon and we are hoping I will be pg with #2 at that time). I'm so torn though! She is still my "baby"!
So are you guys planning on doing preschool? If so what age?
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Re: Preschools - what age?
Our DS is going to be three in April. In the fall, we are planning on sending him to a program that is 2 1/2 hours two or three days per week. I feel like we push kids into school too early these days.....I know it's important that they don't get behind BUT they don't hold kids back anymore in kindergarden like they did when I was little. The result: lost of kids (especailly boys) who are not ready and are being pushed into first grade. With that in mind, each child is different. If our son does really well and wants "more school" after a few months in the fall, we can opt to increase the amount of days her goes to preschool. Hope this helps!
I agree that 5 days/week is a lot of school for a 2 yo, but lots of kids go to "school" (daycare or whatever) earlier than that and for longer and do just fine. If this is your dream school and you really think you'll miss your chance to get a slot if you don't send DD now, then go for it. I'm sure she'll do great.
That said, I don't intend to send my DS to preschool at all. In fact, I'm leaning toward homeschooling, and I don't think we'd even start that in earnest until age 6/1st grade. In the meanwhile, DS has plenty of opportunities for exploring, socializing, and free play, and I do my best to inspire him to learn more about whatever he happens to be taking an interest in at any given time. I honestly don't think he's missing out on anything by not being in school.
DD started at age 2 years, 3 months (almost 4 months). I initally enrolled her 2 mornings/week 9-12, but she loved it so much that I was leaving her until 3pm on those days by early October. I had her with a nanny 1 other day/week (I work freelance) and still had 2 full days to do stuff with her. It felt like a good balance for us. Not sure if doing anything less than 5 days is an option available to you.
As far as what you say about "school" and being a "trained instructor," I think it's helpful to remember that the biggest thing going on in preschool is interaction with other kids. Maybe you can do that on your own, but for me, pretty much all the kids around us were doing preschool, so we wouldn't have been able to do many playdates on the days they were in school anyway. It's possible that this would have happened developmentally anyway, but I found that being in school really helped DD share better and interact with kids better (being more empathetic, etc.) and also helped her play more independently when at home. In addition, her language skills really sky-rocketed, but I guess we were in a unique situation because she wasn't exposed to a lot of English at home.
We're planning on sending our first born to either the Waldorf or Montessori we liked when we visited in January when she's 3. They also mentioned trying to apply earlier because of waitlists. Can I ask what the difference is between Waldorf/Montessori/Reggio. I googled but just curious what you think?
No, I wouldn't send my children to a 5 day a week preschool. Not at 2, not even at 4.
DS will be starting preschool this fall, at 3.5. He is going for two mornings a week.
And honestly, it sounds like you are uncomfortable with the idea, and are only considering it because of the type of program. Have you toured other schools in the area? There might be some great places that don't have the labels of Reggio Emilia or Montessori.
DS1 was 2.5 when he started preschool. I was massively pregnant with DS2 at the time, so that's why we sent him - I needed at least a little bit of time without DS1 around when DS2 was a newborn. He went twice a week, 2.5 hrs a day. But! If i hadn't been pregnant, we would have waited to send him anywhere until he was 3 or 4.
Five days seems really long for a young two-year-old to me, just from a physical standpoint - I know my son (just turned four) is really tired on school nights.
DS1 is now in preschool five days a week (CPS - we're in Chicago, too), and he goes for 2.5 hours a day. He really likes it, especially now that he's older, but like Anna said, it's mainly just playing and hanging out with other kids - the activities are secondary in my mind. I really wouldn't worry about trying to recreate lessons at home - playing is much, much more important for kids.
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
Mind if I ask why?
I don't have any deep philosophical convictions about it...I just enjoy our time together at home, and would like to delay him going off to school five days a week until he is in kindergarten. Plus, he entertains DD pretty well...she is in for quite the shock when he is at preschool, ha ha. She will have to hang out with boring ole' mom instead.