PK vs. K3 vs. preschool?

ldcoffel · September 2012

What's the difference between these? On the Preschool board people seem to be referring to the same thing, but different names?

DD goes to a public school preschool in a class of 3/4/5s. After that you go to Kg. I thought PKg was like, too old for preschool, but missed the cut off, or not mature enough...in our case, she would remain in preschool.

Mrs.Hizzo · September 2012

Heck if I know, I can't figure it out, either. I know in Denver proper there is "Pre K" which is a publicly funded class for 4 year olds, at the school where they will attend kindergarten. We're in the burbs, and in the few instances where schools have public preschools, they're called "preschool". Most people in my area send their kids to a private preschool, and again, it's called "preschool." My son is attending a private not-quite-ready-for-kindergarten class this year, and it's called "transition" (because it's a different program than the 3 and 4 year old preschool offered at the same location and they wanted a distinction).

penguingrrl · September 2012

Around here preK is the year before K, when most of the kids are 4 (usually even a private preK program will follow the local school's cutoff, so 4 by Oct 15 if the cutoff to start K is 5 by Oct 15). If your kid goes to school at 2.5-3 it's either called nursery school or preschool. The nursery school DD2 will be going to (we start Tues) also offers advanced preK for kids who either just barely miss the cut off for K or whose parents have chosen to hold them back even if they make the cut off. Not sure what K3 is.

MrsBalletStar05 · September 2012

It really depends on your area and public or private schooling.

Here, PreK is part of the public school system. It is not mandatory, and it is funded separately...they will only accept a certain number of kids, but you are part of the public school system and it is at every regular elementary school. It is for 4 year olds. Most people take part in this.

Also, here, PreK3 is for developmentally delayed children only. It's the transition from Early Intervention (which stops at age 3) to when the child is transferred to the public school system. Again, part of the public school system.

I know many mothers who enroll their children in private things called playschool, pre-school, or mother's day out, anywhere from age 1 up until age 5, or when they start Kindergarten. Here it is mandatory that at age 5, children be enrolled in a learning program.

MrsBalletStar05 · September 2012

It is all different. I know in other areas, Early Intervention isn't even called that. Here, it is typically referred to as Sooner Start. I think I only call it Early Intervention because of TB.

mrswright2006 · September 2012

It's even more confusing in our state- Preschool is ages 3-5 who miss the cut off for school, and JrK is for kids who are being redshirted - our state madates all kids at 5 be in a school setting, so most schools have Jr K to offset those who aren't ready for K yet. Even DD's school (around 60 kids per grade) has a full Jr K class.

I think 3K is just another way of saying preK for 3 yo, but I could be wrong.

regenab · September 2012

Where we live Preschool is for 3 year olds. Pre-K (also known as Voluntary Pre-K, it is a free program to every FL child) is for 4 year olds that turn 4 before Sept. 1st. Kindergarten starts at 5 (turning 5 before Sept. 1st). I have never heard of K3.

Que*Syrah · September 2012

I am pretty sure the only thing our public schools offer right now is kindergarten. Although starting this year the cutoff date for K is being pushed back by a month until it reaches September 1 so they're going to be doing a pre-K for the kids who now miss the new cutoff.

Some districts (all districts?) have Head Start which is a free preschool program for low income families.

jnksmom · September 2012

I agree with others that it depends on where you are and what type of school your child attends. PK is pre-kindergarten for students the year before they start kindergarten which is offered at the public schools as well as private preschools. Some people refer to all years before kindergarten as preschool.

DD's school calls it K3 for 3 year olds who still have 2 years before kindergarten. K4 is the same as pre-k and K5 is for those who meet the cut-off day to start kindergarten but are waiting the extra year.

notkateanymore · September 2012

For me, I call preschool the place she went from 2-3yrs. 4k was the year at her private school before K.

Angela814 · September 2012

I don't know that there's really a huge difference. Here we have a public 4K program, which to me is the first year in formal school. I consider anything before that to be preschool, but I use PreK to abbreviate sometimes. I'd just assume that K2 or K3 is referring to the child's age. DD2 is starting a Kids Club 2 program through the YMCA tomorrow, so I suppose I could call that K2.

Want a personalized experience?

PK vs. K3 vs. preschool?

Re: PK vs. K3 vs. preschool?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards