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May 2017 Moms
mamatowildones
member
STM's preschool vs TK?
mamatowildones
member
For those of us with kids ages 3-5 what are your thoughts on preschool vs TK? Here is our situation. DS1 just started preschool at age 4. He will be an older kindergartener. So essentially, the plan was to keep him in preschool all of the next year as well and then he'll start Kindergarten when he is 5 almost 6. However, we have recently started looking at moving and the school district in that area doesn't offer preschool programs like ours does in our current city. The only option out there will be private and from what I've read, it's upwards of $400-600 a month. However, they do have TK available and DS will make the age cut off for that. My issue is that my sister is a preschool teacher and she is so against TK. She told me it's very structured and isn't like preschool where they have a different method of learning in a more relaxed environment. She made TK to sound like one teacher with a 30 student class and worksheets, etc. That sounds impossible to me, but people like that option because to the best of my knowledge, it's free. Anyone out there have any experience with TK? None of my friends have kids this age...
Re: STM's preschool vs TK?
Married 8/27/2011
BFP #1 9/28/2011 DS born 5/22/2012
BFP #2 4/24/2013 m/c 4/25/2013 at 4w
BFP #3 1/31/2014 DD born 10/14/2014
BFP #4 1/20/2016 m/c 2/12/2014 at 7w2d
BFP #5 8/19/2016 DS2 born 4/29/2017
BFP #6 3/7/2018 EDD 11/18/2018
DD will be 3 in April. We will be putting her in a MDO (Mother's Day Out) program through church. It's 2 days a week 9:30-2:15. It's very structured and teaches the basics. I'm not sure what I will do for her when she turns 4. I have the option to continue that until kindergarten. I would have to pay for some sort of private program in order to get her into a premium program where we will be living. I plan to supplement along with MDO. She already knows colors, shapes, ABCs, directions, etc. I'm not too worried and I know that MDO will help reenforce classroom rules, i.e. staying in line, raising hands, sharing, etc. The teacher to child ratio is 1 to 5. It's going to be a little less than $200 a month.
edit: words are hard
The free aspect is definitely appealing, but that might be what's bumping up the attendance, so that's a factor as well. Then again, if that's what that district offers (and not a preschool option), then maybe that's what works the best, in their experience, and it might be worth it to try out.
Also, you said your LO just started preschool---do you mean for the current term, like just started in January? If so, you might need more time to assess how he's responding/adapting to that current environment, to better gauge how he might do elsewhere and/or keep to the same. A lot can happen between now and May (and now and September), too, so where he's at now isn't necessarily a fail-proof indicator of how he could respond to TK.
Lastly, you won't totally screw him over school-wise, I promise. He's already in an educational program, you are doing right by him for putting him there, and the choice for next year will be made by you very thoughtfully and not on a whim or at the last minute. You're taking your time and thinking about it now, so that shows you'll make the right choice for your family! Try not to stress too much. Best of luck! (P.S. I know you said you're waiting until the next LO arrives, and then later, waiting for a house hunt and potential move---but I'd suggest to make arrangements for next year for his current program, assuming you won't be moving, just so there's a plan in place. Just this week we got our class/session assignments for the '17-18 school year, so you might want to think about that?)
I have a 5 year old in pre-k (5 1/2 days) this year, she will start kindergarten in the fall. And my almost 3 year old will start preschool (2 1/2 days a week) in the fall for a year, then do pre-k for a year, then kindergarten.
I'd take your sisters view point with a grain of salt. What she is saying may be hearsay. I can't imagine any pre-k program with 30 students and 1 teacher. That's more than likely over the states allowed ratio.
As an early childhood educator, I have no problem with a more structured environment. Kindergarten is much more structured than it used to be so I think if you can find a pre-k program that has aspects of structure and play equally it's the best bet. It's why I put my kids in two years of preschool in different programs. My 3 year olds preschool is much more play based (which is appropriate for her age) and the only structure they have is sitting in circle time to sing songs, read books. They also follow the same schedule each day, but their play time varies and is more choice based. My 5 year olds pre-k program is much more focused on "kindergarten readiness". She has circle time, calendar time, writing time, they focuse on specific letters/numbers/shapes each week and they have a short amount of play time. It is much more structured but I feel like she is going to be more than ready for kindergarten. I also will point out that I am much more of a fan of traditional education settings vs Montessori type schools so my opinion might be completely different than yours!
I think you have to take in to account what his kindergarten is going to be like and decide what kind of program he needs to be in before. Is it full-day? Is it 1 teacher? Kindergarten is a BIG transition. Preschool now is what kindergarten was 15 years ago and Kindergarten now is what first grade was.
Sweet Baby H 12.21.11
Sassy Baby P 03.26.14
Little Brother Due 05.22.17
Fwiw, in general I lean more toward a play-based philosophy for toddlers, so I'm not really that disappointed we won't be enrolling in TK.
Good luck!
B born 7/15/13, C born 3/2/15, #3 on the way May '17
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