Preschool

I<3HelloKitty · #1 February 3rd, 2012, 08:32 AM

Are you planning to send your LO? At what age?

Ellie goes to a home daycare right now and I like the social aspect of it a lot. Next year her grandmothers will both be retired and they want to watch her but I think I'm going to leave her in daycare 2 days a week to socialize. When she's 2 and a half, MIL wants to take her to a preschool co-op one or two days a week.

sfarrow3 · #2 February 3rd, 2012, 08:35 AM

We will start her like we did Caden. He was 3. She will go actually next fall! That seems so soon.

Arei_720 · #3 February 3rd, 2012, 08:52 AM

We have a voluntary pre-k program here in Florida. They have to be 4 to start, but most of the kids were 5 in my DD's class and she was the youngest. It felt kind of weird seeing kids turning six in preschool. I was in kindergarten at 4! Maybe it's a new thing? I guess it doesn't matter, they're teaching stuff earlier than they did us. (I remember my mom complaining about this when I was little. "They're already teaching you guys that? I don't know what you're going to do in high school, when I can't help you with the math anymore!"

krislati · #4 February 3rd, 2012, 08:53 AM

I started Lily at 3 too, Probably the same with Tommy. I might even hold off on kindergarten a year depending on how mature he is. He will be one of the youngest in his class, so I want him to really be ready. He will literally just turn 5 before K starts, I'm sure that is the same with a lot of us.

sfarrow3 · #5 February 3rd, 2012, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krislati

I started Lily at 3 too, Probably the same with Tommy. I might even hold off on kindergarten a year depending on how mature he is. He will be one of the youngest in his class, so I want him to really be ready. He will literally just turn 5 before K starts, I'm sure that is the same with a lot of us.

You know I was worried about this too..but Caden is 4 and is reading and doing simple addition and subtraction in preschool.. He brought home a paper the other day and they were counting money. So he is overly ready for kindergarten. I know here in the public school system the kindergarten curriculum is usually letter recognition and sounds and some kids don't even know ABC's when they start here. Caden learned that when he was three.

krislati · #6 February 3rd, 2012, 09:20 AM

That is how our old preschool was, I was lucky with Lily because her bday is in October so she is usually one of the older ones. I'm not so worried about K as I am in other grades, while he learns that stuff in preschool the public school doesn't always go over it and they keep the kids on the same page so they tend to forget over time. I am worried about him keeping up when he gets into first and second with reading. I shouldn't say worried, I'm going to play it by ear. Lily learned the first 13 colonies and their capitals, counting to 20 in spanish all in preschool. They haven't gone over any of that yet and she is in 2nd grade. So I guess, I will let him determine if he is ready, if not I have no issues not starting K for a year.

Celine · #7 February 3rd, 2012, 09:27 AM

I didn't even think about pre-school till my friend mentioned she is putting her LO in one, b/c she wants him to learn how to read and write. My attitude is: our kids will have to learn and study for a long time when they start school. Now it's time to play and enjoy yourself. We'll wait till she is 3 maybe? Not sure.

That said, if I would find a nice school, I would put her in maybe a couple of days a week, so that she gets used to a more structured day w/o mom. I try to keep a routine but it's not like it would be in pre-school or daycare.

Irish_Wristwatch · #8 February 3rd, 2012, 09:30 AM

No i dont plan on sending Ross to Preschool, here they do 2 years of kindergarden (Jr Kinder and Sr Kinder) so he will start school at 4 as is

sfarrow3 · #9 February 3rd, 2012, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krislati

That is how our old preschool was, I was lucky with Lily because her bday is in October so she is usually one of the older ones. I'm not so worried about K as I am in other grades, while he learns that stuff in preschool the public school doesn't always go over it and they keep the kids on the same page so they tend to forget over time. I am worried about him keeping up when he gets into first and second with reading. I shouldn't say worried, I'm going to play it by ear. Lily learned the first 13 colonies and their capitals, counting to 20 in spanish all in preschool. They haven't gone over any of that yet and she is in 2nd grade. So I guess, I will let him determine if he is ready, if not I have no issues not starting K for a year.

OMG i know Im a little worried for Caden though for that same reason. Its like he knows all this info and when he goes to kindergarten he is either going to get really bored because he already knows it or forget everything... How is Lily doing being advanced but kinda held up with the other class? How did she do when she started kindergarten.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celine

I didn't even think about pre-school till my friend mentioned she is putting her LO in one, b/c she wants him to learn how to read and write. My attitude is: our kids will have to learn and study for a long time when they start school. Now it's time to play and enjoy yourself. We'll wait till she is 3 maybe? Not sure.

That said, if I would find a nice school, I would put her in maybe a couple of days a week, so that she gets used to a more structured day w/o mom. I try to keep a routine but it's not like it would be in pre-school or daycare.

You know I felt like that when he started coming home with homework. I was like really? Why are they pushing them like that? But he LOVES it! He will even want me to make up his problems for him so he can sit down and do math. I was worried at first that it would create him stress or something..ya know...

krislati · #10 February 3rd, 2012, 09:35 AM

She did really well in K but like you said a lot of the kids don't come in know their abc's and how to count, so they played catch up. That was in PA. I really wish I could have afforded the private school that went along with the preschool. It was like 700 a month, I just couldn't swing it. Here in MA I like the public schools much better as they differenciate in the classroom. Where the give the kids not up to level extra help and the kids above level harder lessons. For instance Lily's class has 3 different spelling lists, the kids that are just learning English or that are behind have basic words, the advanced kids have Harder words and the average kids have grade level words. Plus 2 aides in the class.

sfarrow3 · #11 February 3rd, 2012, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krislati

She did really well in K but like you said a lot of the kids don't come in know their abc's and how to count, so they played catch up. That was in PA. I really wish I could have afforded the private school that went along with the preschool. It was like 700 a month, I just couldn't swing it. Here in MA I like the public schools much better as they differenciate in the classroom. Where the give the kids not up to level extra help and the kids above level harder lessons. For instance Lily's class has 3 different spelling lists, the kids that are just learning English or that are behind have basic words, the advanced kids have Harder words and the average kids have grade level words. Plus 2 aides in the class.

I really like that! DH is totally against private school, so its a no go for us right now.

KMH · #12 February 3rd, 2012, 09:40 AM

I doubt that Claire will attend preschool. I am strongly considering home-schooling her.

The public schools where we live are terrible, so that is definitely off the table. There are good private schools, but they are really pricey. My friend spends $15,000 per year on private preschool for her 2 kids, and that is ridiculous to me! DH is military and we move often, so homeschooling might be the best, most stable education for our kids.

sfarrow3 · #13 February 3rd, 2012, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KMH

I doubt that Claire will attend preschool. I am strongly considering home-schooling her.

The public schools where we live are terrible, so that is definitely off the table. There are good private schools, but they are really pricey. My friend spends $15,000 per year on private preschool for her 2 kids, and that is ridiculous to me! DH is military and we move often, so homeschooling might be the best, most stable education for our kids.

$15,000/ yr!

inyourhonor · #14 February 3rd, 2012, 10:32 AM

Nope. They will be home with me until Kindergarten. We tried pre-k with my oldest and it just wasn't working so we pulled him. I'm glad.

I taught him his abc's, how to count, colors, shapes, etc. I will do the same with my other boys.

Jule'sMomInOR · #15 February 3rd, 2012, 01:12 PM

Right now we have a nanny and I absolutely LOVE this arrangement because I WFH and can see Juliana constantly. I don't have to wake up early to get her dressed and out the door. On the other hand, the nanny has her out of the house for about 2-3 hours per day for activities, and sometimes those are my most peaceful hours of the day, so it doesn't seem like a half-day preschool would be much of a stretch.

Our original game plane was to start half-day preschool at 2, but I'm not sure now. Did I mention I hate to wake up early? The nanny does so much for us including light housekeeping that I'm spoiled. I work 6:30 am - about 3:15 pm and the half day preschool is over by 12:30. Nap is until about 2-2:30. I'm thinking I might be able to get away with no childcare other than the half day preschool, but I'd be pretty stressed out. And then I'd have to leave work in the middle of the day to pick her up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gwyndyn

Next year her grandmothers will both be retired and they want to watch her but I think I'm going to leave her in daycare 2 days a week to socialize. When she's 2 and a half, MIL wants to take her to a preschool co-op one or two days a week.

My mom is already retired and MIL will be by next year, but neither lives nearby. When I first went back to work, my mom lived with us for 3 months and took care of Juliana. It was really nice before she also helped with cooking, cleaning, etc and DH and I could actually go out on dates. She'd love to come back for the summer and do the same thing, but we can't really tell our nanny to just go find something else to do for a few months and expect her to come back and work for us. She's awesome and we don't want to lose her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KMH

I doubt that Claire will attend preschool. I am strongly considering home-schooling her.

The public schools where we live are terrible, so that is definitely off the table. There are good private schools, but they are really pricey. My friend spends $15,000 per year on private preschool for her 2 kids, and that is ridiculous to me! DH is military and we move often, so homeschooling might be the best, most stable education for our kids.

Is that for full-time or part-time? If it's full-time, for 2 kids that actually seems like a good deal to me. Our nanny costs over $20,000 per year and that's only for one kid. And then we still have to pay extra for all of the activities (music, art, Gymboree, etc) that are included with preschool.

The Montessori preschool here is around $10,000 per year, per child for full-time and they're closed 2 months out of the year so I still would need a nanny for that time.

noworries · #16 February 3rd, 2012, 03:30 PM

I wasn't sure if we were going to do preschool or not but I think I have decided to send Eva to a coop preschool this fall (she will be 4). It's only 3 days a week for a few hours per day and parents are very involved since it's a coop. I think Eva will really enjoy it. I don't expect her to learn anything academically, she already reads at a 3rd grade level and knows all the math, social study, science stuff that she will be learning in Kindergarten. But, I think the classroom experience will be good for her and she is a really social little girl so I think she will have fun. Then, she will do Kindergarten the next year and we will see how that goes. Depending on how that goes, I may be homeschooling.

As far as Isaac. Probably the same. He will do preschool for one year before Kindergarten.

sunshyne57 · #17 February 3rd, 2012, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irish_Wristwatch

No i dont plan on sending Ross to Preschool, here they do 2 years of kindergarden (Jr Kinder and Sr Kinder) so he will start school at 4 as is

Ditto this!

Celine · #18 February 4th, 2012, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noworries

I wasn't sure if we were going to do preschool or not but I think I have decided to send Eva to a coop preschool this fall (she will be 4). It's only 3 days a week for a few hours per day and parents are very involved since it's a coop. I think Eva will really enjoy it. I don't expect her to learn anything academically, she already reads at a 3rd grade level and knows all the math, social study, science stuff that she will be learning in Kindergarten. But, I think the classroom experience will be good for her and she is a really social little girl so I think she will have fun. Then, she will do Kindergarten the next year and we will see how that goes. Depending on how that goes, I may be homeschooling.

As far as Isaac. Probably the same. He will do preschool for one year before Kindergarten.

Wow that's great that Eva is so advanced. Did you teach her all of it? How did you do it?

noworries · #19 February 4th, 2012, 05:26 AM

It really just comes naturally to her. I mean, yes, we do teach her but but she loves learning and picks it up so easily.
And forget what I said before about preschool, DH and I had a long talk last night and have officially decided to homeschool.

midnight_starr · #20 February 4th, 2012, 06:55 AM

DH & I have been discussing this a lot lately.. We do plan to send Adeline just haven't decided if we want to start this August when she turns 2 or wait until she is 3.. If we send her this year when she makes 2 it would just be 2 or 3 days a week and half days.. My main reason for wanting to start her early is for her to have that social interaction with other kids.. Since I stay home with her she doesn't really have that interaction with kids her age.. I think it would benefit her well and she would for sure be ready to start school when she turns 5.