Author Topic: When to start Preschool  (Read 4303 times)

boarder42

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When to start Preschool
« on: February 27, 2018, 11:48:20 AM »
We're having our first child in July - and i know we're way ahead of the game here but when should we switch from in home daycare to preschool.  Many people are typically starting theirs around 2 - this would increase our weekly cost by 50% - are they really learning that much at 2 that 6 hours a week of "school" are worth moving them to a preschool vs inhome care?

Cranky

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2018, 12:08:19 PM »
What do you want from "school", and how - for you - will it be different than "daycare"?

I would not worry about the educational content, as such, for a 2yo, but you can certainly find some advantages in a "preschool". For one thing, they are likely to be a larger operation, and will be more reliable in the sense that it isn't dependent on one or two people.

If you are talking about a full day preschool, you'll be looking for teachers with degrees, because that actually *has* been shown to make a big difference in learning outcomes.

My dd has been looking at preschools, so I've been getting lots of commentary and discussion on that topic. Some of them have a strong educational component (a science teacher! Mandarin immersion!) which I think are somewhat lost on your average crowd of 2 year olds.

Millennialworkerbee

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2018, 12:31:50 PM »
Yeah I think understanding what is included in your in-home daycare vs preschool is good to know.

Is in-home preschool run by a former teacher, with lots of structure, etc or is it a retired grandma who is go with the flow (extremes but you get the idea)?

Is the preschool at an actual school and on a school year schedule, or are you referring to a daycare center?

By 2, kids are ready for structure, organized circle time, can sit to learn colors, numbers etc. Stuff that I personally might not think to do with my almost 2 year old, so I think his 3 morning a week church “preschool” is amazing for him.

I think 2 might be a little young for a school-like preschool classroom for 6 hours a day, but by 3 I think many would be ready (so if it’s only a fall enrollment type thing, may be worth it).

SimpleCycle

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2018, 04:43:55 PM »
Congrats @boarder42!

Our daughter went to an in-home until she was 2, and we would have happily kept her there another year, except that the daycare closed when the owner opened a new center with a preschool.  And I have to say, I was skeptical about her being in "preschool" at 2, but by 2.5 she was really thriving with a little more structure.  Basically, I think your kid will probably be fine either way, but I'd wait until you're actually there to make the decision.

calimom

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #4 on: February 27, 2018, 05:52:53 PM »
Congratulations to the new little boarder!

Pretty much echoing the others here. A lot does depend on the quality of the in home care and the person or people running it. But most kids seem to transition well into preschool at around 3, give or take. Potty training is a factor; schools will accept "accidents" but many have the expectation of kids being potty trained at a certain point.

Everyone has different philosophies on this but my kids did really well with Montessori. As with everything you can spend a fortune or not a fortune, depending on where you live and what's available. When you're at the point of picking a preschool, the main thing is finding somewhere that feels right for you and your child.

LaineyAZ

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #5 on: February 27, 2018, 06:30:13 PM »
Ditto on the potty training aspect.  Schools will charge more for those still in diapers, so IMO it's best to delay any pre-school until potty training is well established.  Much harder to do if they're back and forth between home and pre-school before they're completely trained.

bogart

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2018, 09:44:44 PM »
I think it would depend on the kid.

We moved our son to preschool (from daycare) only the year before K, and that only because we felt that as an only kid of introvert parents, his in-home daycare places (which generally had 3 or 4 kids in them) hadn't gotten him accustomed to the kinds of skills he'd need to feel comfortable in public kindergarten -- being with a large group of kids, walking down a hall in a line, stuff like that (and neither had we!).  Honestly we weren't the least bit interested in, or concerned about, academic prep.  You may feel differently...

boarder42

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2018, 05:17:00 AM »
Didnt think about it revolving around potty training - or the structure aspect.  Its hard to wait until you think they are ready as the better ones that are reasonably priced have 1-2 year wait lists.  I think i personally was in - in homes til i was 4 or 5 growing up and i turned out alright. 

thanks for all the tips!

Morning Glory

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #8 on: February 28, 2018, 06:59:11 AM »
Congratulations Boarder42!! I'm not sure how to answer your question, except that I think some in-homes do a preschool program with the kids. We went the juggling schedules route to avoid the daycare costs, but are thinking of starting oldest in preschool a couple days per week to improve his speech. He will be 3 in April and is not yet potty trained.

vivian

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #9 on: February 28, 2018, 07:19:28 AM »
It depends on the daycare, but here are some things to look for. Do they read books or have story time? (Early literacy) Do they paint/draw/crafts (small motor skills)? Do they encourage self-care? Do they encourage helping behavior like setting the table (one to one correspondence is early math)? Do they sing nursery songs with hand movements? If those things are happening, I would be happy with the education experience until age 4 and then get full year or preschool before kindergarten.

As for the statement that we didn’t have preschool and turned out fine, please know that kindergarten today is not what we had. My son is getting in kindergarten what I had in first grade. You can argue if that is developmentally appropriate, but that’s what it is.


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Millennialworkerbee

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2018, 07:51:48 AM »
Yeah I’d add to the caution that repeating your experience for your kid will be ok for them. The question of 2 vs 3 for preschool, I think totally depends on family preference. But everything I’ve heard is that kids are supposed to know all their letters and numbers 1-10 before the 4-year old preschool year. They are supposed to go into Kindergarten knowing how to read and some schools start simple math skills too.

Whether you agree or not- if you are the planner type (I assume you are based on your OP) make sure you are looking into what your Kindergarten entrance requirements are by 2.5-3, so that whatever child care arrangement you have is set up for your child to be successful.

For what it’s worth- My SIL has been a Kindergarten teacher for 10 years and can tell you on the first day of school which kids have been in a preschool (doesn’t need to be full time) and which kids were with SAHP/in-home daycares. In addition to the “school” stuff mentioned above, kids who haven’t been exposed to circle time, cleaning up after activities, standing in lines, etc have a hard adjustment to Kindergarten.

trollwithamustache

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #11 on: February 28, 2018, 08:05:51 AM »
read to your kid every night and sleep easy knowing you are doing a better job that 72.5*% of all parents.

*numbers may be different for this forum.

PoutineLover

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #12 on: February 28, 2018, 08:06:33 AM »
I went to preschool at 3 and started kindergarten at 5. My preschool was bilingual, so I started to learn my second language there, and they offered violin lessons as well. I also started learning to read pretty early, so I think that environment was pretty good for me. Back then kindergarten was only half days, but now I think they've expanded to full days starting at age 4, so maybe now it would have been fine to go to daycare until kindergarten. So I'd say it depends on your kid, what level of enrichment you want, and what public school options are available where you live.

alanB

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #13 on: February 28, 2018, 08:33:42 AM »
I was very skeptical of preschool since neither my wife nor I went when we were young.  Now I love it.  I plan on retiring before our youngest kid starts kindergarten, but we will keep them in preschool anyway.  We put our first kid in at ~1.5 years, second at a few months.  I think the sooner the better.  Kids love routines, social interaction, organized activities, etc., unless you are a super committed SAHP it is a killer job.  My actual job is like 5% as much work.

Potty training - check with various schools on when they transition.  In our area most were 2.5 to 3 range, so if you potty train before that they might regress.  We were able to find one that allows for cloth diapers, that will save quite a bit if you have multiple kids.

July is tricky, will you start them in kindergarten just after they turn 5?  There is a lot of debate on this topic, look up redshirting.  Whether you do an extra year will obviously make a difference in the total cost, both the immediate cost to you and the opportunity cost to your kid. 

boarder42

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #14 on: February 28, 2018, 08:45:28 AM »
I was very skeptical of preschool since neither my wife nor I went when we were young.  Now I love it.  I plan on retiring before our youngest kid starts kindergarten, but we will keep them in preschool anyway.  We put our first kid in at ~1.5 years, second at a few months.  I think the sooner the better.  Kids love routines, social interaction, organized activities, etc., unless you are a super committed SAHP it is a killer job.  My actual job is like 5% as much work.

Potty training - check with various schools on when they transition.  In our area most were 2.5 to 3 range, so if you potty train before that they might regress.  We were able to find one that allows for cloth diapers, that will save quite a bit if you have multiple kids.

July is tricky, will you start them in kindergarten just after they turn 5?  There is a lot of debate on this topic, look up redshirting.  Whether you do an extra year will obviously make a difference in the total cost, both the immediate cost to you and the opportunity cost to your kid.

we'll likely base when they start full time school based on some testing and if they are ready.  i'm not overly concerned with them being the biggest and the best at sports or anything- i know mental development and social development may be slightly behind - but we'll evaluate that at the time.

sounds like you didnt really read the OP they will be in some form of external care - in Home daycare will provide some social interaction and the one we've chosen does have some structure.  just debating on the start date for more formal preschool. - at 2 it seems early to me but maybe thats fine they will be there for sure at 4 in our opinion - i think we'll have to see how the in home is and how they are learning and progressing there to see if we want to go from there and how early they should go into school.  i mean at the end of the day we're talking 7900 to put them in school vs in home care over 2 years.  and in the grand scheme of money with where we are at its not really a financial hit in any way - i just worry about the lifestyle creep it could let in when that mindset starts rolling.

alanB

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #15 on: February 28, 2018, 09:16:59 AM »
I was very skeptical of preschool since neither my wife nor I went when we were young.  Now I love it.  I plan on retiring before our youngest kid starts kindergarten, but we will keep them in preschool anyway.  We put our first kid in at ~1.5 years, second at a few months.  I think the sooner the better.  Kids love routines, social interaction, organized activities, etc., unless you are a super committed SAHP it is a killer job.  My actual job is like 5% as much work.

Potty training - check with various schools on when they transition.  In our area most were 2.5 to 3 range, so if you potty train before that they might regress.  We were able to find one that allows for cloth diapers, that will save quite a bit if you have multiple kids.

July is tricky, will you start them in kindergarten just after they turn 5?  There is a lot of debate on this topic, look up redshirting.  Whether you do an extra year will obviously make a difference in the total cost, both the immediate cost to you and the opportunity cost to your kid.

we'll likely base when they start full time school based on some testing and if they are ready.  i'm not overly concerned with them being the biggest and the best at sports or anything- i know mental development and social development may be slightly behind - but we'll evaluate that at the time.

sounds like you didnt really read the OP they will be in some form of external care - in Home daycare will provide some social interaction and the one we've chosen does have some structure.  just debating on the start date for more formal preschool. - at 2 it seems early to me but maybe thats fine they will be there for sure at 4 in our opinion - i think we'll have to see how the in home is and how they are learning and progressing there to see if we want to go from there and how early they should go into school.  i mean at the end of the day we're talking 7900 to put them in school vs in home care over 2 years.  and in the grand scheme of money with where we are at its not really a financial hit in any way - i just worry about the lifestyle creep it could let in when that mindset starts rolling.

I got it now, thanks for clarifying.  I was confused bc have never heard the term "in home daycare" but now that I think about it I am aware it exists.  I have no opinion to add on that topic :)

mm1970

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #16 on: February 28, 2018, 01:21:21 PM »
We're having our first child in July - and i know we're way ahead of the game here but when should we switch from in home daycare to preschool.  Many people are typically starting theirs around 2 - this would increase our weekly cost by 50% - are they really learning that much at 2 that 6 hours a week of "school" are worth moving them to a preschool vs inhome care?

Kid #1 started preschool at 3.5 from home daycare.  Cost went up, but barely.
Kid #2 started preschool at 4 (only 1 year of preschool) after home daycare.  Cost went down actually.

Age-wise
Kid #1 born in March when cutoff for kindergarten was December 2.  So, he's on the older side for his class, only 3 months of kids older.
With 2 years of preschool, he was bored in kindergarten because many kids were behind.  YMMV, this is our demographic.

Kid #2 born in July when cutoff for kindergarten is September 2.  He is one of the youngest in his grade and is in fact older than only 1 kid in his class.  And he's small.

But, he was plenty ready for kindergarten.  Emotionally, because he has a big brother.  "Academically" because he has a big brother.  We only had 1 year of preschool because of this and he made MANY academic strides in that year, because it was an academic preschool.  (Not that I care, we literally put him in there because my daycare provider put him on the list. We didn't look anywhere else.  The one kid #1 had gone to had closed.)

Some boys at 5 are not ready, esp if they are the oldest and are home with a SAHM.  It's not common to red shirt, and my friend the teacher says "always hold back boys".  But we didn't.

ETA: I have 2 boys
« Last Edit: February 28, 2018, 01:28:04 PM by mm1970 »

mm1970

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #17 on: February 28, 2018, 01:26:19 PM »
Yeah I’d add to the caution that repeating your experience for your kid will be ok for them. The question of 2 vs 3 for preschool, I think totally depends on family preference. But everything I’ve heard is that kids are supposed to know all their letters and numbers 1-10 before the 4-year old preschool year. They are supposed to go into Kindergarten knowing how to read and some schools start simple math skills too.

Whether you agree or not- if you are the planner type (I assume you are based on your OP) make sure you are looking into what your Kindergarten entrance requirements are by 2.5-3, so that whatever child care arrangement you have is set up for your child to be successful.

For what it’s worth- My SIL has been a Kindergarten teacher for 10 years and can tell you on the first day of school which kids have been in a preschool (doesn’t need to be full time) and which kids were with SAHP/in-home daycares. In addition to the “school” stuff mentioned above, kids who haven’t been exposed to circle time, cleaning up after activities, standing in lines, etc have a hard adjustment to Kindergarten.

I'm going to say the bolded is not actually true.

While the kindergarten and elementary standards have gone up a LOT, especially compared to when I was a kid, this is not true.

My older child (6th grade) learned to read in 1st grade, but was learning sight words in late kindergarten.
My current kindergartner went in knowing his numbers and most of his letters (capital and lower case).  However, the expectation in kindergarten (by the national standards) is reading by the END of kindergarten, not the BEGINNING of kindergarten.

That means right now, most of the kids are working on sounding out words and learning their sight words.  Slightly more advanced students know all their sight words and can read a bit, really advanced kids are reading.

My kindergartner is tested several times a year for writing and reading skills.  Reading is an end of the year expectation.

boarder42

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #18 on: February 28, 2018, 01:44:11 PM »
Yeah I’d add to the caution that repeating your experience for your kid will be ok for them. The question of 2 vs 3 for preschool, I think totally depends on family preference. But everything I’ve heard is that kids are supposed to know all their letters and numbers 1-10 before the 4-year old preschool year. They are supposed to go into Kindergarten knowing how to read and some schools start simple math skills too.

Whether you agree or not- if you are the planner type (I assume you are based on your OP) make sure you are looking into what your Kindergarten entrance requirements are by 2.5-3, so that whatever child care arrangement you have is set up for your child to be successful.

For what it’s worth- My SIL has been a Kindergarten teacher for 10 years and can tell you on the first day of school which kids have been in a preschool (doesn’t need to be full time) and which kids were with SAHP/in-home daycares. In addition to the “school” stuff mentioned above, kids who haven’t been exposed to circle time, cleaning up after activities, standing in lines, etc have a hard adjustment to Kindergarten.

I'm going to say the bolded is not actually true.

While the kindergarten and elementary standards have gone up a LOT, especially compared to when I was a kid, this is not true.

My older child (6th grade) learned to read in 1st grade, but was learning sight words in late kindergarten.
My current kindergartner went in knowing his numbers and most of his letters (capital and lower case).  However, the expectation in kindergarten (by the national standards) is reading by the END of kindergarten, not the BEGINNING of kindergarten.

That means right now, most of the kids are working on sounding out words and learning their sight words.  Slightly more advanced students know all their sight words and can read a bit, really advanced kids are reading.

My kindergartner is tested several times a year for writing and reading skills.  Reading is an end of the year expectation.

good to know i was under the impression it was much more involved than when i was there 25 years ago but i was reading picture books in kindergarten and chapter books in first grade from what i remember.  i got free personal pan pizza's for every book i read b/c the page counts were so high.

Millennialworkerbee

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #19 on: February 28, 2018, 01:47:53 PM »
Yeah I’d add to the caution that repeating your experience for your kid will be ok for them. The question of 2 vs 3 for preschool, I think totally depends on family preference. But everything I’ve heard is that kids are supposed to know all their letters and numbers 1-10 before the 4-year old preschool year. They are supposed to go into Kindergarten knowing how to read and some schools start simple math skills too.

Whether you agree or not- if you are the planner type (I assume you are based on your OP) make sure you are looking into what your Kindergarten entrance requirements are by 2.5-3, so that whatever child care arrangement you have is set up for your child to be successful.

For what it’s worth- My SIL has been a Kindergarten teacher for 10 years and can tell you on the first day of school which kids have been in a preschool (doesn’t need to be full time) and which kids were with SAHP/in-home daycares. In addition to the “school” stuff mentioned above, kids who haven’t been exposed to circle time, cleaning up after activities, standing in lines, etc have a hard adjustment to Kindergarten.

I'm going to say the bolded is not actually true.

While the kindergarten and elementary standards have gone up a LOT, especially compared to when I was a kid, this is not true.

My older child (6th grade) learned to read in 1st grade, but was learning sight words in late kindergarten.
My current kindergartner went in knowing his numbers and most of his letters (capital and lower case).  However, the expectation in kindergarten (by the national standards) is reading by the END of kindergarten, not the BEGINNING of kindergarten.

That means right now, most of the kids are working on sounding out words and learning their sight words.  Slightly more advanced students know all their sight words and can read a bit, really advanced kids are reading.

My kindergartner is tested several times a year for writing and reading skills.  Reading is an end of the year expectation.

Ok. Admittedly I haven’t been to Kindergarten because my kid isn’t there yet. But everything I’m hearing from his preschool and from friends with older kids is that super simple math concepts (addition) and sight words (what I referred to as reading) might not be an absolute must for Kindergarten, but your kid will be behind academically if they don’t know these going in to Kindergarten. The difference could be a state/local level which is why I said to check with your local preschool. They’ll know what’s up!

SimpleCycle

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #20 on: February 28, 2018, 03:00:44 PM »
Yeah I’d add to the caution that repeating your experience for your kid will be ok for them. The question of 2 vs 3 for preschool, I think totally depends on family preference. But everything I’ve heard is that kids are supposed to know all their letters and numbers 1-10 before the 4-year old preschool year. They are supposed to go into Kindergarten knowing how to read and some schools start simple math skills too.

Whether you agree or not- if you are the planner type (I assume you are based on your OP) make sure you are looking into what your Kindergarten entrance requirements are by 2.5-3, so that whatever child care arrangement you have is set up for your child to be successful.

For what it’s worth- My SIL has been a Kindergarten teacher for 10 years and can tell you on the first day of school which kids have been in a preschool (doesn’t need to be full time) and which kids were with SAHP/in-home daycares. In addition to the “school” stuff mentioned above, kids who haven’t been exposed to circle time, cleaning up after activities, standing in lines, etc have a hard adjustment to Kindergarten.

This is really rubbing me the wrong way, and these statements seem very antithetical to Mustachianism.  The "your child must be ahead of the curve to be successful" feels like the kindergarten equivalent of needing to work a full time job to buy cars and McMansions.  To what end?  Most kids in my district do not go to preschool, many start behind, and the kindergarten entrance requirement is "child is 5 years old".  So of course my kid will be fine if they go to an in-home daycare until 4 instead of 3.

And for non-at-risk kids, is there any indication that preschool vs. no preschool actually matters?  There's tons in the news of how the effects of Head Start are equalized by 3rd grade, and I would imagine that happens even faster for kids who are not at risk.  So yeah, maybe they have a harder time with lines for the first half of kindergarten, but they're not going to be behind at line standing forever, affecting the entire trajectory of their life.

Millennialworkerbee

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #21 on: February 28, 2018, 04:08:25 PM »
Yeah I’d add to the caution that repeating your experience for your kid will be ok for them. The question of 2 vs 3 for preschool, I think totally depends on family preference. But everything I’ve heard is that kids are supposed to know all their letters and numbers 1-10 before the 4-year old preschool year. They are supposed to go into Kindergarten knowing how to read and some schools start simple math skills too.

Whether you agree or not- if you are the planner type (I assume you are based on your OP) make sure you are looking into what your Kindergarten entrance requirements are by 2.5-3, so that whatever child care arrangement you have is set up for your child to be successful.

For what it’s worth- My SIL has been a Kindergarten teacher for 10 years and can tell you on the first day of school which kids have been in a preschool (doesn’t need to be full time) and which kids were with SAHP/in-home daycares. In addition to the “school” stuff mentioned above, kids who haven’t been exposed to circle time, cleaning up after activities, standing in lines, etc have a hard adjustment to Kindergarten.

This is really rubbing me the wrong way, and these statements seem very antithetical to Mustachianism.  The "your child must be ahead of the curve to be successful" feels like the kindergarten equivalent of needing to work a full time job to buy cars and McMansions.  To what end?  Most kids in my district do not go to preschool, many start behind, and the kindergarten entrance requirement is "child is 5 years old".  So of course my kid will be fine if they go to an in-home daycare until 4 instead of 3.

And for non-at-risk kids, is there any indication that preschool vs. no preschool actually matters?  There's tons in the news of how the effects of Head Start are equalized by 3rd grade, and I would imagine that happens even faster for kids who are not at risk.  So yeah, maybe they have a harder time with lines for the first half of kindergarten, but they're not going to be behind at line standing forever, affecting the entire trajectory of their life.

I didnt mean to rub anyone wrong. I was honestly surprised when I started hearing this stuff too, but it is what I’m hearing. Of course I don’t think that number of years of preschool has a lifetime impact on success. I guess my comment was just trying to emphasize that Kindergarten has an exponentially higher number of tests and measures than even 15-20 years ago. But of course they take every kid, regardless of what kind of child care/preschool they had.

I’ll bow out of this one. Not trying to stir the pot.

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #22 on: March 01, 2018, 02:31:43 AM »
potty training is really hard for us, any tips?

Ditto on the potty training aspect.  Schools will charge more for those still in diapers, so IMO it's best to delay any pre-school until potty training is well established.  Much harder to do if they're back and forth between home and pre-school before they're completely trained.

boarder42

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #23 on: March 01, 2018, 03:11:17 AM »
This preschool is combo daycare preschool and starts kids at 2 is assume they don't have potty training rules since most aren't potty trained at 2

trollwithamustache

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #24 on: March 01, 2018, 09:01:20 AM »
Yeah I’d add to the caution that repeating your experience for your kid will be ok for them. The question of 2 vs 3 for preschool, I think totally depends on family preference. But everything I’ve heard is that kids are supposed to know all their letters and numbers 1-10 before the 4-year old preschool year. They are supposed to go into Kindergarten knowing how to read and some schools start simple math skills too.

Whether you agree or not- if you are the planner type (I assume you are based on your OP) make sure you are looking into what your Kindergarten entrance requirements are by 2.5-3, so that whatever child care arrangement you have is set up for your child to be successful.

For what it’s worth- My SIL has been a Kindergarten teacher for 10 years and can tell you on the first day of school which kids have been in a preschool (doesn’t need to be full time) and which kids were with SAHP/in-home daycares. In addition to the “school” stuff mentioned above, kids who haven’t been exposed to circle time, cleaning up after activities, standing in lines, etc have a hard adjustment to Kindergarten.

This is really rubbing me the wrong way, and these statements seem very antithetical to Mustachianism.  The "your child must be ahead of the curve to be successful" feels like the kindergarten equivalent of needing to work a full time job to buy cars and McMansions.  To what end?  Most kids in my district do not go to preschool, many start behind, and the kindergarten entrance requirement is "child is 5 years old".  So of course my kid will be fine if they go to an in-home daycare until 4 instead of 3.

And for non-at-risk kids, is there any indication that preschool vs. no preschool actually matters?  There's tons in the news of how the effects of Head Start are equalized by 3rd grade, and I would imagine that happens even faster for kids who are not at risk.  So yeah, maybe they have a harder time with lines for the first half of kindergarten, but they're not going to be behind at line standing forever, affecting the entire trajectory of their life.

I didnt mean to rub anyone wrong. I was honestly surprised when I started hearing this stuff too, but it is what I’m hearing. Of course I don’t think that number of years of preschool has a lifetime impact on success. I guess my comment was just trying to emphasize that Kindergarten has an exponentially higher number of tests and measures than even 15-20 years ago. But of course they take every kid, regardless of what kind of child care/preschool they had.

I’ll bow out of this one. Not trying to stir the pot.

What generally frustrates me the most about our education system is they expect too much maturity from the kids in terms of how long they are supposed to sit still without an ADHD diagnosis. A  lot of the "problem kids" we know need a school day that is about 40 min longer, and that extra time is all in recess. If your 5 year old is too squirmy at a circle time there is nothing wrong with them but get used to a school system that thinks there is something wrong with them.

boarder42

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #25 on: March 01, 2018, 09:08:53 AM »
Yeah I’d add to the caution that repeating your experience for your kid will be ok for them. The question of 2 vs 3 for preschool, I think totally depends on family preference. But everything I’ve heard is that kids are supposed to know all their letters and numbers 1-10 before the 4-year old preschool year. They are supposed to go into Kindergarten knowing how to read and some schools start simple math skills too.

Whether you agree or not- if you are the planner type (I assume you are based on your OP) make sure you are looking into what your Kindergarten entrance requirements are by 2.5-3, so that whatever child care arrangement you have is set up for your child to be successful.

For what it’s worth- My SIL has been a Kindergarten teacher for 10 years and can tell you on the first day of school which kids have been in a preschool (doesn’t need to be full time) and which kids were with SAHP/in-home daycares. In addition to the “school” stuff mentioned above, kids who haven’t been exposed to circle time, cleaning up after activities, standing in lines, etc have a hard adjustment to Kindergarten.

This is really rubbing me the wrong way, and these statements seem very antithetical to Mustachianism.  The "your child must be ahead of the curve to be successful" feels like the kindergarten equivalent of needing to work a full time job to buy cars and McMansions.  To what end?  Most kids in my district do not go to preschool, many start behind, and the kindergarten entrance requirement is "child is 5 years old".  So of course my kid will be fine if they go to an in-home daycare until 4 instead of 3.

And for non-at-risk kids, is there any indication that preschool vs. no preschool actually matters?  There's tons in the news of how the effects of Head Start are equalized by 3rd grade, and I would imagine that happens even faster for kids who are not at risk.  So yeah, maybe they have a harder time with lines for the first half of kindergarten, but they're not going to be behind at line standing forever, affecting the entire trajectory of their life.

I didnt mean to rub anyone wrong. I was honestly surprised when I started hearing this stuff too, but it is what I’m hearing. Of course I don’t think that number of years of preschool has a lifetime impact on success. I guess my comment was just trying to emphasize that Kindergarten has an exponentially higher number of tests and measures than even 15-20 years ago. But of course they take every kid, regardless of what kind of child care/preschool they had.

I’ll bow out of this one. Not trying to stir the pot.

What generally frustrates me the most about our education system is they expect too much maturity from the kids in terms of how long they are supposed to sit still without an ADHD diagnosis. A  lot of the "problem kids" we know need a school day that is about 40 min longer, and that extra time is all in recess. If your 5 year old is too squirmy at a circle time there is nothing wrong with them but get used to a school system that thinks there is something wrong with them.

i'd agree i have ADHD but was not diagnosed til college or put on any drugs.  i'm not sure how i would have turned out if i was raised today with the instant medication type teachers.  Regardless i will fight the medication tooth and nail if they try to put it on my kids for being kids. i see it as an extreme last resort. 

I'm a red panda

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #26 on: March 01, 2018, 09:20:04 AM »
The expectations for kindergarten often depend on the affluence of your school.

I spent some time pre-service teaching in a school district with a wide disparity.  One school the expectations was students could say ABCs and count to 10, and recognize most, if not all of the letters and numbers, as well as write their name. Some could do basic addition. We expected that they know how to be able to handle scissors.

The other school, we were lucky if kids knew what letter their name started with.  It was a total blank slate. None of the kids had preschool, even though they all qualified for state funded early childhood education. (But at half day, parents just couldn't use it with their schedules.) Some could count, but very few could say the ABCs. These were kids whose basic needs weren't met. We worried more about getting them breakfast then getting them math time.

I agree with the person that said "read to your kid" and you are doing really well. Talk to them, and use words and numbers. Count your groceries, talk about colors, sing songs.  That's what kids need.

(My daycare converts to a preschool curriculum at age 2. My school apparently has an amazing pre-K program, that is free, even for high income- but it is half day. I can't juggle the schedule, so my daughter likely won't go to it. I've been happy with the things I see the older daycare kids doing though, so I think it is going to turn out alright.)

CidreCreek

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #27 on: March 26, 2018, 06:18:23 PM »
A lot of "preschools" are half-day, at least where I live, which may or may not be an issue for you in terms of childcare. For instance, the half-day program at my child's schools is 9-1 and "full day" is 9-3 so obviously you'd be filling in the gap with a babysitter/nanny/au-pair. There are a few that do extended hours though.

In my area, kids in daycare typically stay in daycare and move to a toddler/preschool class. Kids who have been at home with a parents, typically start at 2 (at least amongst those with a higher income bracket). I feel like most kids (myself included) never used to start preschool until 3 or 4. Academically, I don't really think it's a necessity other than the 4 year-old class to prepare for kingergarten. Another factor is that K is more like 1st grade these days in my area at least. So, the 4 class is more like K...Church preschools are typically less especially if they are not accredited.

My 2.5 yo is in 1/2 day preschool. We started her at 2 and she was not potty trained but they were fine with that. They change diapers and she's now trained. It helps to see the other kids going potty at school as well. My little one absolutely loves school and has been learning a lot. Honestly, we could teach a lot of it at home but we're not that religious though we want to provide religious background so that part has been good. The structure and learning to interact with peers has also been a benefit. I don't think it's necessary to start early to "get ahead". A lot of parents have kids when they are older these days so they are used to having time to themselves. It's helpful as a stay-at-home parent to get a few hours to myself a few times a week.

Kyle Schuant

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #28 on: March 26, 2018, 06:25:20 PM »
are they really learning that much at 2 that 6 hours a week of "school" are worth moving them to a preschool vs inhome care?
Bear in mind that preschool was invented in the days before there was much childcare outside the family. For a kid to go from spending all day with a parent and maybe 1-2 other siblings to, at 5-6 years old, bang! into a primary school with 20 other kids - that could be tough. But if they've been in childcare a bit they've already transitioned somewhat.

In preschool really they're not learning much academically, unless you have a home entirely devoid of books to read at bedtime, blocks to play with and so on. What they're really learning at preschool is,

1. being able to spend the day away from the parent at home, and
2. social skills of dealing with several other children at once.

In this respect, preschool is part of transitioning to primary school. But if they're doing non-family childcare then they're doing that anyway.

My son got a bit more out of preschool than that, but only because his preschool was attached to the primary school he's now gone to. So there were visits there, and some kids from the preschool went up and joined him in primary school, and so on. If it were just some random preschool unconnected to the primary school then just the above two points would be relevant.

Carrie

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Re: When to start Preschool
« Reply #29 on: March 26, 2018, 07:36:13 PM »
We started ours the fall of 3, so one kid was nearly 4, one was 3.5 and one was barely 3.
I would not have wanted earlier than just turned 3. Half days. We went montessori route because we agree with the philosophy and it was closest to home. Two have transitioned fine into public, even with the high expectations for K. The youngest is still in 3 yo preschool and is thriving and will probably be ahead by K, since she's already spelling/reading and counts to 100 like it's no big deal. I like schools that go with the pace of the kid. Our montessori does that.

 

 

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