First Day of Preschool Anxiety

[Anonymous]

I am starting to feel the anxiety of sending my little one to preschool. She will be 2.5 in September. When I sign up for the program, I thought "we'd" be ready. Now I feel the pains and stress of sending her to school too soon. I also worry about what she will pick up at school. I know she will be learning and making new friends, but I dread her losing some of her innocence. Has anyone else had this happen to them?

[Anonymous]

You could wait a year before she starts preschool. Plenty of kids just have 2 years of preschool.

[Anonymous]

Sure, OP, it is normal to feel anxious. If you think the good outweighs the bad, you will love watching her grow and learn and make her first little friends, etc. If you think the bad outweighs the good, you will see her innocence ruined, picking up bad bvrs and langauge from others, etc.

[Anonymous]

It is hard at first, but she will love it. Take a picture on her first day. You will look back and think it was the beginning of another exciting part of your daughter's life.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if your child will be smiling in that picture?

[Anonymous]

I could have written your post a few years ago. Yes, 2.5 is very young - in most parts of the country, kids aren't in school that young. But most children do fine. If it's a great, nurturing preschool, I'm sure your daughter will end up thriving there.

Can you start of by sending her three days a week instead of five? You didn't indicate if she's going full-day or not, but maybe you could start her off going half-day? Then when you feel comfortable, you can switch her to full days?

[Anonymous]

What exactly about her innocence do you need to safeguard? Are you worried about the pre-k kids cutting fingerpainting to chain smoke behind the curly slide?

[Anonymous]

My son went to a Montessori preschool which had mixed age groups. Great idea in theory but he came home at age 3 w/ 6 yr old bad language. He came home w/ age inappropriate sassy, backtalk and talked on and on about movies and TV shows I had never let him see at age 3. Maybe that is what the OP is worried about. There are pros and cons to preschool.