Preschool at age 3 or wait until 4?

[Anonymous]

This fall, DD will have recently turned 3 and DS will be 10 months. My plan had been for our nanny to care for both kids all day until DD is 4, at which point I’d send DD to preschool. There are 2 main reasons for delaying preschool to age 4:
1) I’d like to avoid preschool germs for another year. But a poster in another thread said that kids in part time preschool don’t have as much germ exposure because sick kids stay home with a SAHM or nanny.
2) We’ll be traveling for the first 2 months of the fall semester. Would that cause problems with getting adjusted to school? Do preschools allow kids to join for the spring semester?

Are we better off starting DD in part time preschool at age 3 or 4? She’s very well behaved so I don’t think she’ll struggle with sitting still in a classroom, etc. She gets a good amount of socialization at the library and park, although she’s already one of the older kids there.

[Anonymous]

I would do it! Our preschool was just 9-12 so NBD. They loved the socialization, the snacks and they really did learn a lot in that year with the 3-yo group. Preschool was only a positive for us.

[Anonymous]

We waited until 4 and wished we started at 3-/ even if it had been part time preschool.

[Anonymous]

We started at 2! Two days a week for 2 hours a day. It was the best year - DD and parents made long-lasting friends.

However, given your situation, waiting is fine.

[Anonymous]

I started at 2 with all of my kids and I was a SAHM. They loved it-but they were very outgoing and liked talking to adults too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We waited until 4 and wished we started at 3-/ even if it had been part time preschool.

Why did you regret starting at 4?

[1SWMom]

I started part time at 2.5 and full time school at prek3, no regrets, it was perfect. She definitely transitioned to full time better than kids that waited.
They are going to get sick regardless, I was happy to get it over with while she was still young enough to cuddle etc.

[Anonymous]

I would do 2-3 days a week if you weren’t traveling for 2 months. That’s a waste of money though.
You might find a daycare type preschool to take her after Christmas but a regular part time preschool is a Sept-May schedule that you pay for.
So in your situation I would wait.

[Anonymous]

OP will probably would get better feedback on specific options near OP if s/he posts in the Preschool forum and indicates a general location in the post.

While many preschools are 9-month, some preschools will move kids up from 3yr room to 4yr room (and 4yr to K) on each child’s birthday. Those might have spring openings.

There also are a few 12 month preschools in this area, though most of those are focused primarily on all-day (9-3, 9-5) and often allow early drop off for parents working outside home.

[Anonymous]

It genuinely doesn’t matter — like when your kid is 18, you are very unlikely to have some strong feeling about this no matter what you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP will probably would get better feedback on specific options near OP if s/he posts in the Preschool forum and indicates a general location in the post.

While many preschools are 9-month, some preschools will move kids up from 3yr room to 4yr room (and 4yr to K) on each child’s birthday. Those might have spring openings.

There also are a few 12 month preschools in this area, though most of those are focused primarily on all-day (9-3, 9-5) and often allow early drop off for parents working outside home.

Thank you! I forgot there was the preschool forum.

[Anonymous]

My 2 and 4 year olds started time at a preschool that has full day care (some just go for the preschool part during the school year 9am-noon.) My now 7 year olds teacher was amazed at her reading, says she's a great listener, role model for her peers, all amazing compliments! She started at 4 because of COVID, was supposed to start at 3, but she turned out fine!

My now 4 year old who started at 2 is at the same preschool, now in the pre-k class. He's doing well but I think his speech is behind (getting him evaluated for it). I do think his speech is better than what it would have been without starting preschool so young. Just has trouble with a few sounds, has a great vocabulary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 2 and 4 year olds started time at a preschool that has full day care (some just go for the preschool part during the school year 9am-noon.) My now 7 year olds teacher was amazed at her reading, says she's a great listener, role model for her peers, all amazing compliments! She started at 4 because of COVID, was supposed to start at 3, but she turned out fine!

My now 4 year old who started at 2 is at the same preschool, now in the pre-k class. He's doing well but I think his speech is behind (getting him evaluated for it). I do think his speech is better than what it would have been without starting preschool so young. Just has trouble with a few sounds, has a great vocabulary.

*Started at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify, she’s already 3, so by September she will be at least 3y9m so nearly 4, particularly if she’s traveling Sept/Oct and doesn’t actually start attending until November or January when she really will be 4. I think given that info you should plan to send her. You may need to pay for September/October to hold her spot if you are very particular about where you’d like to send her. If you’re more flexible, you can call around when you get back from your trip and see who has space and just enroll then. It’s not so formal.

Preschool is really about learning to separate from 1:1 parent/caregiver and listen to a teacher and function in a group. It’s also a time to follow a routine that isn’t totally led by the child’s interests/desires/whims. It’s also a time to see the same kids daily and develop age appropriate relationships. Library story times are great, but they don’t quite develop the same skills and independence.

Also, regarding sickness: everyone’s experiences are different but my kids were really never that sick during preschool years. I guess they caught a few things here or there, but it wasn’t a main feature. I also felt like daytime activities were really geared to toddlers and we would have run out of developmentally appropriate options once they reached a certain age.

[Anonymous]

Prek is not a requirement for kindergarten