FFX County preschool - morning vs. afternoons

[Anonymous]

I have a 3 year old DD who is currently in preschool in FFX county. She turns 4 in August, right before school starts and we have moved into a new school zone (both within FFX). I am still driving her to her old school but I don't know much about what her new school will be like next year. Anyway, I haven't decided whether I should just contact our local school or ask her current teachers, but I thought I'd start here.

It seems like all of the afternoon classes are full of "older" kids and the morning classes are full of "younger" kids. I put them in quotes because I know it is not easy to define but it seems more like 2-3 in the morning and 3-4 year olds in the afternoons. My DD is a serious napper. I mean, she sleeps at least 2.5 hours a day from 1 - 3:30. I know September is a long way away but I am trying to figure out (especially because of my other kids schedules), what we are going to do next year. Are there any schools in FFX that have 4 year olds in morning classes? I know a lot of the older kids go to two preschools (typical one in the morning, county in the afternoon) but I don't think my daughter is going to be able to handle that. She really seems to get worn out. This is almost made more difficult because she is a "younger" 4 according to the school calendar.

I hope this makes sense. Anyone have any advice, knowledge on this? Maybe I should ask her current teacher?

[Anonymous]

1) Our preschool (western FFX Co) has morning and afternoons for 4s (as well as other ages).

2) I have never heard of kids going to two preschools, morning and afternoon. Talk about overkill.

My daughter will be 4 in September and is still a serious napper - she'll be going to the AM class.

[Anonymous]

I agree that it could be overkill. At least it would be for my DD.

She will be at Cherry Run in Burke if that helps to know but I really do appreciate your feedback PP!!

[Anonymous]

I disagree with other PPs - I do not necessarily think that both morning and afternoon pre-school is overkill. Think about all of the kids who go to full-day daycare (which is still probably a longer care day than morning + afternoon preschool). It all depends on the issues that your child has, but sometimes a combination of county plus private can be good for a child. They are taught the developmental skills they need at county, and then have a chance to practice (or honestly....just play, nap, whatever) at the private. This is not uncommon. As to the age groupings of kids at FFX for morning vs. afternoon, that I'm not sure about. My DD attended morning session but only for about 6 weeks until she was moved into a different, all-day (PAC) program. Sorry!

[Anonymous]

My experience is different. At our school, it appears the kids that have more significant challenges had the morning classes and the kids tha thad the lesser (relatively) challenges were in the afternoon. My DS was 2.5 when transitioned from Infant Toddler to the FCPS special ed preschool and was placed in an afternoon class. He was never in a morning class for the next three years. I SO totally understand what you mean about the nap issue. What 2 year old doesn't take a nap in the afternoon? It's not like my DS doesn't have significant challenges, he does, and he was a bear if he didn't get a nap. We were very concerned about this but the school insisted this was the best placement for our DS. We weren't willing to NOT allow him in the special ed preschool so we accepted.

What made this work for us was that our in-home family daycare/preschool provider put DS down for a nap late morning rather than after lunch. I don't know how well DS would have done, especially in the early years, if he didn't get a nap in the late morning. He had lunch at the preschool (except on Mondays) so that wasn't an issue. I never thought it would be possible but he did get used to it.

In my limited experience, I've never heard of anyone being allowed to attend a FCPS special ed preschool morning and afternoon (PAC classrooms notwithstanding). But, for those of us who work, your kid is either going to be in daycare or a preschool. The bus will pick up/drop off your child wherever you indicate. Not everyone has the luxury of keeping their child at home with them. HTH.

[Anonymous]

Do the afternoon. I have a kindergarten kid now and we were in the afternoon program. You will have a peer group that in general has more verbal expression in the afternoon. We were briefly in both morning and afternoon preschool in FFX Cty so it does happen, but we transferred from another state with that IEP in place and that full-day program was common from our state and structured much differently.
In the morning, the kids were often non-verbal or just emerging speech. Also, I know various people who did both morning (private) and county( public) for preschool and for many of those kids it was a really good combination.

[Anonymous]

My son went to Cherry Run in Burke. He started out in PAC, then moved to a non-cat classroom. Thank your lucky stars that your daughter is going there! Those folks are wonderful! My son is in first grade now at a different school and, although his teachers are nice, I really miss his preschool days at Cherry Run.

If your daughter is 4, I think she'll probably be in an afternoon class. The teachers will work with you to figure out what's best for her. If you have concerns about napping, let them know.

My son learned so much at Cherry Run and the small class size with personal attention is wonderful. The teachers are well-trained and very caring. I can't say enough nice things about them. Sorry if it sounds like I'm gushing.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thanks PP. Gushing is fine and appreciated! I am happy to hear great things about the school. I'm trying to relax about this a little and let some time pass. She may become less dependent on her nap in the next few months. Today, after Ot and ST this morning she had a virtual meltdown before nap. September is a long way away though.

[Anonymous]

Cherry Run PP here: I was worried about my son's need for a nap also, but I found the afternoon class worked well for him.

At first, he was so tired that he would literally fall asleep at the dinner table but he adjusted quickly. With the afternoon class, we could have a more relaxed morning. I'm a stay-at-home mom and I loved letting him sleep in until he was ready to wake up on his own. That way, I knew that he would get enough sleep to see him through the school day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1) Our preschool (western FFX Co) has morning and afternoons for 4s (as well as other ages).

2) I have never heard of kids going to two preschools, morning and afternoon. Talk about overkill.

My daughter will be 4 in September and is still a serious napper - she'll be going to the AM class.

My kid goes to 2 preschools at age 4. Typical in the morning, SN in the afternoon. It is not overkill. Typical kids in the typical preschool go 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, vs (in MCPS) SN gp 2.5 hours a day 5 days a week. So a typical kid gets 20 hours of preschool a week vs a special needs student gets 12.5 hours a week, which might include several pullouts. In our case, my kid gets pulled out once a week for PT, OT, Speech and Adaptive PE.

Maybe you can see why we send him to typical preschool in the morning. My child need at least as much preschool as a typical kid.