General Questions About Educating a Preschool aged Child

[Anonymous]

I'm looking to get some feedback from moms about pre-school, especially those that had 2-4 year olds. Is enrollment in a preschool really worth it (i.e- the cost)? How much do they actually teach a child (especially 2-3 year olds)? Is it really more of a glorified day care center? Has anyone had more/less success with homeschool? Just trying to hear from the experiences of others. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

i think the thing that is most valuable is the social stuff...geting used to a classroom and being with a group of other children, listening to other adults. if you're reading to your child at home and all of that, he/she is going to learn all the academic readiness stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i think the thing that is most valuable is the social stuff...geting used to a classroom and being with a group of other children, listening to other adults. if you're reading to your child at home and all of that, he/she is going to learn all the academic readiness stuff.

I agree with this. My 3 year old will be starting preschool next month and more than anything, we are sending him so he can spend more time with other kids his own age (he is currently with a nanny). I think sometimes he is lonely so I hope that this will be a good experience for him, as well as getting him used to a school environment. We read a ton at home and I think he knows a lot for his age, so that is really not an issue for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i think the thing that is most valuable is the social stuff...geting used to a classroom and being with a group of other children, listening to other adults. if you're reading to your child at home and all of that, he/she is going to learn all the academic readiness stuff.

I agree with this. My 3 year old will be starting preschool next month and more than anything, we are sending him so he can spend more time with other kids his own age (he is currently with a nanny). I think sometimes he is lonely so I hope that this will be a good experience for him, as well as getting him used to a school environment. We read a ton at home and I think he knows a lot for his age, so that is really not an issue for me.

I agree. They will get plenty of learning later on. The confidence a child receives socially from listening to teachers, and being around other kids, circle time, playing out side, art projects is unprecedented.

[Anonymous]

I also agree. The most they "learn" in early preschool (2.5 to 3.5) is that they have to sit still for cirlce time (a real struggle), wait their turn to wash their hands, keep personal boundaries, etc. You'll be disappointed if you expect your dc to learn anything "academic." The preschool will come up with all kinds of projects that seem like busy work but are really just ways of teaching the kids how to take turns, etc. Once they turn four, though, the can start learning the alphabet, counting, recognizing patterns, learning facts about dinosaurs and animals, etc.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree with other posters. I was on the fence because so pricey, but we sent my son at 2 last fall (I was home with newborn and we figured better for him than being home with exhausted mommy and would give me a break and some time with baby).

I think ideally 2 1/2 would be a better age to start but for us the timing was 2 or wait until 3 and I'm glad we didn't wait. It took a few months for him to get in the groove but boy once he did -- he loved it. He loved talking about his "friends," he started getting invited to birthday parties and had a blast at those, he did learn about "rules" and since he was in Montessori with kids up to 5 he actually learned some "academic" stuff too by osmosis (although I really didn't care about that aspect).

If you are the type who socializes a lot with others with young kids it may not be as necessary, but I work and so my son was clearly becoming too "adult-centric" (all nanny time and parent time, only sporadic contact with other kids and he was totally uninterested in them and sometimes even a bit afraid of older ones). School changed that and it made him identify much more with other kids.

The part about following directions, circle time, etc. he could probably pick up just by doing some structured type activities with you (library story hour, art or music class). But I think the confidence/independence factor that school brings does make it worth it -- even if just a couple days a week.

[Anonymous]

OP Here: Thanks everyone, your comments are really helpful! You're right, the social interaction is very important and learning to follow directions, even if they do not have a curriculum per se. Still trying to figure out which direction to head, but the feedback is useful!