Question for parents of children in preschool (3 yr olds)

[Anonymous]

My son just began a half day preschool program 2 days a week. He was having some problems adjusting to the routine so I came in the other day to observe what the problem was. His class sat in circle time for an HOUR. The only time during that hour they got up was to go sit down in chairs to do a craft. They read 2 books, did a few songs, did some show and tells, listened to a long talk about the craft they would be doing. It seemed endless to me and I am an adult. I am just curious how much time your 3 yr old spend sitting listening to the teacher (whether listening to stories or whatever)? It seemed excessive to me and I now understand why he didn't want to do it at all. Before I speak to the teacher and director, I am just curious what other schools expect of 3 yr olds esp at the beginning of the school year. This is a church run preschool, not a daycare center. TIA.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a preschool expert, but I can tell you my 10 year old boy would have trouble sitting for an hour. It seems very long to me for a preschool. Can you talk to the teachers about it? They should at least be able to provide options for your child to get up and move around sometimes (if the others don't seem to be bothered by it). If they don't allow for that, I think I'd start looking elsewhere...

[Anonymous]

That's way too long--ours goes over the date, the special helper puts the appropriate weather symbol on the board, a little talk related to what they're doing, prayers (Catholic preschool) then a story or two, and on to art or something after that. Maybe 15 minutes all together?

[Anonymous]

Our DS is now in kindergarten but we always heard in preschool that he was very fidgety -- we never went to observe the class for this purpose but I suspect that they had overly high expectations of the kids. An hour is WAY too long for a 3-year old. I think some of this stuff is the result of the push-down of curriculum. If kindergarten is the new first grade, then pre-school is the new kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Our 3-year old is at school 5 half-days a week. They gave us a timetable of their activities and I think circle time was half an hour at a time, a couple of times a day. One of which is songs and snack time (the fruit/veg bowl is passed around).

How did the other children cope with that time? I would think that it would be pretty boring for parents to watch/listen since it is aimed at children. As a teacher, I know it's easy to tell when kids have had enough of something. Was there general fidgeting across all the kids?

[Anonymous]

I'll try to post my child's schedule later. But circle time is 2x/day for 15 min each!

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all who responded. My son was the only one who flat out refused to even go to circle time (I guess he got a taste of it last week and thought "No way am I doing that again!") The other kids sat pretty much like robots for a LOT longer than I thought a 3 yr old would. Towards the end of the hour, one boy lost it and had to be taken out of the room and a few others (mostly boys) started rolling around etc. I am going to meet w/ the teacher and director next week. Apparently this circle time has been extended the first few weeks until the kids start going to special area teachers (art and music) in Oct. Instead of letting the kids have free play for more than 15 mins, I guess the teacher decided to fill that time w/ more circle time. My son is already turned off but school (which is a shame) so I just wanted to see what it was like everywhere else. Thanks!