Afternoon Preschoool Good or Bad?

[Anonymous]

I have just go off the wait list for a very good preschool. My only problem is that it is the afternoon slot. I have never even thought of this as an option. My daughter still takes a nap, but perhaps she won't need it by Sept. She is 3 yrs. I could make her skip the nap if the school experience is worth it. Has anyone done the afternoon program?

[Anonymous]

I only did the PM slot b/c my kid was not napping anyway, but only YOU know how badly your kid will miss the sleep. Is it everyday? Three days a week? If it is two or three days a week, it may be a try. Otherwise, you may be in for a tough fall.

[Anonymous]

I would not try to bypass an afternoon nap for a three yr old. Don't they do a rest time during which some of the children fall asleep?

[Anonymous]

I LOVE afternoon preschool. I'd never considered it until we moved last year and it was the only spot open at our first choice school. My son was 3.5 when he started there and has done very well. He would sometimes nap on his non-school days, but had no problem missing his naps. He'll be in afternoons again this year (I chose to stay in the afternoon even though I could have done morning).

[Anonymous]

I had a dedicated sleeper at nearly 3. Even the director of the school, who clearly had openings she wanted to fill, told us not to mess with his nap. We went somewhere else for a morning program. A year later, he's still napping every day.

Only you know how badly your child needs the nap.

[Anonymous]

I had this situation last year with my daughter. We got into an afternoon program, which was right in the middle of her naptime. We ended up enrolling her, and as luck would have it, it worked out great. By the time school started, she was skipping her nap on most days, or taking one later in the afternoon (after she returned home from preschool). She was always a late riser, so a morning program would have been tougher on us.

It worked out for us, although I agree with others that you never know how your child will adapt/nap as he/she gets older. There was another boy in my daughter's class who slept through the class almost everyday during the first two months of school. His parents finally quit the program because their son clearly wasn't giving up his nap, and couldn't meet the preschool hours.

[Anonymous]

My almost 3 y/o missed his nap yesterday and we had a bad, bad evening because of it. There is no way I'd consider pm preschool for him, but all kids are different.

[Anonymous]

I would do the afternoon preschool. But you need to be on a good bedtime schedule. If your child stays up late, hopefully they will also sleep in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My almost 3 y/o missed his nap yesterday and we had a bad, bad evening because of it. There is no way I'd consider pm preschool for him, but all kids are different.

Ditto. I never meet a three yr old who didn't need an afternoon nap.

[Anonymous]

I have been having my daughter in an afternoon preschool program. I like it because we don't need to rush out of the house in the morning. We do things together at the house or a morning ballet class. It is a very nice balance. I will say my daughter is not a napper.