When to start preschool

[Anonymous]

Let me start by saying I am not in the DC area, and daycare and preschools are similarly priced for full day coverage so cost isn’t a factor in this decision.

I currently live in an area with a lot of stay at home moms (I am not), who put their kids in preschool between ages 2-3. My daughter is 18 months, and currently the oldest at an in home daycare. The next oldest is around a year old. Preschool sign ups are starting and I am trying to decide if I should enroll her in preschool or keep her at her current in home for next year. She turns 2 in August and most preschool years start in September.

Thoughts on an inhome daycare vs preschool for a 2 year old?

[Anonymous]

At that age, I would find a play-based preschool. I would never allow my two year old to sit at a table doing dittos. I want them learning through play at that age.

[Anonymous]

We started our DD in a play based preschool at 2 yo and she has really thrived. Her vocabulary has improved, her interpersonal skills have developed and she is showing more agency. All these things would have happened anyways, but i do feel the school has really helped them come through. Ultimately, it is really specific to the child and the schools you are looking at. In our experience, starting early has been a fantastic choice.

[Anonymous]

OP I agree with others if there is a good play based program that takes 2 year olds I would do that. And I say that as someone who loves our home daycare. But my son will be 2.5 around the same time and we will be transitioning him too. I asked on here at around 18 months too if we should wait til 3.5 (so the following september) since we do love our home daycare, and it was pretty unanimous to do it at 2.5. And now that he is just turning 2, I don't think ideally I'd have him in the home daycare a whole other year. He's happy there and it would be fine. But I think the home daycare was amazing for the early infant time, but he will thrive in a little more engaging setting. Especially since your child is the oldest.

[Anonymous]

14:13 pp here and just thought of a few things that helped me decide to make the switch next August for my now almost 2 year old, that may be helpful to you. May or may not apply to your in home.

Amount of materials and variety in materials. Our in home daycare has a wonderful set up, but it's small and mostly geared towards 0-2 or 3 max and as an in-home they just do not have the ability to be getting new materials or rotating new materials in constantly. I noticed visiting the more formal preschool programs that will probably be better and more age appropriate (some of the materials at the in home are more for infants since there is a range)

Field trips. Our in-home has a huge backyard with lots of things and lots of outdoor time/unstructured play, but just due to ratios and their location they don't leave the house to explore much. Many of the preschool programs go on walks, field trips to explore different things, etc. which I liked since my son is there all day - as he gets older I'd like him out and about in the world more (of course he does that with me, but I just saw that as a benefit)

And finally as you said, the kids older than my son moved on to preschool last month, so he is now the oldest and while i like the mixed ages at the in-home, I don't think being the oldest for another year with much younger babies will be as good for social emotional development for him (learning how to navigate those peer relationships)

One thing for consideration - when I posted this on dcum around the time you are, a preschool director and a couple other folks commented recommending that I potty train before making the transition. We recently did that following the oh crap method at 23 months (much earlier than I expected but he was showing interest and meeting all the signs per oh crap), and I have felt so grateful we are at the home daycare for that process! Only having two caregivers that he is with all day has made it much easier for him to let them know he has to go to the bathroom, more so than what I've heard from friends in centers. So if you feel like oh crap might be an approach you'd consider and your child shows signs, you could consider doing it this summer. Anyway, just passing along. My son took to it better than I could have imagined so I kind of buy into the oh crap approach of earlier now.

[Anonymous]

We stayed at our inhome daycare until Pre-K. The continuity of care was really important to us. DD wasn't the oldest though and we had a 2nd child. I can't imagine how hard it would have been our first year with 2 kids if both were at different schools. We struggled every morning just to make it to one.

Also, yes to the above poster who potty trained. Do it before a huge change. You don't want to move to a new school and then try. That's too much at once and you might have regressions. We did Oh Crap before 2 and it worked perfectly.

[Anonymous]

Everyone in our area starts preschool between 2.5 and 3. But our preschools are only a couple hours a day so most parents are SAH or have nannies.

[Anonymous]

OP my kids started a half-day program at 2 and loved it. I would do it again in a heart beat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone in our area starts preschool between 2.5 and 3. But our preschools are only a couple hours a day so most parents are SAH or have nannies.

OP here- yes, this is the situation here as well. The preschool is a few hours a day, and then they offer extended care, which I guess is the same as daycare. She will definitely be out of her in home by age 3, I just don't know if I should leave her there for age 2 as well.

[Anonymous]

I would absolutely move her. She’ll be among more similarly aged peers, which starts to be more important around this age (e.g., parallel play, potty training, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Another vote for a play based preschool. If you can afford it, I would find a part time program and then have her home with a nanny for nap and afternoon play. Two is a good age for that. I say this as a mother and a teacher.