Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prek is not a requirement for kindergarten

I would choose a great nanny, any early educator who gives warmth, self esteem to children is 10 times better than many academics.

Or choose a small home family daycare, most providers are preschool teachers

Prek is best at 4 or 5 imo. Young children needs lots of play, guidelines, discipline, daily crafts and learn numbers and meters, they can get that in family daycares

OP here. My kid will be 5 in November so I was thinking a fulltime program would be better. Our nanny is a wonderful and loving caregiver but doesn't really do much in terms of learning/enrichment.

Well it's just 1 more year. Then kindergarten!
Good luck OP, if your child is a nice boy then everyone will love him. I tell everyone, always teach your kids good manners, it helps the teachers

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prek is not a requirement for kindergarten

I would choose a great nanny, any early educator who gives warmth, self esteem to children is 10 times better than many academics.

Or choose a small home family daycare, most providers are preschool teachers

Prek is best at 4 or 5 imo. Young children needs lots of play, guidelines, discipline, daily crafts and learn numbers and meters, they can get that in family daycares

OP here. My kid will be 5 in November so I was thinking a fulltime program would be better. Our nanny is a wonderful and loving caregiver but doesn't really do much in terms of learning/enrichment.

I'm the one you responded OP.

I've seen 4 years old and 5 years old with nannies or at small family daycares with a preschool teacher, it's a daycare preschool of a small group of 8 or 6 kids with a curriculum.

And then there's big centers with tons of kids. I don't like centers.

Anonymous wrote:Prek is not a requirement for kindergarten

I would choose a great nanny, any early educator who gives warmth, self esteem to children is 10 times better than many academics.

Or choose a small home family daycare, most providers are preschool teachers

Prek is best at 4 or 5 imo. Young children needs lots of play, guidelines, discipline, daily crafts and learn numbers and meters, they can get that in family daycares

OP here. My kid will be 5 in November so I was thinking a fulltime program would be better. Our nanny is a wonderful and loving caregiver but doesn't really do much in terms of learning/enrichment.

Prek is not a requirement for kindergarten

I would choose a great nanny, any early educator who gives warmth, self esteem to children is 10 times better than many academics.

Or choose a small home family daycare, most providers are preschool teachers

Prek is best at 4 or 5 imo. Young children needs lots of play, guidelines, discipline, daily crafts and learn numbers and meters, they can get that in family daycares

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A full day of PRek plus before or after care is a LOT for a preschooler

OP here again. I would send my kid for 7-7.5 hours a day. Probably 8-3 or 9-4 type of schedule. I start my day very early.

Would 7 hours be too much? I'm just worried about going from part time 3/days a week to every single day.

Your child be will be fine, but it’s not ideal. You’re only sending your child for 7 hours because it’s childcare. Imagine you’re independently wealthy with a FT nanny. Would you really sign up for 7 hours of preschool a day? Nope.

+1. We are not uber wealthy but we prioritized having the child home as long as possible. That means PT preschool (mornings. increasing in number as you approach K) + nanny in the afternoons

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A full day of PRek plus before or after care is a LOT for a preschooler

OP here again. I would send my kid for 7-7.5 hours a day. Probably 8-3 or 9-4 type of schedule. I start my day very early.

Would 7 hours be too much? I'm just worried about going from part time 3/days a week to every single day.

Your child be will be fine, but it’s not ideal. You’re only sending your child for 7 hours because it’s childcare. Imagine you’re independently wealthy with a FT nanny. Would you really sign up for 7 hours of preschool a day? Nope.

We went from a few hours a week with a nanny at 2 to full time (including after care at school) at age 3. It’s AMAZING. Yes there will be sick days and transition but my kid is thriving and has such a better routine. Long hours but she seems fine. YMMV.

I think 3 is the age to do this. Not having them in the house every day is a HUGE plus. But do try to keep in touch with your nanny if you can!

Anonymous wrote:A full day of PRek plus before or after care is a LOT for a preschooler

OP here again. I would send my kid for 7-7.5 hours a day. Probably 8-3 or 9-4 type of schedule. I start my day very early.

Would 7 hours be too much? I'm just worried about going from part time 3/days a week to every single day.

A full day of PRek plus before or after care is a LOT for a preschooler

Anonymous wrote:Op here. We've had our nanny for 5 years now so just worried my youngest will miss her and have a hard time transitioning.

Also, it would be nice to have a quiet house with no one in it.

You can also ask if the nanny would be open to some one-off babysitting gigs, so they youngest can still see her sometimes.

Of course your child will miss one of their primary caretakers! But it's also ok. Their two main supports (you and your spouse) will still be there, and securely attached kids can weather this type of thing really well.

Preschool teachers are usually wonderful, and will coddle your kid as they adjust just a little bit more than a kindergarten teacher will. So that's a good reason too.

If you can afford it, keep the nanny for a month of transition time to full time care.

Full time preschool is awesome. By age 4 kids are super interested in being with peers and making some friends. They love doing the arts and crafts and running around like maniacs outside. Yes, your child will be tired and they will either nap way too much or not at all at school. But they will start kindergarten ready to go and understanding some basic independence, which is huge.

I'd look for a program that also runs all summer, or offers a summer program. So that your child is still going to "school" every day in the lead up to kindergarten and you don't have to get into the scrum of summer camps just yet.

Were you going to send the youngest to full day Pre-K next year?

We've done both- full time nanny for Pre-K (thanks covid!) and a full time pre-K program for my younger. We really liked the pre-K program the most. There is a LOT of social interaction at this age versus one kid playing with an adult nanny. The cons were that we didn't have anyone to help pick up kids, when they're sick they couldn't go to school.

Op here. We've had our nanny for 5 years now so just worried my youngest will miss her and have a hard time transitioning.

Also, it would be nice to have a quiet house with no one in it.

Your kids will transition just fine. Do you have any special concerns about your specific kids like attachment issues?

I have 2 kids and a fulltime nanny. One kid goes to school fulltime while the other is in a 3s/4s program three times a week. I'm thinking about enrolling my younger kid in a fulltime pre-k program and letting nanny go. I work remotely and have a very flexible job schedule, so I can handle days off/sicknesses/etc. I'm just scared kid will not transition well to being in daycare/school fulltime. Thoughts?