Anonymous wrote:Anything before 3 years old is daycare. Most kids start preschool at 3 years old. Mine went five half days a week.

Mine went to preschool at our church from 9-12 two days a week at two. We had a full-time nanny at the time so it wasn't for childcare purposes, it was for socialization purposes.

Anonymous wrote:The abandonment thing is not universal and wasn't true for my kids. It was great for my DD to get social time with peers and for me to get time with just the baby. She did 2 days a week at 2.5.

Same! My older DS was 3 and school (3 mornings per week) was his special place. It made him feel big and important. It worked well that he started a couple of months before the baby arrived, so he was settled in. And I agree that it gave me some alone time with my little guy that I really loved.

Anonymous wrote:Half day program, 2 days a week at age 3 and 3 days a week at age 4.

This was us too.

And brings back awful memories of “registration.” I was a new (and older) mom and had no clue parents signed their kids up in Nov-Dec of the prior year for a fall start. It all worked out though. A small, church-based (different denomination than our family) just down the street still had openings in Feb…and we “got” oldest DC enrolled. It was fabulous and we still occasionally see two of the teachers around and chat. Oldest is now in college and youngest is about to graduate from HS.

It was a stretch for us financially but we have no regrets and the half-day/less-than-5 days worked for us. Gave me some one-on-one time with our youngest and the oldest got to hang with some other girls (as we only had other boys in our neighborhood).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All my kids did 2 days a week at age 2, 3 days at age 3 and 4 days at age 4. This is a neighborhood church based preschool, from 9:30-1pm.

It was really good for kids to start preschool young. The kids that don’t start preschool until age 4/5 have a much harder time adjusting and saying goodbye to parents and learning how to listen during circle time and sharing with classmates.

This exactly. We did a co-op preschool and it was great for both my kids and I. After a few months at home with a new baby, your 2yo will probably have a blast making friends and doing fun activities a couple of mornings a week. And I found the routine really helpful too. I made other SAHM friends and we did playdates and watched eachother’s babies when it was our turn to volunteer in the classroom. Starting at 2 was great because stakes were very low - they didn’t expect kids to sit still for a long circle time or be potty trained. By 3, he was ready for more ‘preschool’ activities, but it would have been harder to just jump in then.

I think both are great. We found a school like yours and loved it. Our middle kid in particular was desperate to go to school when his sister did (2 year age difference). He loved school and I think not sending him at 2 (when we could) would have been depriving him. He was also a very wild toddler and school taught him to sit, follow the group AMAZINGLY. Loved loved loved it.

That said, kids joined the cohort for the threes class and they seemed to do fine as well!

Anonymous wrote:All my kids did 2 days a week at age 2, 3 days at age 3 and 4 days at age 4. This is a neighborhood church based preschool, from 9:30-1pm.

It was really good for kids to start preschool young. The kids that don’t start preschool until age 4/5 have a much harder time adjusting and saying goodbye to parents and learning how to listen during circle time and sharing with classmates.

This exactly. We did a co-op preschool and it was great for both my kids and I. After a few months at home with a new baby, your 2yo will probably have a blast making friends and doing fun activities a couple of mornings a week. And I found the routine really helpful too. I made other SAHM friends and we did playdates and watched eachother’s babies when it was our turn to volunteer in the classroom. Starting at 2 was great because stakes were very low - they didn’t expect kids to sit still for a long circle time or be potty trained. By 3, he was ready for more ‘preschool’ activities, but it would have been harder to just jump in then.

If you find a good school just go with their schedule. Generally 2,s (if offered) are two mornings a week, 3’s are three, etc. honestly the hard part will be you trucking the baby back and forth to pick up since it’s only a couple hours and might not work around you baby nap schedule. Strollers like doona comes in handy for this. Another option is to bring in a mother’s helper to give your toddler some play attention while you are nursing/napping baby. This will be easier to find over the summer with young babysitters.

Don’t worry too much about the ‘sibling rivalry drama’ on the eldest. Just keep an eye out for their readiness (potty trained, curious,etc) and act accordingly when you find a school you like. Tour the school and look for ones where the teachers have been there a long time.

-mom of three

Anonymous wrote:All my kids did 2 days a week at age 2, 3 days at age 3 and 4 days at age 4. This is a neighborhood church based preschool, from 9:30-1pm.

It was really good for kids to start preschool young. The kids that don’t start preschool until age 4/5 have a much harder time adjusting and saying goodbye to parents and learning how to listen during circle time and sharing with classmates.

I can think of countless examples that refute this absurd stance.

I wouldn’t send before 3, unless you need to for childcare. The PP has a point about the diapers. A lot of places that accept 2 yr olds don’t have a potty training requirement and much of the teachers’ time will be spent changing diapers and soiled clothes (of those “almost” potty trained).

I also think 5 half days is the best schedule for kids- again, if it is truly just for preschool and socialization and not childcare. The consistency of 5 days per week makes a huge different in their progress and experience. At least age 3 and when they are mature enough for 5 half days. That is the preschool sweet spot.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a SAHM and we have a new 2 year old and expecting a second in July and wondering when would be a good time to start the oldest at school? I've heard it's a bad idea to start school soon after a new baby is born because the oldest can feel abandoned.

So I would think the earliest would be Fall 2027 a couple a dayys a week for a few hours?


If you didn't need full day for childcare what schedule did you dind work for preschool? And is it true about the oldest feeling abandoned?

Mine did not feel that way.

2 years between the two.

Mine started half day twice a week 9-12.

Anonymous wrote:All my kids did 2 days a week at age 2, 3 days at age 3 and 4 days at age 4. This is a neighborhood church based preschool, from 9:30-1pm.

It was really good for kids to start preschool young. The kids that don’t start preschool until age 4/5 have a much harder time adjusting and saying goodbye to parents and learning how to listen during circle time and sharing with classmates.

And you know this how?

Anonymous wrote:Preschool is the year before kindergarten. You can call it preschool, pre-K, transitional K, junior K, but whatever you call it, that is when they will actually learn and absorb things like writing their name and learning all the letters and doing some very simple math.

Everything before that is DAYCARE, even if it's a posh expensive place with a waitlist and calls itself preschool. Businesses can call themselves whatever they want, and preschool just sounds better to naive parents. If you can smell the diaper bins, it ain't preschool.

lol

I don’t care about the daycare v preschool naming distinction. However my daughter was fully writing shortly after her third birthday. My son wasn’t, so I know there’s a range of normal. But in his class, most of the girls (sorry, gender distinction true for this class) were writing their names when they started prek. Why do you think children can’t or don’t absorb things before that year?

Anonymous wrote:Preschool is the year before kindergarten. You can call it preschool, pre-K, transitional K, junior K, but whatever you call it, that is when they will actually learn and absorb things like writing their name and learning all the letters and doing some very simple math.

Everything before that is DAYCARE, even if it's a posh expensive place with a waitlist and calls itself preschool. Businesses can call themselves whatever they want, and preschool just sounds better to naive parents. If you can smell the diaper bins, it ain't preschool.

Why is this important to you?

Many parents understand daycare to imply FT childcare hours. I think it would be weird for part time places to start calling themselves that, but it honestly doesn’t matter. Sent our kids to a super part time place and DH couldn’t stop calling it daycare anyway. It was great.

Anonymous wrote:Preschool is the year before kindergarten. You can call it preschool, pre-K, transitional K, junior K, but whatever you call it, that is when they will actually learn and absorb things like writing their name and learning all the letters and doing some very simple math.

Everything before that is DAYCARE, even if it's a posh expensive place with a waitlist and calls itself preschool. Businesses can call themselves whatever they want, and preschool just sounds better to naive parents. If you can smell the diaper bins, it ain't preschool.

Yikes. If your 3 year old isn’t potty trained, you have bigger problems…

All my kids did 2 days a week at age 2, 3 days at age 3 and 4 days at age 4. This is a neighborhood church based preschool, from 9:30-1pm.

It was really good for kids to start preschool young. The kids that don’t start preschool until age 4/5 have a much harder time adjusting and saying goodbye to parents and learning how to listen during circle time and sharing with classmates.

Anonymous wrote:Preschool is the year before kindergarten. You can call it preschool, pre-K, transitional K, junior K, but whatever you call it, that is when they will actually learn and absorb things like writing their name and learning all the letters and doing some very simple math.

Everything before that is DAYCARE, even if it's a posh expensive place with a waitlist and calls itself preschool. Businesses can call themselves whatever they want, and preschool just sounds better to naive parents. If you can smell the diaper bins, it ain't preschool.

Many pre-schools require kids to be potty trained (so no diaper bins) and start several years before kindergarten.
My son's Montessori preschool started kids as young as 2.5 and they had to be potty trained. It was offered 5 days per week from 8:45 am-11:45 am, and kids could choose 2 days, 3 days, or 5 days per week. There were also long breaks (Christmas break, springs break, the entire summer, etc.) and other days off that wouldn't work for working parents depending on it as childcare.