When to place my child in preschool

I am wondering when I should think about putting my oldest daughter into
preschool? She will be 2 in June and I stay at home. I was thinking that I
might put in to preschool when she is 3 for a few days a week and full time
when she is 4. Does that sound reasonable?

--
Carmen Gregoire

Mother of SYS age 2 years
and SLE age 3 months

Maurice & Carmen Gregoire wrote in message
...
I am wondering when I should think about putting my oldest daughter into
preschool? She will be 2 in June and I stay at home. I was thinking that I
might put in to preschool when she is 3 for a few days a week and full
time
when she is 4. Does that sound reasonable?

--
Carmen Gregoire

Mother of SYS age 2 years
and SLE age 3 months


#1 went to preschool a couple of months before she was 3, for 2 mornings a
week. This year (1 yr later) she'll go 4 mornings a week. Then the follwoing
September she'll be in full time school. that's fairly usual round here.
Debbie

On Thu, 27 May 2004 11:27:07 -0500, "Maurice & Carmen Gregoire"
wrote:

I am wondering when I should think about putting my oldest daughter into
preschool? She will be 2 in June and I stay at home. I was thinking that I
might put in to preschool when she is 3 for a few days a week and full time
when she is 4. Does that sound reasonable?

My son is turning 4 in July and will be starting pre-school (2 days a
week) in the fall.

Welches wrote:
Maurice & Carmen Gregoire wrote in message
...
I am wondering when I should think about putting my oldest daughter
into preschool? She will be 2 in June and I stay at home. I was
thinking that I might put in to preschool when she is 3 for a few
days a week and full time when she is 4. Does that sound reasonable?

That sounds reasonable. I start preschool at 4. If Luke doesn't have a
group daycare situation this winter I'll start him at 3. He'd really enjoy
the other kids etc.

..--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (5) and Luke (3)

Yes that sounds very reasonable. I have three girls and the middle child
didn't start preschool until she was four, but the other two girls started
at three.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

Maurice & Carmen Gregoire wrote in message
...
I am wondering when I should think about putting my oldest daughter into
preschool? She will be 2 in June and I stay at home. I was thinking that I
might put in to preschool when she is 3 for a few days a week and full
time
when she is 4. Does that sound reasonable?

--
Carmen Gregoire

Mother of SYS age 2 years
and SLE age 3 months

Hi -

A reasonable age to start preschool will be when your child is ready for
it. My kids both started preschool at the age of 2 (23 and 25 months,
respectively) and just LOVED it. They only went two mornings a week,
and just couldn't wait for school days. But other kids cried and cried
(not just separation, which is normal and lasts about 2 minutes after
mom leaves) but all morning, and for those kids preschool so young
wasn't a good idea.

My kids clearly craved the structure that comes with preschool. (Our
home is still very UNstructured ...) They also wanted more friends, and
there weren't so many young kids on our street to play with. And they
loved to experiment with the various materials that the school had that
I didn't have at home.

And finally, *I* wanted a little bit of time for doing things that are
more fun without kids in tow. Since it suited my kids to be in school,
it suited me as well. I was lucky that our goals (mine and the kids')
were in line with each other :-)

So, look at YOUR kids. Do you want them around you 100% of the time?
ANd are they happy fundamentally happy, and being exposed to suitable
experiences for their age? If so, then there's no need to push
preschool. But if you think they might be happier, or you might be
happier, if they were in preschool, then consider one whenever you
like. Don't be swayed by what the neighbors do, or what other parents
on the newsgroup do.

For what it's worth, our preschool was WONDERFUL, play-based, and didn't
require toilet training.

My two cents,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.

In article ,
"Maurice & Carmen Gregoire" wrote:

I am wondering when I should think about putting my oldest daughter into
preschool? She will be 2 in June and I stay at home. I was thinking that I
might put in to preschool when she is 3 for a few days a week and full time
when she is 4. Does that sound reasonable?

--
Carmen Gregoire

Mother of SYS age 2 years
and SLE age 3 months



It depends: why do you want to put her in preschool? I mean, what are
your objectives, and what sort of preschool is available?

(I speak as someone who didn't use preschool very much at all -- my
oldest went to a 2 hour/2 day a week program for ten weeks run by the
local high school's childhood development class, and my younger two went
to a program that was a few more hours than that for a full year,
because I was working part time.)

It sounds reasonable -- but you write as though you feel preschool is
something you HAVE to do, and it really isn't. It is something that is
really nice for some families, and a PIA for others.

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

"Maurice & Carmen Gregoire" wrote in message
...
I am wondering when I should think about putting my oldest daughter into
preschool? She will be 2 in June and I stay at home. I was thinking that I
might put in to preschool when she is 3 for a few days a week and full
time
when she is 4. Does that sound reasonable?


I just signed DS up for preschool in the fall--3 hours, 2 days a week. He'll
be 3.5 when it starts. I originally thought I'd wait until the next year,
but lately I've just felt that he was ready. He's gotten more and more
independent, and he really seems to thrive on interacting with other
children. And there are experiences which I don't always give him because of
the difficulty in doing certain things with his 1 year old sister in
tow--painting, for instance, or other messy play that requires more
supervision than I can always provide.

The teacher of his program evaluates children for the first few weeks, and
if a child isn't ready for the experience, for whatever reason, they drop
out for a year. I'm prepared to deal with that if the experience just
prooves too difficult for DS, but I have a feeling he's going to just love
it. /fingers crossed

--
Jodi
SAHM to Oliver (3 years, 3 months) & Arwen (13 months)

Maurice & Carmen Gregoire wrote:

I am wondering when I should think about putting my oldest daughter into
preschool? She will be 2 in June and I stay at home. I was thinking that I
might put in to preschool when she is 3 for a few days a week and full time
when she is 4. Does that sound reasonable?

It depends on your child and the school. For what
it's worth, my first started 3 days/week at 3.5yo and four
days/week at 4.5yo (then kindy at 5.5yo). My second did
2 days/week at 2yo, 2 days/week at 3yo (would have preferred
3 days/week, but he missed the age cutoff by a week for the
3 days/week class and we loved the school too much to go
elsewhere) and 4 days/week at 4yo (then kindy at 5yo).
For them, it worked well. I plan the same for #3 since
it seems likely that it will agree with her temperament.

Best wishes,
Ericka

I think it is a good idea for her to go to preschool as she would get to
play with other kids her age. There are not many children in our
neighborhood that are her age and I feel preschool would be a good thing for
her.

--
Carmen Gregoire

Mother of SYS age 2 years
and SLE age 3 months


"dragonlady" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Maurice & Carmen Gregoire" wrote:

I am wondering when I should think about putting my oldest daughter into
preschool? She will be 2 in June and I stay at home. I was thinking that
I
might put in to preschool when she is 3 for a few days a week and full
time
when she is 4. Does that sound reasonable?

--
Carmen Gregoire

Mother of SYS age 2 years
and SLE age 3 months



It depends: why do you want to put her in preschool? I mean, what are
your objectives, and what sort of preschool is available?

(I speak as someone who didn't use preschool very much at all -- my
oldest went to a 2 hour/2 day a week program for ten weeks run by the
local high school's childhood development class, and my younger two went
to a program that was a few more hours than that for a full year,
because I was working part time.)

It sounds reasonable -- but you write as though you feel preschool is
something you HAVE to do, and it really isn't. It is something that is
really nice for some families, and a PIA for others.

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care