Preschool - One Year or Two

One thing to remember is that kindergarten is NOT just about academics. It's about learning to work in a group. Learning the rules of a school. Learning how to listen to a teacher and follow multi-step directions. How to walk in a line down a hallway. Kindergarten is much easier on kids who have attended preschool. It is a total life change for kids who have been home for all their lives or in home based daycare.

I don't really have an opinion on one year versus two. I think it's totally up to you, but I hope you will give him at least the one year.

Dawn

Both my kids were born a month or two after the cut off. For my daughter, we sent her to preschool for 2 days a week the first year and 3 days a week the second year. We plan to do the same for my son and he starts school this year.

I'd say to send him to preschool for 2 years - he'll probably benefit from it greatly. He's probably not getting the stimulation there he needs - sounds like a basic babysitting service, not any kind of education.

If you do decide to send him to preschool for the 4 days a week, he'll still have one day with his friend right? If not, maybe the babysitter can get you in touch with the little boys mom and you can invite them over to play sometimes.

All of my kids had 3 years of pre school. They start at 2 years old, going two mornings a week for 2 hours. Then the next year they go three mornings a week for 2.5 hours. The final year of preschool they go 4 mornings a week. My older two had NO issues starting kindergarten, because they were used to the 'school' routine, had a head start because they knew their letters, numbers, how to spell their names, etc. in my opinion, preschool gives kiddos such a wonderful jump start, both in the educational and social aspects of school!

My daugher turns six at the end of this month and we started at preschool when she just turned 3. She had major separation anxiety and she got horribly sick the first month in school, (my bad for not exposing her to more kids). We took her out after a month and then put her in again the following year when she had just turned 4. It was a different preschool and she did great. I think in my daughters case she had never had any previous daycare experience, so it was too much for her at 3. Your son has had experience with daycare, so he will probably do awesome. I would've loved for my daughter to have two years of preschool, but it wasn't in her agenda :).

If it is a Montessori and it's affordable, and it seems like he would really like it and thrive there, I would do 2 years. My daughter will start kindergarten at the end of August, 2 weeks after turning 5. We've done 2 years of preschool - as a 3 year old it was just 2 mornings a week and at 4 it was 4 mornings a week. It sounds like at the other woman's house, he's having fun but not much else. He can start getting some academic exposure but don't worry - it will still be fun and still seem like play to him. It just might be more stimulating than what he is getting now and when he goes next year, it will already be a familiar environment.

Our child goes to a French Immersion school, so the 'grades' are a bit different, but he started at age 3 in the pre-school program, 2 days per week. This past year, he continued in the next level of the preschool program at age four full-time (5 days per week from 9-3). Next year, he will be going into what they call junior kindergarten - his birthday is in April, so he will start in junior kindergarten at age 4 and complete it at age 5. Starting kindergarten at age 5.

I think it's a good way to get them used to the structure of school while still incorporating a lot of play. Pre-school is also built for getting a child used to being away from their parents for the whole day as well as learning a bit of structure - like having certain things to do each day at the same time. They come in and play a bit, and then have to move their names from the 'house' to the 'school'. Then they read, then they do some drawing that may incorporate learning of colors, shapes, etc. At the end of his second year of full-time pre-school our son is able to write his name, count to 20 in English and 15 in French and almost knows is abc's. All of this was learned in a slow manner using play.

I think it's a good way to transition your child to 'real school' and if he can go for 2 years, then even better.

If you do the Montessori, you should definitely look at 2 years. They are multi-age classrooms and the materials are designed to be mastered over (generally) three years. My son just finished his kindergarten year at a Montessori. It was a 3-6 year old program of which we did 2 years. I think he would have gotten way less out of 1 year. Also - if you do a Montessori, he will not be limited by the fact that he is plenty old enough for kindergarten learning which they will NOT get to in many less individualized preschools. (My son missed the cut off too).

Actually my son started daycare (3 days a week) at 9 weeks, continued at that center's preschool (same 3 full days) once he turned 3 years old and moved to the Montessori program the September he was 4-1/2.

If your son currently spent most of his time in care playing outside, I would say that is good too. But if he is mostly inside and/or watching tv, I think he would get more out of preschool. Plus, Montessori, while the works are rigid in how they must be done, is very much child driven and fun. My son's preschool also had them outside for much of the day.

My little guy is 3 and will be starting preschool in early September, 5 days a week, going for the next 2 years. I'm doing it for the socialization skills he'll gain being around other children his age and learning to get along one on one and in a group, being able to do that well more than anything is a factor in "succeeding" in kindergarten.

My daughter went to preschool for two years (well one and a half...we started her in January). She loved it. She went 4 days a week for around 3 hours a day which was perfect. Not too much, not too little. The first year we sent her for socialization and so she could play with other kids her age. The second year we sent her more for the learning aspects (much more intense curriculum for 4 year old class than she mixed age class).

He'll have more than enough years to attend school and be in a structured environment. Give him one more year to have fun and be a baby and hang with mom. He'll be fine in school later on.

We sent all of our grand kids to either child care preschool or to Head Start. They are mentally stagnated if they don't do something during this time. Their brains are turned on to absorb so much during the ages of 3, 4, and 5, way before they are supposed to start Kindergarten.

I vote for an official preschool program that has a curriculum that is well rounded. A child learns so much through just playing. You can google learning while playing and you will get thousands of references on the topic. Every minute they are playing they are learning something needed for future precepts. They are building their foundation for future learning.

I think that with the 2 years of preschool he will be more than ready for Kindergarten. I do agree with school systems that have cut off dates where the child must be a full 5 years old before the first day of school. They need this so they will be 17 turning 18 their senior year. It is so hard on a child to be 18 when they start that last year of high school. In so many cases they just don't even go. They are adults and there is little a parent can do to "make" them go to high school or anything else once they turn 18.

He can always take some extra classes as he gets older and maybe even do some college in high school classes so he can graduate a year early. He could easily graduate then be off to start college just as he turns 18 in September.

My daughter had 1 year of preschool, before entering Kindergarten.
My son had about 6 months of preschool, before entering Kindergarten.
They both entered Kindergarten at 4 years old, and turned 5 shortly after.
They were both FINE and adapted well and did well, in Kindergarten with no problems.

we do the 2 days a week preschool for the first year and 3 days the second. although having 2 years and him being older you could do the 3 days and then full week the next year. a lot of school districts have all day kindergarten now so some preschool is a big help

I have to say I have really never met a mom who put her child in preschool cause they needed a break lol. But it is good for the kids to socialize and have some idea of what school is about. going in cold to kindergarten can be quite a shock to the system. not like it was 45 years ago when I went and you had a 2 and half hour day that included snack and rest time on a mat lol

just my experience, we had AWESOME results with 2 years of preschool. my son was at that cutoff too - some said i could have sent him, some said no- either way i wasn't interested in rushing and as a rowdy little boy i made the decision to wait. didn't even call the school. i thought he was doing great in his preschool/daycare center the first year. he had a ball and did lots of fun crafts and worksheets, all about letters and numbers. learned to write his name, it was great. (he already knew his letters and numbers going in, so i didn't see a huge difference but i knew he was getting something out of it so i was really happy).

then we decided to do year 2- same class, same teacher, and OMG. now (the end of his S. year) he is spelling, adding numbers 1-10, and reading. not huge words, but he has picked up on phonics (and watching the electric company has helped too - this 5 year old knows about the silent "E" lol) i could NOT believe how much more he got out of it the S. time around. he sounds out words and one of our favorite car games is "how do you spell...?" and he will sound it out. he also reads beginner readers. not flawlessly, with a lot of help, but he probably reads half of the words. it's truly amazing.

granted, he probably would have learned similar things in kindergarten. but i was a girl and one of the oldest, so i am thinking with him, as a boy (maturing slower) i absolutely made the right decision for my son. he is a little calmer, listens better, and is a little less "squirrelly" in general. which was our goal. the rest was just gravy. :) good luck with whatever you decide!

It depends. My oldest did only one year of preschool. She was in a daycare home since age 8 weeks, had plenty of socialization there and she knew her letters and numbers. One year was enough for her. She went 5 afternoons a week. My younger kid was less academically on target, and I was working part time from home during the day, so he was mostly at home with me and didn't get the socialization, so I sent him for two years. At three, he went two mornings a week and at four years old, he went 3 mornings.

I did two years for both, my son because I was working so he went to a preschool/daycare. My daughter I was not working but put her in a parent participation, it was a 5 day program, but the first year I didnt always take her ever day. The second year she went mostly all the time. She learned alot, and to me that was very important, because when they got in kindergarten there was alot they were expected to know. They had fun, learned to socialize and learned alot. Good luck on your decision

Don't rush school! He will have more than enough time to sit around being told what to do. Let him play with his friend.

he needs to be in a more stimulating environment.....

I'm not a believer in preschool for academic advancement. I think the only reason to send your child is if you need a break from your child, or they need interaction because you have no other social activities for them. I'm going to skip it all. Unless of course i have one more baby in which case I'll take the mom break preschool offers.

preschool is fun.most kids love preschool.. they play eat a snack and make a craft.. then time to go home. 2 or 3 hours goes pretty quick.

I really wanted montessori for my kids.. but all of hte places around me requred 5 days (1/2 days) it didnt make sense for me to be a stay home mom and pay to send my kids to school eveyday..

so.. I would look for a 2 day program in your area.. just so he gets the feel of school. it is fun parties for holiday.. fun crafts.. friends.. gets them used to the big school days..