What Would Be Best for His Cognitive and Social Development?

Dear H.,

I am the owner of a Montessori School and I think you still have time for preschool if you are looking for education and social development. Although there are programs in place for 21 month old children I think 3 is the perfect age to introduce preschool to your children if daycare is not needed. There are many things you can do at home for cognitive development such as, puzzles, building blocks, sorting, etc. There is a wonderful store that sells educational materials called Lakeshore Learning if you do not have one in your area they have a website www.lakeshorelearning.com you can browse for age appropriate materials. Also www.discountschoolsupply.com is wonderful and much less expensive. I believe at his age the best way for him to learn is through play. As far a social development you could involve him in some mommy and me classes like little gym. Also check out your local library we have a really nice library hour in my community. Sometimes they have free workshops for kids of all ages that are great. If you do not need daycare then at his age he is getting all of the love and care he needs in his own home. You sound like a great mom keep up the good work!!

Both my kids are taken care of daily by my mother while my hubby and I work. One of the things that was great for them was that our local library had a free program that you could go to once a week. From there my mom found a local FRC (Family resource center) play group, again a free program. That covered 2 days a week. Then there was a gymnastics class offered by her town. Look to see what programs there are locally to you. Many libraries offer programs for little or no money. The search your surrounding towns for an FRC program. There is also swimming lessons or other things. Believe it or not, your son isn't going to get better care then from this woman. See if there are local things she can take him too.

My son benefited from daycare socially. His father and I worked different shifts to avoid daycare expense for 2 years. Unfortunately he was lacking "something". His sister is 9 1/2 yrs to the day older than him. That something was other children his age. We placed him into daycare a few days a week and WOW what a difference. Made potty training easier to... he wanted to be like the older kids and off went the diapers. Remember that daycare providers are teachers, even if it is twice a week they provide structured learning and lots of friends. Now in 1st grade he loves school and is reading at a 2nd grade level with wonderful grades. I contribute alot of his success and love of school to his daycare times where he learned to socialize and have structured learning.

Hi,
It sounds like you are very fortunate to have a loving caregiver in your home to stimulate your son. Certainly different preschool programs can be valuable for learning and socialization but that can also be done at home. I agree that library programs are free and enriching, and you can also have play dates or organize a small playgroup with moms included. Kids at this age engage in parallel play anyways but benefit from being with other toddlers. I am a speech language pathologist with a blog, articles and reviews on best toys and books to build language on my website at http://www.playonwords.com. I give lots of practical tips on how to use books to encourage language development. http://playonwords.com/articles/2009/01/25/best-valentine... I hope this is helpful. S. Artemenko

Daycare is great for social stimulation but i am not sure how much attention he would recieve educationally. All daycare centers are different so I would do your homework on where you would take him.

The one problem I have with day care is that many parents bring their kids there while sick so they don't have to miss work. My niece was in daycare and sick ALL THE TIME. Once she was pulled out of the daycare situation she rarely got sick. AS a parent, My preference would be the Montessori school. Although you really have to weigh what would be best for you and your situation.