OT - Preschool scheduling issue - WWYD?

[QVCshopper]

Hi - I have a DD5 and DS3 (almost 4). They are a year apart in school, and my DD is going to Kindergarten next year. They both go to the same preschool in the a.m., but on different days. For next year, I was going to send my DS to the same preschool he's in now, but I just found out that my school district is changing my neighborhood to p.m. Kindergarten (currently my neighborhood is a.m.). The preschool doesn't have p.m. classes.

So, do you think it's worth changing preschools to better meet our schedule? We all love the preschool, but I would *love* a schedule where both my kids are in school at the same time for a few days a week. Otherwise, my DD will be with me in the a.m. and DS will be with me in the p.m., and they won't see each other much at all. They love playing together, and to be honest, I was looking forward to some time where I could work or go to the gym alone.

Hoping for opinions--thanks very much! None of my friends had kids this close together...

 

[MSSANDRA]

Any possible way to get you kindergartener into an am program instead??

I just think that PM preschool ;I really did not know they exsisted, they do not in our area, would be really tough on kids. Many still need at least a rest time in the afternoon.

not sure if I would,change or not. I know I would love some mommy time alone.

 

[QVCshopper]

Any possible way to get you kindergartener into an am program instead??

I just think that PM preschool ;I really did not know they exsisted, they do not in our area, would be really tough on kids. Many still need at least a rest time in the afternoon.

not sure if I would,change or not. I know I would love some mommy time alone.

If I drive her back and forth every day, the Kindergarten may let me change to a.m., but it didn't sound like they want parents switching schedules. Neither of my kids have naped for years. Thanks for the reply, I have to think some more...

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

If you can find another preschool that you are comfortable with, I would switch. We do full day kindergarten here and I remember the first day that DD was at kindie and ds was in preschool......I wanted to yell...FREEDOM!!....at the top of my lungs!! It would be worth it to me just to have those few hours of kid-free time.

 

[krcit]

I would look into switching. You need a little free time, lol!

 

[kacaju]

yes I would change preschools. When my now 4th grader was going into preschool I was going to send her to the same pre school her sisters went to. I loved it there. BUT they started at 9am and her sisters bus came at 8:15. I found another pre school that started at 8:30. It was great to have that extra half hour to myslef

 

[QVCshopper]

Thanks for the replies. Despite my loyalties to the current preschool, I found two with a p.m. schedule that should work fine. So, I'll call to set up tours and go from there. I really could use the time to work (right now I work 6pm-1am) or work out. Who knows? Maybe the p.m. schedule will work better for us, as I'm often up so late working...

 

[Nicolepa]

I did PM Kinder with my 1st. Never again. It was a miserable year, you couldn't really do anything in the AM because there wasn't enough time to get to the mall (for example) and back, you couldn't do it while they were in school because (again) not enough time. I had enough time to go to the gym and if I was lucky Target. I felt like I was rushing around all year and going to lose my mind.

With AM Kinder you can still go to the park or childrens museum in the afternoon if you want. Like I said I would never do PM again. W/my 2nd he went all day, my 3rd won't go to K at all. He will most likely be homeschooled but if he isn't I would keep him home for K before I did afternoon.

 

[puffkin]

I'd personally try to get everyone on an AM schedule even if it meant driving DD to AM kindergarten. PM just breaks up the whole day. I think the kids would be happier too!

 

[Mom2JPL]

I'd switch to get them both on the same schedule. I did this myself this year. My kids are in K, preK and preNursery (6, 4 and 3). My dd6 got afternoon K and my other two were scheduled for morning classes.

I admit I did try to switch my dd6 to morning K, but once they explained to me that they keep mornings for kids that need to go to aftercare because their parents both work (or single parent that needs to work) I was ok with leaving her in afternoon. It was only convenience for me to switch to morning, not a necessity.

So, I was able to keep the same school for my son and switch him to afternoons, but I moved my daughter to a FREE program at our high school that was in the afternoons. So, I'm out the door by 11:30 to drop off dd3 for 11:40, ds4 to preK by noon, and then back the house to get dd6 on her bus by 12:30. I get 1 and 1/2 hours to myself (woo hoo!) and then it's out the door to get dd3 for 2:00, ds4 at 2:30 and back home and wait for dd6 to get off the bus by 4:15. I thought I would HATE the afternoon schedule (since the last 3 years we were on a morning schedule from 9 to 11:30) but it really hasn't been that bad. It's nice going out in the afternoon when it's a little bit warmer in the winter. I do get to the store in between on my time alone and sometimes I go on Tues/Thur when I just have the one home w/me dd3 (she only goes 3 days a week) and I have the extra 1/2 hour.

It'll all work out!

 

[micheleq]

DD4 has been in pm preschool for two years now and it is great for her. She's hasn't been napping in years, so her afternoons fly by and she gets the mornings to play with her sister.

Next year she'll be in an extended day kindergarten (9-1pm) and DD2 will be in am preschool MWF (9:15-11:30). I can't wait for two hours a day, on those three days, that I will get to myself! What will I do? Ah, grocery shopping alone, LOL!

 

[mama4]

When my ds6 started pre-k at 4yo they only had afternoons from 1-4 available. It was the same preschool he went to the year before and his older brother had attended for 2 years. I didn't want to change schools so I agreed to the new schedule. Older ds was in 1st grade at the time from 7:40 to 1:40 so I had just enough time to go pick him up after dropping ds4 at preschool. It was the most miserable frustrating schedule ever. I seriously think it made it harder for me to get dd potty trained ...and she still isn't completely trained I also think it was harder on ds4 to go to school in the pm. He seemed out of sorts when I picked him up everyday.. Never again will I do afternoon preschool.

 

[Arkansan]

I TOTALLY understand your need for a few hours a day to yourself! I have been there/done that and am LOVING the fact that all my three kids are FINALLY on the same schedule. (except for the two that attend a "year round" school and the one that is on the "traditional calander"--see, it never quite ends!) Next year, they will be in three different school buildings, on two different school year calanders, and two different start and end times. (7-12 grades start later than K-6) So, I still feel your pain.

On to your original question... At the time my oldest child went to K we had the exact same situation. We opted to leave everyone where they were and I'll tell you why. The whole neighborhood was PM Kdgn. so we wanted her to have neighborhood friends. If she was the only child to go AM, she would never see them and wouldn't know any kids on the bus when she went to 1st gr. DD (in preschool) and DS did play well together. I wanted oldest DD to be able to be a kid in the AM so I just juggled. Also, I had a 14 mo. old DS who napped in the PM, so I would be waking him up for pickup at preschool. We also had activities right after school that I felt would be too much for the preschooler to go right from school to the activitiy without a break. (in AM school, she could play/relax in the PM and then go to the activity.) It was a hectic year, I'm not going to lie. My oldest DD got on the bus at 11:45, so she would need to eat lunch by 10:30 so we could pick up the preschooler and get home in time to put her on the bus. Then I would need to feed the other two lunch, so the 2nd shift started. DS (the youngest) got dragged around. However, we all lived. Preschool was only 3 mornings/wk. Oldest DD made friends and had a great year. Younger DD had a great year in preschool and was able to play with DS every PM. I got some quality time with everyone, but not much with myself. We did it again when the next DD went to K. By then, the oldest was full day school so next DD went to PM K and DS was in AM preschool. I then had alone time with each of them. It was nice.

There were advantages. Nothing really opens until 10AM. If your kids are in AM programs (ie the school bus comes at 8 and preschool is at 9) what are you going to do for that hour? You can't run errands, as nothing you need is open. I also found that my oldest was much better prepared for 1st gr. than some other kids that had only had AM experiences. She knew that school went on after lunch. Believe it or not, many kids were surprised at that! But when you think about it, if they only go to AM school, then come home and eat lunch and play all afternoon, why would they know it? She was also really good at managing her afternoon time because she had had a year of going directly from school to an activity without a break and other kids needed to adjust to that.

Sorry this was so long. Hope it helps. Good luck with your decision! I know it isn't easy to make these choices.

 

[brockash]

I'd switch preschools, so you can have some time to do stuff without the kiddos.

 

[QVCshopper]

Thanks everyone! It was very helpful to here about other mom's schedules. That said, I called the 3 preschools in my area with p.m. classes and have appts. made. There's one that I think will work out really well for us.

Being that I work at night and my kids sleep from 8pm til 8am (or later), I think we're more pm people anyway. My DD went to pm preschool last year and it was very nice for us--my DS was too young to go that year, so we had lots of mommy/son bonding time. Change is good, right?

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

I would try to get your kindy child into the am class. Our school district goes by number of students registering in what town and we have no idea until the summer time if our child is am or pm. The way to switch it is to switch bus stops to a neighboring town who has the schedule you want. HTH.