Pre K budget buster what would you do

[lisalis]

OP, good luck on your decision! You are already helping your daughter's education by making this decision a priority. I am a SAHM with my 4 year old son and we do "preschool" stuff at home this year. Because I'm a teacher, many parents ask if I'm going to home school him next year. I tell them I am sending him to preschool mainly because I want him to learn to wait his turn, sit and listen in a group, and interact with other children. As a former teacher, I can tell you it is not the academic skills that are the most important when coming to kindergarten. Children who can follow directions independently and successfully function in a larger group will do well. I don't think you'll need to spend $10,000 to achieve this goal.

 

[abbyndrewmom]

The military pre-school may also help you and your daughter meet other young families on the base.

I also wanted to agree with the poster about not putting your own degree on hold any longer! My very best friend is a military wife and she is completing her degree online. She has slowly been working away on it for years supplementing when she can with a local college courses. It has been a lot of work for her but she will be done soon and I am so proud of her!

 

[DipsyDoodles]

Please, please STOP! The word you are looking for is capital.

What is wrong with you?? Have you no compassion? Get a life and stay out of others.

 

[hopeandtink]

we are AF stationed on an Army base they have a mothers group but they are segregated by age so there is one group for age 0 to 2 (my youngest child is 5 months) one 2-4 and one 4-6 so i don't really know how that would work at all. there are 700 airforce where we are and lots of army people in training the code of conduct for the AF here is very strict about rank dh is e6 so most of the people with kids our age can't associate with him on a personal basis (and generally therefor us) due to conflicts with chain of command... an officer just got busted for having a drink with some enlisted guys i mean come on just going out for a drink? we had to keep it hush hush when we went to help out an e4 with some problems at home because it wasn't our place... it's really rediculous and i have NEVER been in a less family friendly environment.

Ok, I am going to elborate on the not having contact with other ranks. My DH was an in the Army for 15 years, 7 as an officer. We lived on AF and Army bases all over the US. You can hang out with families of other rank! It only becomes an issue when a relationship is started between 2 soldiers in the same MOS (job). My best friend was a wife of a E-4. It is an old wives tale that enlisted families are not allowed to associate with officers. The incident that you are referring to about the drinks probably involved much more than you are aware of and had nothing to do with rank.


You can call the FRG (family readiness group) and they can point you in the direction of other wives that you could connect with. They might already have something in place that you could join. Most bases have coop preschools and are run by the mothers ( they have a board and a qualified teacher).

Please don't use "I am following a military man" as an excuse. I learned very early in my DH's military carreer that I had to assert myself and not use the military as an excuse for the way things are.

So you missed the registration, there are many other ways to socialize your child.

 

[tar heel]

Someone suggested that you try to get your daughter into kindergarten. There are very few instances when putting a 4-year-old in K would be the right move. I wouldn't even consider it. The best advice our preschool director gave us about our oldest was: Don't let them skip him. He may have a big brain, but he's still a little boy.

I'll reiterate that I'm a big believer in play-oriented preschool. I taught in one, and I chose them for all three of my sons. Play does not mean nothing is happening. In a good school, lots is being accomplished. That doesn't mean the kids are sitting there with worksheets making letters -- I cringe at the thoughts of preschoolers doing that.

OP - I'd still check out the church-oriented schools. Is there one affiliated with a church other than Baptist, maybe Presbyterian or Lutheran? We had Jewish children at both of the Presbyterian preschools we used, which gives you an idea of just how religious they weren't.

 

[Ephany]

option 3 we are military we can do hourly prek at the CDC (on base day care center very nice very clean well staffed top notch) for 4$ per hour up to 24 hours per week so we could do 7 hours on tues and thurs for instance for a total of 14 hours a week for 54$ per week or 200-250 per month. I have heard the program is very good and she would get more out of this accidemically than a state funded free program 6.5 days per week

military base CDC... can totally do the 250 per month we will just not do some of the "fun things" we would other wise do but she would only be doing 14-18 hours a week here vs 35 at a private pre k or at the free state pre k but i believe the instruction she would get here would be better than a weeks worth of instruction at the "free state funded in day care pre k"

Here in Georgia it's kind of the same thing. Pre-K is a lottery, however the base CDC pre-K program was the same as public pre-K as far as cost went (free). It was Mon-Fri, 8-2 IIRC, NOT drop in. I drove DD across town to the base pre-K because I had heard such good reviews rather than having her placed in the lottery for her local school (1/2 mile away). We only had to pay for DD's before/after care, not the pre-K portion of the day. It was awesome, the classroom ratio was low, there was an instructor and a para in every classroom, the turnover rates for staff were really low, and the kids did so much (and had fun doing it). She really learned a lot, but she thought she was playing so it wasn't stressful. The kindergarten teachers in my daughter's (public) elementary school had nothing but praise for the CDC program.

I'm not sure where you're stationed, but if you have any questions, please pm me! Quality may of course differ from state to state or base to base, but we had a very good experience.

 

[bumbershoot]

The studies on preschool have compared preschool to kids with uninvolved parents. Not to parents who are obviously involved and teaching their kids while at home.

Since you're home, I see absolutely NO need for her to be in preschool. As you guys go out and about she's going to see people and interact with them, many of them will be children, she'll be fine.

My son never had any sort of "structured" social program, he got to know people as we moved around in the world, we also homeschool, and he's been 100% fine. Not only can he get along with kids his age (honestly it's been other kids who have been a barrier to that, as other kids seem to have a feeling that you can only make friends at school) he can get along with *anyone*.

You're there, you care, you have obviously been doing great thing with her...keep doing that!

 

[princessmom29]

I vote for the Baptist school. Kids DO need preschool, IMO. The NEED to be around other children and learn those social skills. Playdates are not the same as learning to function in a structured school environment. AS to the studies, there ARE in fact studies outthere that show that kids, even those with very involved parents, that don't attend preschool have a harder time adjusting to the school routine in K. It sounds to me like you just don't want to send her into a "daycare" environment because you view it as subpar. I LOVED DD's baptist daycare, even though we are most definitely NOT baptist. They were not pushy about the religion aspect, and really cared for all of the children. Theri preschool program was excellent. far better that what was offerd through the public schools, and DD was well prepared to enter K at the private primary school she now attends.

 

[bumbershoot]

The spelling, punctuation, and grammar in the first post are atrocious. Those are three very good reasons, IMO.

Wowza!

When teaching at home, one does not usually just pull stuff out of one's head. One uses resources. In that way, mistakes are caught. You don't just teach whatever comes to mind. I've done more researching, just to make sure I'm giving my son the right answers, this year than I ever thought possible, and he's only doing 1st grade work! (thanks, 12 years of public school, for not making SURE I knew everything! really appreciate it!)

The OP has *obviously* been doing a terrific job, she reads from books (doesn't just make stuff up, though there's nothing wrong with making up stories of course!), which is how many kids learn how to use words anyway...

And with such a smart kid, if the mom does make an error, seems the daughter will be able to catch it pretty quickly...

 

[SoonerSarah]

Dd had close to 10000 in her college fund any amount which can be withdrawn at any time so long as its educational expenses

Ok, it is your money to do with as you will, assuming you put the money in her college fund, but I personally believe that that $10,000 would be put to better use by keeping it into her account to go towards some higher education. I don't think there is that great of a benefit to her education to use it at this time.

 

[princessmom29]

The spelling, punctuation, and grammar in the first post are atrocious. Those are three very good reasons, IMO.

I am sorry, but this is just plain rude. You are basing your entire opinion of someone's ability to educate thier child on ONE message board post? Really?? How objective and fair of you.

 

[princessbride6205]

Auralia - I'm sorry that you missed registration for the free pre-K. I'd be fuming too! I can't believe they changed the registration with such short notice. It sounds like now you're on a path to try the CDC preschool, which sounds like the best option to me. Since you don't need full time daycare plus preschool, you have a lot of options - like you've outlined. Hopefully one of the options that doesn't break the bank will be a good fit for your DD.

Don't listen to the haters - they are just being mean and their comments were truly uncalled for. We really can be nice here.

As for being a military spouse, I hope you can find some other families to socialize with, it sounds like your interaction right now is fairly limited. Hugs to you!

 

[GinnyEmma]

Lol, not sending a child to preschool does not equal homeschooling. There isn't anything magic a $10000 preschool can teach your child. Of course in the nasty public preschool she might learn tolerance in that process of "socializing." socialization is a whole other animal.

 

[Leajess99]

Our children can socialize, but ya i did word that pretty wrong. Most of the people here are first termers they don't have children for my DD to socialize with and most are not married or divorced and don't have the children (at least the ones DH works with). He just went into a new office with some older navy guys, but most are guard and so from chicago and their families are not here but a couple of them have 4 year old girls in chicago (i was very excited when dh said they had kids before he got to the chicago part). So it's not so much rank as this is a base where there are lots of first termers with a hand full of NCO's and SNCO's and a few officers, but almost all AF personal have doubled in number in the last few months (dh recently got back from a few 2 month tdy's with not a lot of time between) so I hope we can meet some of the new people and I hope I'm not the "old lady" in the group anymore lol (at 30 i was the oldest at the last spouse gathering i made it to by 7 years aside from the officers wives/husbands). Sorry no AF play groups there are army ones, but I don't even really know how to go about with the army services we JUST registered my DD in CYS this week and I'm hoping to get her involved in Tball later this month.

Oh Thank you for clearing that up.

Here, the sports and that are through CYS so that is the best place to start. Also, check your installations website as they should have a family area. I know you said Ga but there are a few posts in GA so I can't really help.

I do agree with another poster who said your daughter would probably not get much out of preschool academically. There are many ways to socialize but I do understand wanting to give her the opportunity to be away from you. My youngest was never away from me (other than with grandma) before she started preschool. The only reason she qualified for preschool was because of a severe speech delay.

There were several other kids who had never been away from their parents in both preschool and kindergarten.

Good luck to you and your daughter.

 

[auralia]

We have an appointment to look at the baptist school. The CDC 2 days a week would only be 125 less per month than the baptist school which is 5 days per week regular school hours. We will pick based on what we see and hear when we visit if it's nice I believe it is probably worth the extra expense. I plan to put her in the CDC for at least one day a week for a few hours just to try it immediately. Thanks, appreciate all the opinions from the seasoned parents.

 

[Mom2Ben02]

I completely, 100% disagree with those who say preschool is not important. It is a foundation that will carry them through their lives. There is no way I could ever skip preschool, or do it at home. Preschool is a time to learn social skills.

There are many, many places in my area that have preschools - maybe some you have not thought of? We have them through churches, high schools and colleges (taught by students - but they are young and enthusiastic ). Good luck.

 

[herdtoDisney]

I completely, 100% disagree with those who say preschool is not important. It is a foundation that will carry them through their lives. There is no way I could ever skip preschool, or do it at home. Preschool is a time to learn social skills.

There are many, many places in my area that have preschools - maybe some you have not thought of? We have them through churches, high schools and colleges (taught by students - but they are young and enthusiastic ). Good luck.

Formal preschool is not the ONLY way to learn social skills, though. There are activities, classes, groups...it's not just one way. Just like with school-there is not only one right way.

 

[GinnyEmma]

Lol, because it is impossible to learn to stand in line at the bank, or grocery....or to learn how to interact with people at home, the park, church, etc. I can't imagine how my kids are making it into tier one schools?!!! And amazingly have friends too. They must be prodigies or something. How did civilization make it this long without preschool?

 

[disfan07]

Disclaimer: I am not a parent yet but the daughter of a former K teacher and I am a part time preschool teacher.

I think preschool of some sort is important if your child will be going to a public school setting. It doesn't have to be all day. At our preschool, we have hours of 7:30-6PM for all day (before care, preschool and after care) but preschool is only 9-1. While I do agree that you can get socialization in other settings I think that preschool is still very important if you don't plan on homeschooling.

It's not just about learning to play with others or getting along with others. It's more about the setting.

It's also about being away from the parents. It's a difficult transition and I think if you find the right preschool, they will be more sensitive to the child's needs during the transition than K teachers are able to just because of the setting. I don't think it's a great idea to send a child directly into K without some sort of experience being away from the parents beforehand.
.

It sounds like the OP is planning on sending her child to public school, not homeschool. So I think any discussion that revolves around preschool and homeschooling are not really relevant. I stand by the fact that from what I have seen and dealt with a year of Pre-K is extremely beneficial and very important for any child entering a general school setting in K. Homeschooling is different than being in a regular school setting so the needs are going to be different.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

When we were stationed in Georgia about 10 years ago we also missed the lottery for pre-k. This was my first child and I thought it was absolutely necessary so I decided to put her in a daycare off-post, I think the name of it was Little Treasures (of course, that doesn't matter if you aren't at that base, lol). Anyway, it was a small daycare, but it was absolutely wonderful and the following year I enrolled my ds there for pre-k.

But then my next child was unable to attend pre-k because he was sick and the next two children also didn't attend.

All 5 of them are doing great in school. My oldest two weren't any better off socially. When they started kindergarten there were children that had gone to pre-k and those that hadn't so they treated them all as if they hadn't. Honestly now that my oldest are teens I kind of wish I had kept them home that extra year so I would've had more time with them at home before kindergarten, I'm a little nostalgic for the preschool days.

Don't discount the socialization they get just from being around others, they learn alot about taking turns and being patience, plus listening to authority just from being in sports.