Pre-School: should they start at 3 or 4?

[NY Disney fan]

Is there a *real* difference between sending a child to Pre-K at 3 vs. 4 years of age?

 

[ajk912]

I think it's fine to start a kid at four BUT (and this is a huge BUT!!!) around here all the good schools are FULL for 4 year olds UNLESS you are an existing student. So, you really HAVE to send your kid at 3 just to save a spot in the four year old class.

That's what I had to do. Two times, two different kids, two different schools. I enrolled my kid at age 3, and it was nice but not necessary. I just did it to make sure I had a spot in the four year old class.

 

[boltfans]

Academically I don't think it matters much, but I know that with my kids having them in preschool young really helped them get accustomed to the school setting, being away from me for a few hours at a time, work with other kids and adults, etc.

 

[NY Disney fan]

I) around here all the good schools are FULL for 4 year olds UNLESS you are an existing student.

What constitutes "good"? Curriculum or environment?

 

[ajk912]

What constitutes "good"? Curriculum or environment?

To me, both matter as well as location. I don't want to drive more than 25 minutes or so to take a kid to preschool.

What happens a lot is around here, the 3 year old classes are 16-17 kids each. One teacher, two aides. The 4 year old classes have about the same ratios. So..let's say most the three year olds move up to the 4 year old class, the really only openings will be for the kids who are moving out of the area in the summer. Slots during the school year are usually filled by the waiting list. So you are competing for MAYBE 2-5 slots if you enter at the four year old point.

Now, a not-as-popular school may not do a wait list, or maybe they don't stay full for whatever reason..so you can get in there easier.

 

[JVL1018]

I just wanted my kids to have two years of preschool, so dependng on where your child's birthday falls, they could be 3 or 4 for most of their preschool year.

My daughter just missed the cutoff for public school, so she turned 6 in October of her Kindergarten year. That means I started her in preschool at 3 about to turn 4 and she was 5 for most of her preK year.

My son just made the cutoff with his September birthday, but I was pretty sure I wouldn't send him the first year he was eligible, so he went to preschool at just turned 4, after that year we were positive he was not ready for K, so he went to PreK at just turned 5 and started K on his 6th birthday.


ETA: My daughter went 2 days a week at 3/4 and then 3 days a week at 4/5. All afternoons only 12:30-3:00
My son went 2 days at 4 and then 5 days a week when he was 5. Also just afternoons.

 

[NY Disney fan]

I just wanted my kids to have two years of preschool, .

Any particular reason?

 

[sau418]

DD 3 did a 2 year old program this year, BUT, it was more socialization and parallel play than academic, she did wonderfully, and is a very social creative kid. I would not recommend sending all kids at two but some kids thrive in that type of environment.

On the other hand DD2 is going to a structured day care two days a week this year while DD3 is in pre-school. For DD2 it is more for me to get a break to do things I need to do rather than for academics.

In this area you pretty much have to go at age 3 to get into the program at age 4. We decided to move after our preschool closed registration and we were waitlisted in January for fall enrollment. (we did get in last week)

I have friends who are not sending their kids to preschool at all...

I just read an article in a local publication that praised the benefits of preschool education. A long term study showed that kids who attended a preschool program were much more likely to graduate from high school and college as well as be employed at the age of 40, while being less likely to be involved with deviant activity.

eta: I choose to send my kids early for the socialization aspect more than the academics. The school they are going to exposes them to varying cultures as well as children with disabilities, things I can not do alone.

 

[robinb]

My DD went to pre-school when she was 2, but only for a few hours per week. I don't really view pre-school as a place for academics, but more of a place for socialization.

 

[Bren's Mom]

I think the answer depends alot on the child's situation (at home with mom FT, at a home daycare, etc) and on the child (not alot of socialization yet, very shy, very outgoing, inquisitive and needs to be challenged mentally) and on the type of preschool you're considering (3 hours 2 days a week for a 3 year old, or 9-3 5 days a week).

I can tell you that since I work FT my ds has been in a home daycare. This was great for when he was younger, has gotten more problematic in the last year. (He will turn 4 in September.) The provider just isn't equipped to keep the older ones occupied, they are tending to get too bored and then their behavior gets poor. So we're pulling him and starting him early to the pre-k program he was already enrolled in for September. They have a full-time full-day camp program during the summer. And then a full-day program the remainder of the year. (It's designed for working parents, the academics are spread out across the day and the day includes a rest time, breakfast and lunch and 2 'recesses'.)

If I had to do it over again I'd enroll him at age 3.

 

[NY Disney fan]

For those who are responding about the benefits of socialization (vs. academics), would enrolling a child in enrichment programs (not pre-school) a few times a week suffice as getting "socialized" with other kids? I"m talking about a 1 hour dance class and/or a 2 hour academic class per week.

 

[EthansMom]

As another poster said, around here, kids who are in the 3 year-old program get first preference for the 4 year-old program. IMO, preschool is mostly about socialization (things like sharing, following directions from an adult other than Mom or Dad, and making your needs/wants known verbally). With my kids, I looked for a program that seemed to be a good fit for their personality, that was safe, was relatively affordable, and was within a reasonable distance from our house.

Both kids did 2 mornings a week (4 hours each morning) at 3 years old and then 3 mornings a week (4 hours each morning) at 4 years old.

 

[NY Disney fan]

Wow, I can't believe a 4 year old can't get into a pre-school because they started 12 months late. That just seems so incredulous to me. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but it just seems so odd.

 

[EthansMom]

Wow, I can't believe a 4 year old can't get into a pre-school because they started 12 months late. That just seems so incredulous to me. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but it just seems so odd.

Here, there do tend to be some openings for new students in the 4 year old programs. But, 3 year olds get priority registration at all of the schools. So, it may be more difficult to get in to the program of your choosing for a 4 year old program.

BTW, just a head's up, but most of the preschools here start registration in the spring (for the coming fall), so if you're thinking about preschool for next fall, you won't want to wait until late August to register. The schools need to know their head count to have enough teachers and aides on hand. If there's availability, there isn't any problem jumping in during the middle of the year, but you might find yourself disappointed that some programs have already closed their enrollment.

When I went to register DS7 for 4 year old preschool, I showed up on the first day of registration (10 minutes before opening) for a local program that got rave reviews. I ended up being around the 40th person on the WAITING LIST!

 

[Hillbeans]

As another poster said, around here, kids who are in the 3 year-old program get first preference for the 4 year-old program. IMO, preschool is mostly about socialization (things like sharing, following directions from an adult other than Mom or Dad, and making your needs/wants known verbally). With my kids, I looked for a program that seemed to be a good fit for their personality, that was safe, was relatively affordable, and was within a reasonable distance from our house.

Both kids did 2 mornings a week (4 hours each morning) at 3 years old and then 3 mornings a week (4 hours each morning) at 4 years old.

My thoughts exactly! My 3 year old is going to be going 3x a week in the fall. He has a late September birthday, and I feel he'll be ready to start K next fall, 2010, even though he'll only make the cut-off by 7 days.

 

[NY Disney fan]

BTW, just a head's up, but most of the preschools here start registration in the spring (for the coming fall), so if you're thinking about preschool for next fall, you won't want to wait until late August to register.

Yikes, I hadn't planned on enrolling her this early. Maybe I'll look around and see what's still available for 3 year olds.

 

[sunlver]

I would say it is all a matter of what a parent wants.

I have 3 kids, all my kids went to preschool at the age of 4. They went 3 days a week 3 hrs a day. In my opinon the 3yr old preschool was more about play and socializing then learning.

I can say with 100% certainity, that my almost 5 yr old(Will be 5 in August)learned a lot of academics that will prepare for Kindergarten , this past yr
She went 3 days, 3 hrs a day. She socialized and learned, and it was a great environment. She went to a preschool at a church. It was the one I could afford(We were not members of the church), and they didn only a small percentage of religion(My other daughter went there as well).

 

[JVL1018]

Any particular reason?

I guess because with my first, because of missing the cut off, she was 5 for most of PreK and I thought she should start a school environment before that, purely for social reasons, just to have some fun. But I didn't want to send her when she was 2 turning 3, just thought she seemed so young.
I did a Mom and Me thing and then segued into a kids only playtime/art class
(1 hour , once a week) for that year.
I felt the first year at 2 days a week, followed by the second year at 3 days a week and then Kindergarten at 5 days a week(all of which, including K were half days) was just a perfect way to start.

For my son, I just followed what I did with her, except I signed him up for 5 days in PreK because he was home alone since his sister was in school.

I will say that I did not want a preschool that focused on academics.
Yes, they did things with letters and numbers and colors, did fine motor skills stuff(cutting and gluing and coloring), but they weren't learning how to read(even though DD was reading before K-DS started to read in the middle of K) or doing addition and subtraction, there was no homework.
It was all for fun, and whatever they learned there, great, but that was not my main reason for sending them.

 

[JVL1018]

Wow, I can't believe a 4 year old can't get into a pre-school because they started 12 months late. That just seems so incredulous to me. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but it just seems so odd.

Also I think mornings tend to fill up faster than afternoons.
I sent my kids in the afternoons, because I am not a fan of getting up and out of the house in the morning and I was putting it off until my oldest started 1st, plus if I had appointments or needed to go shopping a lot of places opened at 10. AM school was 9-11:30. I can get a lot more done betwen 12:30-3 when everything is open.

Anyway, for some reason people love love love those morning classes and there were always more kids in those.
My son had FOUR kids in his PM PreK class. The morning had like 15. They took a couple of more kids in during the year in his class.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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