DS2 is 2 - 3 in July. Atm he goes to a lovely childminder 3x per week while I work. The plan has always been that he'll leave her and start preschool at DS's school nursery in September. Lately though his behaviour has deteriorated quite markedly, (at home, not with childminder) and though he still seems to enjoy himself once there he's very reluctant to go, and I think basically is bored. He's pretty bright - starting to read letters etc - the other children the childminder has are younger than him, and he's desperate to go to 'school' with DS1. As in crying every morning when told he's going to childminder instead, and constantly asking if it's his birthday yet because he knows once he's 3 he'll go. He could start at the school nursery after Easter - would probably be 4 days a week rather than 3, though we could ask if he could just do 3 this term - but I've already told the childminder she has him until September. We only technically have to give a month's notice but if we'd planned after Easter we'd have told her at Christmas. And the school nursery doesn't cover holidays so it makes childcare a bit tricky over the summer - not unmanageable with annual leave and some reciprocal playdates but trickier than it otherwise would be, as childminder is usually happy to have DS1 too.
My main reluctance is that we may inconvenience ourselves over the summer, and the childminder in finding new children quickly, and then he's no happier to go to preschool than he is to go to her! What would you do?