To consider not sending my child to pre school or nursery and just go straight to school?

[dottytablecloth]

I'm a teacher so probably should know but I don't! . I teach older children.

Anyway our child goes 2/3 days a week to a childminder, lots of other children there and it's working very well.

The rest of the time is spent with dh or me. I will have no problem with dc starting school when the time comes but I sometimes wonder if we don't start formal ed too soon so another year 'outside' the system would be good for him.

Is it a really bad idea to not send our dc to anything other than just starting school when the time comes.

Do they benefit immensely from pre school?

Do you think your child would really have missed out by not going?

My eldest dd went straight to school reception after only doing play group sessions. My youngest attended the nursery attached to the school. Id say it depends on the child and family situation. We enjoyed the extra time not in formal education I must admit.

Is it true that children don't have to go every day to preschool?

We only do three mornings a week (8.30-12.00) and we're happy with that. At least around here pre-schools seem fine with that.

The advantage of preschool is the superior adult:child ratio which acts as a stepping stone towards the more intense perhaps 2:30 rather of adults to children in reception

Yes! The under threes' sessions at our preschool have a ratio of three children to one adult, the over threes have a ratio of five to one. I think that allows for a nice gentle 'child-centred' introduction to a more structured environment and I get three mornings off

I've got a thread discussing this in Chat. I am not sure how to link you to it, but I csn bump it for you. You might find it helpful.

I send ds 3 to pre school for my sanity, he's been going for a year since he just turned 2, and lives it. I can't imagine having him at home al, the time, he is a real active live wire who has the attention span of an amoeba. Needs to have some formal routine.

He has a speech delay so it's good that he is spending time with other children without me hovering over him.

My DD1 didn't go to nursery or a childminder. DD2 had a few months of nursery before she began school because i was about ready to crack. It was January, snowing and we were having an extension built and my mother had died 6 months before. I really wasn't coping and knowing that she was somewhere warm was the deciding factor. I think it can depend on the child, but i generally was against nursery, mostly because my mother was a teacher and said that children were better at home.

I dont think its going to matter, they benefit from playing with others, and you can source that all over the place, toddler groups, music groups, play parks...soft play!

Its not going to make the child more advanced or anything....so if you want to hold back, do it...

My ds started reception in September and never went to pre school or nursery . He did go to a childminder. His teacher said he is doing brilliantly. Full marks in spelling tests, eager to learn, makes friends easily and full of confidence. His teacher even said it's beneficial not to have gone to pre school as he has had better adult interaction/ learning opportunities with a childminder.

I was really torn about sending dd1 but yo be honest I needed a break from her as she's bloody hard work!

And I'm glad I did because I gain from it from being able to just be with dd2 for a bit, but also she has gained from it. She's massively resistant to me teaching her anything (potty training, getting dressed, walking anywhere etc) and preschool has helped her to see other children do theses things so she doesn't have to be a baby and compete with dd2.

I was very careful in choosing a preschool that has caring cuddly staff and free flow play though. Some can be a bit formal. She only goes 2-3 mornings a week depending on what else we have on.

Most of the preschools in our area feed directly into a school with the infants schools first selection criteria being the child went to the attached pre school so that was a huge factor for us.

Ds1 attended a preschool but ended up at different school (lucky chance we got a place at a more suitable school). He's very confident so just slotted in with his class mates who had already know each other for a year. However if this had been my ds2 I think I would have had huge problems settling him.

I think if the preschool is a direct feeder and all the children in the preschool class will be in his reception class then I would definitely think about it.

Ds2 is very younger for his year and preschool was abit of a shock but at least he gets to have time to find his own feet and staff with more time to help him than he would have in reception

All the places with government funding here require you attend all sessions so usually 5 mornings a week but private nurserys will let you do nay hour usually

From what I have heard--going to a preschool provides a big cognitive/educational/linguistic boost to children from poor or difficult homes, who have parents with low education levels, or whose parents don't speak English at home.

If you speak English at home and are providing an enriching environment (sharing books, doing activities/crafts, having days-out rather than TV all the time, providing socialization in other ways like playgrounds, doing an extra-curricular or two), then it does not matter if they go to preschool or not.

I do think that it might be an idea to do a couple of classes throughout the week, like dance, swimming, gym class etc.--it will make the adjustment to school easier and will mean that they know a couple of kids in their new class.

I sent my twins for 2 mornings a week at sge 3 and that's all they ever did. I stopped those in the final summer term so we could do more. I was a sahm , the preschool staff told me they were ahead in all their development and we socialised a lot so I didn't see the point. They enjoyed preschool but didn't ask to do more. School was fine.