To think most three / four year olds are in FT preschool?

[thinnerthanher]

I ask because I don’t see any of them. My own nearly four year old has just one day off with me but I don’t really see why at groups or events. AIBU?

I'd say most do at least the 15 funded hours, in our case that was 5 mornings at a school nursery. This did mean that we didn't really go to groups anymore as they are almost all in the morning.

My children both did 3 days of preschool. My eldest went to groups until school as she loved them. My youngest wasn't bothered about groups and preferred to chill out at home or do something more 1-1 like swim.

DC1 is at preschool 4 mornings a week.

Morning groups tend to be more 1-2yo and the afternoons tend to have more 3-4yo. I always need to book soft play for DC2 early in the morning otherwise it gets too boisterous!

Because parents go back to work when the children turn 1 or 2 so they can afford life.

Mine were at that age.

No at the setting I work in we have 5 on 30 hours so full-time . But 30 kids on roll. So most not full time

Pretty much everyone I know sends their children to full time nursery 9 to 3 all week from when they turn 3 years old. I didn't, I chose to keep my child off nursery for one day a week for us to spend time together. ☺️

I work part time and didn't really see the point in her spending yet another day in the nursery garden all day when she can have a bit of variety. I took her for swimming lessons and we had many days out.

I'm like you though, I didn't really see other kids her age when we were out and about.

I'm glad I did it, I really miss her since she started school in August.

I remember the nursery's shock when I said she won't be there five days! 😂 Alien concept I think.

Funny that’s the opposite of how I felt when mine were that age! In fact I always felt like one was being dragged along for the ride just because there isn’t really any overlap between activities for a non walking baby and 3/4YO preschooler, so inevitably anything you do is for the benefit of one and the other is more of a bystander. And I think most people do stuff for the eldest as you can’t have a 4YO at waterbabies or baby sensory etc. but you can have a baby sit in the pram during little kickers.

I wasn’t asking about going back to work, so I’m not sure why you’ve pointed that out!

You can with a newborn but I think post eight//nine months most children aren’t content to just sit in a pram; mine certainly isn’t.

Those bills don't pay themselves.

That's the question

My two year old goes to groups but I am starting to introduce park or soft play as options too. He will only get 15 hours so will only do a few days at preschool. I think once they get to three they get a little bored and perhaps a little big for some of the church toddler groups. Most kids I know aren't in preschool full time though.

I think a lot of parents work, I do too, but many parents don’t work full time. I’m three days a week which is common enough but on my days off I don’t notice other children. Or maybe it’s just their parents go back full time once they are 3, I don’t know.

Once mine started at preschool (age 3) we dropped most of the groups as preschool plus a group each day was just too much for them.

Pre school basically replaced the groups.

We’ve never really bothered with the church groups. I do feel a bit bad sometimes as I know when DD is 3/4 there is stuff we can do that will be more age appropriate. But too hard to manage with a non walker!

@IVFmumoftwo I didn't mean that in a horrible way.
It just popped into my head the other day out shopping that I hardly ever see toddlers out and about in the daytime anymore (I was actually in The Entertainer toy shop which is why I was thinking about it).

I see some when I pop to the shopping centre but not loads the same as my two year old. I get what you mean. I am not sure about being in childcare though as there is a real shortage of places at the minute.

Some are in childcare with extended family as parents work full time - others are working part of the week but doing other things when they are with the kids - visiting family/ friends houses/meeting soft play, doing classes rather than groups or days out and many have kids who like a quiet day at home or shorter trips to library/local park.

I used to wonder where all the kids were in the school holidays - rarely saw others but most were in childcare, expensive days out or DGP/extended family. Glad I had several close together those times though the toddler and non walker times prior had been difficult some days.

Now I come to think about it, I probably don't see as many pre-schoolers around as I used to, even though I live in an area with a high percentage of SAHM. I imagine that there has been a bit of a shift in people's patterns and there is probably more change yet to come with the introduction of the subsidised hours from 9 months.

I wonder if the branded 'toddler group' franchises are starting to see the impact of this change?

Mine were in three short days or mornings before they started school.
we tended to chill, go for a country walk or see friends when we were off, didn’t go to any groups. I thought they had had enough socialising!

True. DC2 was born in Covid times so I didn't take either of them to groups during that time - sending DC1 to nursery was a godsend as there was little else. I think I did take DC1 to a preschool gym class for a short time, when DC2 was still tiny and happy to be held/fed, but not for long. I have a vague recollection of taking them both to a pop-up soft play type thing in a village hall a few times... brilliant for toddlers but DC1 was too big for it really and I was worried about him hurting the little ones. I didn't take DC1 to swimming lessons then because most of the pools were still closed and there were waiting lists for all the lessons. I can't actually remember what I did with the two of them 😂 Must have been a lot of park trips! And DC1 started school just before DC2 turned 1, anyway.

Now DC2 is the preschooler, it's relatively easy to keep her occupied while DC1 is at school, as we can obviously focus on her and no baby in tow.

I swear everything feels so much easier when it's the second child, although maybe I got a difficult first and an easier second, and I do know people for whom it was the other way around.

Mine both only went full-time in reception. Three mornings then three full days only in the two nursery years before that.

Most in my area go to preschool, 2.5h a day 5 days a week. With wrap around care if needed.
When my DDs were that age I was part time so they did a mixture of preschool/wrap around club/afternoons with me or grandparents.
It was quite difficult to do clubs when my youngest was that age because there wasn't much time between collecting her from preschool and then collecting the older one from school

Mine doesn't go to nursery at all, my friends go to varying degree but none full time. I find your post confusing, plenty of 3 and 4 year olds in baby groups I go to but obviously a lot are at nursery....not sure I get the point?