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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

HOME EDUCATION VS PRE SCHOOL

21 replies

cs01 · 15/02/2011 13:19

Hi!!! I'm a final year student teacher for early years and would really appreciate your help to inform my dissertation. I am investigating whether children with a good home environment necessarily need to attend pre school. Could people please tell me what you are looking for in a pre school and what you hope your child to achieve by going there. Also, if there are any parents who choose not to send thrie child to pre school I would appreciate your thinking behind that! Finally, did any parents choose to send their child to an educational setting (most likely a private nursery) before the age of 3 for reasons other than work? If so please tell me your reasons behind this! Thanks in advance for all of your help!!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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BeerTricksPotter · 15/02/2011 13:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

barmbrack · 15/02/2011 13:30

We're not sending our twins to pre-school until after they are 3. We're going to send them part-time after that to help them to get used to being in a group and make friends before school.

My DH looks after them full-time and they have a brilliant environment at home (and outside, lots of walks and trips out to the beac, park etc), with close one-to-two care from their Dad, who is brilliant with them.

addictedtofrazzles · 15/02/2011 13:35

I am fortunate enough to have a day of help a week so I get a break from my children! I don't want to send my DS (2.5) to preschool yet as he is a September baby and I feel that more than 2 years at Nursery is plenty. When he goes this September, it will be because I feel he is ready for a more formal setting and a bit more stimulation than I can offer him at home. It also means I can do some more things with DS2 without him spending his early years in a buggy watching his brother!

Francagoestohollywood · 15/02/2011 13:41

I sent mine to part time (private) nursery when they were under 3 for various reasons, the main being that we spoke Italian at home and I wanted them to learn English before they started school.
We found a cuddly nursery that we were happy with, and the children picked up English very well.

I have to say though, that not being English, I have a slightly different outlook on group childcare, I really do believe it has more benefits than not, even for children who do have a good home environment.

We moved back to Italy when ds was 5.5 and dd 3.5. Here we have state nursery schools for 3 to 6 yrs old, and dd was lucky to end up with 2 most amazing and caring teachers and a lovely group of children.

jigglebum · 15/02/2011 13:45

We have chosen to send DS to pre school from 2 and a half, despite having to pay until he is 3. (just for 2 sessions a week , so five hours) Reasons for this are -

He is an only child and despite going to toddlers etc we wanted him to learn interaction with other children, without us to interfer.

his speech is quite late developing and although I can understand him some of the time we thought it would help his speech and it has

And also for purely selfish reasons - we are rennovating a house and cant get any painting done whilst he is there

And for some sanity and me time. As a SAHM of a toddler who does not have a day time sleep those 5 hours a week are great!

llareggub · 15/02/2011 13:49

It isn't really a case of either HE or pre-school though? My older DS went very part-time from around 2 and a half and now at 4 is still only 4 mornings a week. My younger DS is at home with me/grandparents and will probably go to pre-school after christmas when he'll nearly be 3.

I don't really see what we do has HE. When they aren't at pre-school we knock around at National Trust, soft play, friends and do baking, painting, gardening etc. DS1 probably does more with me than at pre-school where he plays. A lot.

Francagoestohollywood · 15/02/2011 13:51

I don't view what we did at home as HE either. We just tried to survive without popping the dc in front of the tv too much

Original poster

cs01 · 15/02/2011 13:58

Sorry, I maybe shouldn't have used the term HE, I didn't mean formal learning, simply the informal learning that takes place at that age-much more important then formal learning at this age!!

OP posts:

seeker · 15/02/2011 14:04

In my opinion the only reason for sending a pre school age child who does not come from a hugely disagvntaged background to any sort of pre-school/nursery/kindergarten are because the parents have to work or because they need some space to preserve their sanity. These are both wholly valid reasons. I don't think there are any others.

BeerTricksPotter · 15/02/2011 14:07

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Francagoestohollywood · 15/02/2011 14:09

The 3rd reason is that lots of children (not all of course) have fun. Mine did, and I know a long list of children who did.

seeker · 15/02/2011 14:11

They can have lots of fun and mix with other children without being seperated from their parent.

Francagoestohollywood · 15/02/2011 14:12

Half of the fun is that the parent isn't around and the pride of having a little world that's different from family (I am talking of over 3 here)

Original poster

cs01 · 15/02/2011 14:13

Would you therefore say that for children from disadvantaged backgrounds pre school education is more important? Does a better home environment reduce the need for pre school education?

OP posts:

seeker · 15/02/2011 14:14

Yes.

Francagoestohollywood · 15/02/2011 14:15

Yes, I think pre school is important because it gives (or it should give) equal opportunities to any child cs01.

barmbrack · 15/02/2011 14:15

yes.

For children from very disadvantaged backgrounds the enrichment and environment provided by pre-school setting can make a huge difference to their learning and development.

(This is the rationale behind the two-year old funding project, where disadvantaged two-year olds get 15 hours at a good or outstanding pre-school setting between 2 and 3 years old before the three year old funding kicks in).

BeerTricksPotter · 15/02/2011 14:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PaisleyLeaf · 15/02/2011 14:31

I like to think DD's got a good home environment and I had her go to preschool from around 3 - because the preschool is so lovely. Local community, facilities/toys/apparatus I don't necessarily have at home nor would get out everyday. And I also think DD got a lot out of it. Group activities, shared experiences with peers, a bit of independence from me and a trust in other adults, friendships, learning, confidence sitting on the carpet. It was a good preparation for school, doing a register, listening, having your own peg, sorting out your own packed lunch.

Francagoestohollywood · 15/02/2011 14:40

We've had a smilar experience Paisley.

cory · 16/02/2011 12:31

I did send dcs to preschool a couple of sessions a week, but I expect they could have got on without it; they had a good social life with lots of other children to play with.

Then again, the preschool was nice and they loved it, so definitely not something I regret.

I did not have time to do paid work during their short preschool sessions and my sanity would probably have lasted anyway, so those considerations didn't really apply.

To me, it's like any other pleasurable thing I might have provided for their enjoyment- not a sine qua non, but a bonus. If they had disliked it, I would have taken them out.

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