Preschool at three, but...

[stopgap]

My son turned two late August, and we have decided to wait until next year to do preschool. Most preschools here (NYC) won't take a 2.1 boy, anyway (they prefer 2.4+) for their September intake. Two days a week I work and he's with a babysitter, so he is used to being apart from me, but he is also very attached and for various reasons we've decided to wait. He has two or three weekly play dates with kids his age and slightly older, plus daily visits to a very busy playground, so I'm not worried about the socialisation aspect. He is shy with new kids and adults for five or ten minutes, but then becomes incredibly chatty and lively.

But the preschool programs I've looked into for 3+ tend to be four or five mornings a week (8.30-1). Has anyone else gone from zero preschool to quite a full schedule at three? Was there a longer adjustment period because your child had never been in a drop-off class before?

My DD went straight to 5 x a week preschool for 3 hours per morning at 2.10. It was fine. I agree that they seem terribly little but it does them good to see other DC every day.

I ramped DS up from 2 mornings at a childminder when he was 2, to 5 mornings (9-1) and 3 afternoons (1-3) over the course of a year.

Previously he'd only ever been cared for by his dad and I as we were living abroad.

DS absolutely loves it, and runs in happily every day (I have no concerns about him starting school when he's 4 now, when previously I was worried because he would be so young).

Can you try a sampler session? Check out a couple of nurseries and see if you get a good feeling from any of them?

Chunky sample sessions shouldn't be a problem. Because preschool in the US is done on a very limited lottery system, we'd be applying for private preschools, and the suburb where we plan to move has a huge range of choices: everything from Waldorf to church-affiliated nurseries.

Luckily kindergarten here starts at five, so even though he'll be the youngest in the class, I won't be fretting quite as much as I would in England with a late August boy.

DS was 3 on 31st august and has gone from zero to 5 three hour sessions per week. So far, so good. He loves it.