Pre school doubts

[turtledovelove]

Could do with some pearls of wisdom here and whether my instinct is telling me something.

DD started with a childminder from 9 months old and absolutely thrived there. Such a wonderful nurturing setting. She is the most amazing childminder and my DD had a wonderful time with her. I had it in my head that she would start pre school this term so she finished with the childminder and started at a new pre school this week. (She did a few settling in sessions last week)

Unfortunately I left it so late to register her somewhere that my preferred original choice could not offer the days that we needed. We also needed a provider that offers year round childcare which limited our options somewhat. I viewed a few places but must admit felt rushed to make a decision as time was running out with places filling up fast.

So the pre school she has ended up at I'm just not feeling it 🙁 they're nice enough people who work there but I don't know whether I'm comparing the setting to her childminder. Obviously two very different environments.

I felt that she was so ready for the step up to pre school as she's a pretty bright 3 year old who thrives on stimulation. However it almost seems as though we've gone backwards as it's more of a nursery setting with ages ranging from babies to pre schoolers. They do have their separate rooms for each age group however when I've been to pick her up the last couple of days she and the rest of the pre schoolers are in the 2 year old room, along with the really little ones.

I don't know whether I'm having a wobble as it's all new or that I should in fact listen to what my instinct is telling me. Not sure what the answer is really. Any advice would be most welcome.

I would give it a little more time and see how it works out. I wouldn't be concerned about her being in the baby room at pick up. I often used to find DS in there even when he was in the preschool room. Towards the end of the day, they used to let the children mingle between rooms (and the baby room had the best climbing equipment).

I could have written your post. I chose on one of the days for my son to finish early before lunch and arranged for his child minder to pick him up and have him for 5 hours. He absolutely loves her and I think he thinks she's his family. he's supposed to go another 2 full days and one more half day but I cut the full day short today because he became upset (doesn't usually). I'm really not feeling the nursary either, same set up as yours. I left my first choice too late.

If I'm honest, I'd love to change to the other nursary and send him 3 mornings a week instead. It seems too much.