Do children learn better at nursery than at home?

[juicychops]

Do children learn better at nursery than at home? are they better prepared for school if they are sent to a nursery? What do you think?

Depends on the nursery/home, I reckon.

good answer

I agree, and it depends on the kids too!

I spent 3 hrs this morning with a friend who's doing home schooling with her girls, they are 4 and 5. Now I do have a lot of respect for her, but to be frank if you put my boys in that situation at that age and treated them the same way there would be complete mayhem. And a lot of that is about personalities and character; some kids thrive on formality and structure and strict discipline; some do better with more freedom and flexibility.

Interesting because I have no intention of sending DD to nursery until she's at least 3.5 (still quite young I think) and a lot of people round here seem to think that's unusual. But she gets lots of attention and activities with the set up we've got at home. But I still keep wondering if I should send her sooner. Apart from anything else it would cost a lot more than the 2 days help I have now and it also means that I get 2 WHOLE days for my appts etc, not just a couple of hours each morning or afternoon, so there is a selfish side to it too.

I sent ds to nursery from 6 mo for 2 morning sessions as I don't know anyone in our area with babies his age. He absolutely loves it and he gets much more stimulation there than he would at home. He goes 5 mornings a week now (has since 10 mo) as I came back to work. I think its a great arrangement. He gets the best of both worlds and is really sociable now.