Did you send your DC to pre-school - Help!

[mumtoboys]

DS1 will be 2 yrs 7 mths in January and he's just been offered a place 2 mornings a week at our local pre-school. It's supposed to be a really good one and in a way I'd like for him to have free space to run around outside of home especially in the cold weather. Also I feel it would give me more quality time with DS2 (5 months) as DS is a typically demanding toddler!
However he seems to be learning so much at this age and I don't want the whole day to be taken up getting him ready, him running around, getting home tired and having his nap and then tea and bed. I'm also considering home schooling until he's 7 as I think 4 yrs 3 mths is far too young for him to start school full time. Did anyone else send their DC to pre-school and maybe even nursery and then pull them out.
I keep dithering as I want to send him if it's right for him now but I'm worried I'll feel pressured to keep him moving up through the system which feels a bit like a sausage machine!!

Ultimately it's up to you what you do with your children. I would put him in now and see how it goes. If he settles well and then goes onto nursery that's fine. After that surely it's up to you. I don't homeschool and I won't homeschool because I'm very happy with my sons schooling, but it seems to me that it wouldn't do any harm to give the pre-school a go and see what happens.
BTW I haven't ever felt any pressure to do anything with my children - I think it is up to the individual parent to decide what is best for their child.
Good luck in whatever you decide

I did send my ds to nursery school age 3, which he thoroughly enjoyed and then sent him to school at age 5 which he hated. Apart from being bored he was also bullied and ended up having panic attacks at age 7. As I couldn't find another local school that I thought would be better for him, I decided to try home educating him for a while.He was so much happier that I kept going with it. He is now 13 and goes to an online school and is doing really well - and is taking some` of his O levels a year early. I agree with what nimnom says, in that I would send him and see how he settles - I'm sure he will benefit from the experience and it may help to crystallise your thoughts as to whether he would benefit from a period of home ed or may be better going straight to school as I do believe that some children really enjoy and flourish in the school environment.

Hello mumtoboys
How wonderful to know about home education from the start.
Unfortunately I did not know and my children were very unhappy for a long time-before I found out that home education is a legal viable option.

I think that it sounds very attractive to send your lad for two mornings a week, if he would like it-you could use it as time with your little one and knowing that attendance at school/nursery is not compulsory you could pull him out at anytime, if he is not happy.

If I had had the knowledge of HE then I don't think I would have sent my son as he wasn't ready for it, but I am pretty sure I would have sent my first daughter as she did enjoy that sort of activity at that age.
You are the one who knows your child best.

What about giving nursery a try but also finding local home ed groups to go along to? That way you would be keeping your choices alive and would have help resisting the system if you wanted it!

Both of these websites have details of contacts for local groups
home-education.org.uk/
www.education-otherwise.org/

Have you found the web page for home educating families with young children?;
www.muddlepuddle.co.uk/
It has an internet support list here;
groups.yahoo.com/group/EarlyYearsHE/
If you joined and asked your questions there, I know you would get plenty of helpful advice.

hth
regards Julie

Home Educating in Worcestershire
www.worcestershire-home-educators.co.uk/

mine go to nursery x1 morning, i think that's plenty plus i'd find any more time too tying.

i intend to HE and my boy started before i made the decision.

personally, i'm happy that they go, as they know these places exist and get the concept of going 'to school'. (i know that if anything happened to me they wouldn't be HE).

they seem to enjoy it, though have got to saying 'just one more time at nursery'... we'll see. it's only a few weeks that they've both been going and i get a lot done in those x2 hours per week... but it's not really about me, so if they really go off it i'll pull them out

i like to know that they cope and enjoy it and have a little 'social life' that is their own. i hope that they'll each want to join some kind of club when they finish there. such as rainbows or whatever... just an of hour or so doing something 'on there own'. that said i won't enforce it.

i suppose my advice would be think about it and go with YOUR feelings rather than what you think society thinks. and maybe x1 session will be enough at first.

regards christine

Thank you so much for all your advice. I'm going to go and check out those links julie. I've decided to accept the place for him so we'll see how it goes!