When should toddler start pre school

[Melcl1987]

Hi, we are currently in the process of buying a house a 30 mins drive away from where we currently are in south east london. Our daughter has recently turned two and attends nursery 3 days a week. Unfortunately all the nurseries in the new area are booked up for the foreseeable future. We have found a childminder local to the new area woth spaces who seems good but looks after 10 children that are a mix of ages.

We are wary that a lot of people say children should be starting pre school from 3, and the childminder can't offer this and there aren't any alternatives within our new area so we are contemplating keeping her in the existing nursery which has a pre school. However, this would involve quite a lot of travelling each day.

Can anyone advice if children have to start pre school by 3 or would it be OK to for her to start later (e.g. 3.5 years)?

Pre school the term before school is fine.

Childminders, private nurseries, preschools and school nurseries all follow the same curriculum. I am a childminder and have had children leave to go to a school nursery aged 3 or 4 or stay with me until school. I've also had some who have done blended nursery and childminder. They have all done well whatever route they take. I get feedback from local teachers of children that have stayed with me until school age and it's all been positive. There's no correct way, just whatever works for child and family. Some children start school without having been away from parents.

Thanks that's helpful, sounds like I shouldn't worry so much then and can just go for the local childminder option

What makes you think that children have to start preschool at 3? To the contrary, studies actually show that those children who delayed formal education until after 5 y o have better long term outcomes. This is the norm in most European countries as well. So I would go with the childminder option if she has to go somewhere for childcare.