Nursery for 3 year olds

[chocolatesweets]

My twins currently go to play school for 3 mornings a week for 2.5 hours. They also go to gps one day a week.

I've increased my hours at work and will need to take them to nursery for 2 x 8 hours. They are 3 and a bit. They've not attended nursery before.

I'm so nervous and having huge doubts as to whether it will be good for them/too much for them.

Part of the reason why I wanted them to go was because I find it difficult to entertain them constantly on my own at home and use the ipad quite a bit. I do go out quite a bit with them but I'm running out of ideas. Play school is also a very small class, usually just the two and one other child.

With the pandemic I wanted them to have the opportunity to play with other children and to do things.

Please put my mind at ease. It's only two days but it's also a full day. 745-445.

Many children go full time to nursery from 6 months.....and they are fine

My son went from 6 months, I’d say they’ll be constantly entertained there and have a great time!

What's the difference between the play school and the nursery? In my head they are essentially the same thing - all learning is play/all play is learning. They won't be out into lessons.
If they are used to going somewhere with out you, I'm sure they'll be fine, especially as they will have each other. Is the nursery a lot bigger?

As long as they are happy at the nursery (which you won't know until you try), they will be fine. Can they have a couple of introduction sessions?

Can you articulate what your doubts are ?
You've made a great case for them to go, but not really expressed anything that is worrying you.

As a pp said, lots of children go to Nursery for full days (longer than that) from when they are a few months old. Your little poeple have had a really gradual introduction - already happy with the concept of you leaving them and then reappearing later, which some dc find difficult at first if they haven't been used to being left.

I think it's just the long hours. And also I come from quite an old fashioned family that believe kids should be at home.

But , this isn't normal times! We don't have anywhere but the park to go!

Also I'm scared i'll really miss them too. But I can't let that hold us back obviously.

Nursery is not huge but bigger than playschool.

Don't doubt it for one minute. My son was 3 September just gone and had been with a childminder up until that point with just one or two other children. I, like you was running out of ideas & steam and J knew he was ready to move to the next step to preschool/nursery.

Hands down the best decision for him and us. He absolutely thrives there, they meet his learning needs, his enquisative mind, his need for social contact and play with others his age, the need for greater independance. It's been that great he now goes 4 full days a week (I work 3), he's exhausted by in a good way and then he know the long weekend is our special time together. It also gives him a great routine.

The great thing was because he had been with a childminder and had that 1:1/1:2 time he had that grounding whereby he was confident enough to waltz into nursery and have the skills to make friends, be (reasonably!) well behaved and show empathy/share well and speak to adults confidently etc. The staff often commented that his social skills were amazing so don't worry about having never been at nursery, they should have a good foundation with the childcare they have had so far. We also got books about nursery and read a few weeks before going which helped.

Do not feel guilty it really sounds like they are absolutely ready.

It’s a great plan. It will make school much easier if they’ve adapted to a longer day out. They’ll have lots of friends to play with. Yes, they’ll be knackered to start with, but they’ll soon adjust. My DC have been at nursery from 18 months- my second dc technically didn’t have to go for work reasons but I think, particularly in the last year, that it’s been worth every penny to know they’re socialising/meeting other children.

They’ll get a lot more out of nursery at 3 than they will being at home on the iPad or playing in the garden or the park everyday. I say that in the nicest way possible because it’s exactly that way for my toddlers.
They LOVE nursery. Every day they do new things - crafts, dancing, painting, baking, gardening, dress up... it’s endless. They have a brilliant time and my oldest development over the past 6 months has been amazing. So confident, so mature emotionally. So good with crafts and vocabulary is strong.

Of course kids need stable and attached parents / family but by age 3 they don’t need to be in your pocket. They will have attached relationships with the key workers at the nursery.

I find it odd that some children go to school aged 4/5 without ever attending nursery, they have literally never experienced anything outside the home. I’m not suggesting that’s wrong - each to their own - but I would feel awful not preparing my kids for it.

Basically they’ll be fine. Nursery workers are specialists in young children after all!

@SlB09 that made me cry. Thank you. It's just the next stage too. I know they're ready. And they waltzed into play school on the first day. Not once have they cried not wanting to go 😂🙈.

I think they're bored a little at home. Especially my daughter. My son is more laid back but my daughter is sociable. She'll love it.

I just want the best for them.

My 3 year old will be starting at pre school after Easter. Just a couple of mornings, but I know he will love it! He's been at home with me and obviously this last year has had little interaction with other children.
It's the best thing for them to develop their own personality and confidence.
All my DS says he wants to do is play with trains and make some friends.

They'll be absolutely fine. Both of mine started nursery 9-5 at least 3 days a week from 9-11 months. My now 3 year old has been in 4 days a week since he was about 15 months old.

My twins have been full time since 2.5. Both me and DH work full time.

They absolutely love it!

At 3 years old they will enjoy the social side of things at nursery, and the variety of activity. I doubt very much they’ll have difficulty separating from you. Firstly, they have each other (the ultimate comforter!) and secondly they are old enough and experienced enough to understand that you will come back. It’s likely to be a very positive experience for them.

I preferred to keep my DD at home until she was 2, but honestly she loved it to bits when she went. She did 3 whole days and no issue with it being long days, by the second week she was completely used to it.

Do you have the flexibility to give them a relatively long settling in period? I doubt it’s really necessary, but it might assuage your worries.

Yeah true. They walked straight into playschool on the first day. They didn't even look back 😂. I think it's more of an issue with me. Twins are so full on and it's been my life for 3 years as we couldn't afford childcare.

I work in a Nursery with children aged 2-3.

I come across many parents/carers who are worried about their children going to Nursery and worried about leaving their children.

I can understand it is a massive step and a longer period of time than what the children are used to.

Nurseries encourage children to develop more social interactions with other children and will enable them to develop friendships. Nursery children will learn simplistic parts from the curriculum but mainly are there to just have a great time and explore new toys and environments.

I see nee children that attend my nursery come in with huge smiles on their faces because they cannot wait to see what toys are ready for them to play with each day.

Your children will absolutely love going to Nursery. Don’t feel frightened or worried at all, I’m sure if you gave your Nursery a call they would certainly support both you and your children through the transition.

Good luck with it all😃

They will love it. DS started at 10 mths and after a couple of weeks started roaming around like he owned the place. Pick a nursery with an app they can use to send you photos and updates to reassure you