Should I send my toddler to nursery/preschool?

[SpeedyBulletTrain]

Hello!

Currently a SAHP to my 2.5yo DD, and pregnant with #2. We did have my daughter down to start at a lovely montessori nursery locally the month after she turns three but I have just found out that they are closing.

Now I'm debating whether its worth trying to apply for other nurseries.
We didn't find any other setting that we were confident with when we first looked about a year ago, so I'm pretty disappointed and feel ike other settings just won't meet our expectations. I'm also worried as we're going to be at the bottom of the wait lists for any new nurseries we apply to, by the time she gets in/IF she gets in i worry it'll be too late and she won't have time to settle before changing again to move to reception. Is is really awful not to send her to any setting at all before reception at 4yo?

On a practical note I was looking forward to having some 1 to 1 time with new baby while DD was at preschool. She is also very clingy to me, so I'm not sure she would enjoy it anyway but it might have been a good chance for her to get used to it before full time nursery.

Any input/advice appreciated, the change has really muddled al
l our plans for the next year or so!

No, it doesn’t matter if your DD doesn’t attend anywhere before school. I taught Reception for a decade, and we always had a real mix of prior experiences. Some who’d only been at home came in happy and settled on day 1, some who’d been to previous settings cried daily for weeks. It also depends on their inherent temperament and what else is going on in their lives, no definitive pattern to any of it TBH.

I intentionally didn’t send either of mine until term after third birthday, and only did then because their Nursery feeds directly into their Reception. As a local EYFS lead I had an advantage of having regularly visited around 30 local settings professionally, and this one was by far and away my favourite. If a place hadn’t been available, I would have happily waited until Reception.

Remember there are plenty of groups/local activities which welcome multiple children who are under 5 if you do struggle with waiting lists.

Good luck whatever you decide/with the final outcome 😊

I sent my first to a preschool bit of a private nursery for two mornings a week from the September before she started school when she was 3.5. She loved it and then happily bounced into full time Reception at school a year later happy as Larry.

Everything’s changed with the funding now, back then it was normal to send them from the term after they turned 3 as that’s when the free hours kicked in even if you didn’t need childcare to get them used to groups, lining up, being with other adults.

Despite that we’re planning to do the same with our younger one. Our other option is school nursery which is 5 mornings a week but you have to commit to that and tbh while I’m on the school schedule for the older one I want to keep him at home for as long as I can with the flexibility that gives us. School is 14 years, I wouldn’t rush to nursery if you don’t need it. Things will change when you have your baby but I had both of mine at home bar those two mornings of nursery until DD started school and it was brilliant.

My dcs both started preschool at 2.5 and I felt it was very beneficial to both of them. It allowed them to develop their independence and social skills in ways they wouldn't have, if they had spent time doing parent-accompanied activities instead. They both settled into school effortlessly with no tears.

For dc1 it was also ideal for me, as it allowed me to have one to one time doing all the baby classes with dc2 that I had done with dc1. I wouldn't have enjoyed juggling both of them all day for months, and wouldn't have been able to do certain activities like swimming classes and gymnastics as they need one to one support/have age divisions, and it was far easier to deal with naps and routines with just one baby during the day.

DC1 went to a lovely Montessori preschool and loved it, and it's a shame your local one is closing. But I'd still get on waiting lists for other local options, with declining birth rates you never know if a place might come up. Aren't there any school nurseries attached to primary schools nearby? The application process for those isn't usually so early. You could look at nurseries attached to private schools, as their intakes are declining due to VAT and they are often undersubscribed anyway.