how long would give your ds to settle at pre-school he's 2 by the way...

[Nointhemood]

2.4mths to be exact. Ive started sending him to help encourage more interaction as suggested by the speech therapist although i had been taking him toddlers before that. I had to stay for the whole session last week as he cried when ever i was out of sight,the next session i left him for an hour and he cried when i left and when i picked him up. To be honest i feel awful leaving him but at the same time want to help him with his speech etc and interaction skills plus he is very clingy in new places.I can only afford one session per week. And when i mentioned about going to school he said no. I feel bad for sending him but will feel bad for stopping him as he's been to 2 sessions so far. I have to give 2 wks notice as well.Do i stick with it or wait until he is ready if he ever will be ready?

School at 2?

sorry meant pre-school they do a play session in the afternoon i did write pre-school in the title.

Hi Nointhemood.

Personally, if my DS had been that unhappy I would have stopped taking him. (That's going on what you've said and assuming you don't need him to be in childcare).

He's very little, and at this age they learn more from one-to-one 'playdates' (sorry) at home than from large-group environments.

My DS had speech-therapy too, and I was never told to drop him off and leave him anywhere. He's not clingy actually and would probably have been fine, but tbh the ST's advice sounds questionable to me.

(However I'm not a ST. Hopefully one'll come along to tell you why you were advised to do this).

(Also you'll probably get lots of the 'kids cry he'll be fine' answers).

Just go with your gut, I think.

It's still very young even for pre-school.
I don't think my 2.4 year old DD would tolerate going to a play group without me being there as she not used to it.
Could you do more toddler type sessions with him so you can stay with him and he can socialise.
I would say it's quite natural for a child of this age to be clingy.

I was doing toddler sessions but speech therapist mentioned about trying him at pre-school whilst we are waiting to be seen as we are currently on the list.They run a play session for 3 hrs in the afternoon.Feel awful tbh but was so frustrated by his lack of speech and like i had failed in some way so put his name down to go. Will see how he goes today im quite happy to stay so will pay the 2 wks and stop him going.

Nointhemood - of course you haven't failed.

With my DS I ended up going for a private session. (Finally got my NHS appointment through a YEAR after being referred ).

I was told to sit and watch him play, on his level. He chose what to play with.

When he looked at me, he was ready to 'hear' a word.

So for eg., he was playing with a car. He would concentrate hard on the car. After a while he would look at me, and I would say 'car'. He would smile.

I didn't make another sound (before or after him looking at me).

It was a lovely bonding experience, and I felt like I was getting to know him better.

Also, he started talking within six weeks of us starting this execise (five minutes at a time, three times a day).

I agree with previous posts.

He's very little to be at pre-school and I don't think he'll get much out of it speaking-wise. Maybe your SALT has a bit of an idealist view of pre-school settings.

If you need to get him talking to other people ask friends if you can swap childcare occasionally. He'll get other children at home to talk to and time with other adults in a much more quieter more relaxed environment.

Booboobedoo's idea sounds lovely.

Ah thankyou for the replies i know you are all right and my instinct is telling me he's not really ready neither am i if im totally honest. Although he is 2.4mths he is a very young 2 with his lack of speech and small build iykwim. He wasn't very happy taking him in the car earlier so ended up cancelling he was very hot and tired so is having a much needed nap (does n't nap very often).Ricepudding he had an hearing test when he was a baby which was fine. And he has no problem hearing or understanding-but this sounds gross he does have alot of was h=in his ears and i didnt know if that could be affecting his pronounciation also when he was a baby he used to have a floppy tongue alhough seems ok now his speech seems slurred sometimes.

Sorry meant 'wax' in his hears

Hi,

I took my ds at 2.4 and it took about 4 weeks, going twice a week to settle. I very nearly gave up so many times but am so glad I stuck with iy as it did him the world of good and now he asks every day if he can go to school. If you think its right for him stick with it you'll know in your heart of hearts the best thing to do.

Good luck

One session a week will make it really hard for him to settle too, as there's such a big gap between each session it's like starting from scratch each time.