My dd (3.9) is late summer born, so has the option of staying in her pre-school until next Jan or April, or starting in Reception in Sept (either full or part time). She's been in the pre-school for one term and is still very lacking in confidence with other children, very anxious when she's around them and tries to play alone as much as possible. She's much better when she's alongside the teacher doing structured activities, but most of the time the sessions are just free play.
I thought starting her in Reception might be better for her (initially part time) as it would be more structured, but apparently it will still involve a lot of free play, so now I'm thinking of keeping her in pre-school for longer, where we'll have more flexibility around the number of sessions she does and she won't have to do outside playtimes which she really struggled with when she tried a couple of lunchtime sessions. But, doing this will take her away from her year group and the children she currently knows (even if she doesn't really play with them!), and may make it harder for her to integrate back in later? I think most, if not all, the others in her year group are starting in Sept.
Has anyone else gone through/is going through this decision, and have any advice? I'm posting this in Primary Education too, to cover both sides of the coin!
Thanks!