Nursery or private pre school - sorry long

[steben]

Really hope someone can help because I am going round and round in circles with this decision! DD was at a nursery we loved which was part of a private school - we decided to send her to a day nursery as her previous one was closing and the sister site - which we really liked - did not have a nursery provision for under 2's and we are due to have DC 2 soon. My issue is this - I am not 100% happy with where we have moved her it is fine and she seems to have settled well BUT I just am not happy with little things and in my heart I want her to go to the sister school. Financially this is going to work out as more expensive overall as she will have to do a year of private pre school full time (mandatory) however over the next two years she would be there it works out at around 800 more expensive overall so not completely put of the question. My worries are - what to do with DC2 childminder until she can attend same place - will it be a nightmare to have 2 at two diff places? Has anyone successfully mixed Childcare like this? And is a year of private school worth it? Or is it a waste? My hope is it will give her a great start before starting state school but I don't know. Sorry this is long and rambling!!! Thanks in advance of you made it this far.

Hi Steben

I am having a similar question , whether private pre-school will do any good to a child or be more beneficial than a childminder. My DD is starting a private pre-school in Jan when she turns 3 and currently she is with CM. So I am just going to wait for the responses of those who have experienced both...

I currently mix childcare but have gone from CM to private nursery to state nursery for DC1 and only private nursery for DC2. Both go to private nursery 1day per week, then just the younger one goes there 1other day whilst the older one is at state nursery(just turned 3).When the state nursery closes for 1/2 term etc the private nursery can take both of them on the days that I work so it gives more flexibility.If you you had childminder for DC2 could they have both when the private school nursery closes?Also, if your DD is 3 do the private school have a holiday club she could go to?Several seem to.Switching from a childminder to a private nursery at 2.5,and then to pre-school age 3 was hugely beneficial to DC1 in terms of mixing with more children his age, eating lunch together in a bigger group(most CMs only have 3 at a time,and at his private nursery there are only 6 children his age most days compared to 20 in the state nursery now. I've noticed that DC2's table manners and food fussiness are much better than DC1s and that could be from mixing with more kids at a younger age which you would get in nursery v CM.Their private nursery is in the grounds of a private school which also has a nursery class age3-4 but it only has 5-6 children in it which I thought was too small and I'm happier with the bigger class in the state nursery.They all seem to have the same targets which are social integration,imaginative play and maybe some very basic letter & number recognition so the social thing is probably the biggest aspect at 3,I wasn't really focussing on getting a head start learning anything.Hope helps but probably hasn't answered all your questions!

Thanks for the reply, Beatrixpotty. Sounds like you had a very positive experience. I have decided to do mix the childcare: my DD will go 2 full days to pre-school at private school, 2 mornings at state pre-school (to use the goverment funding as state pre-school will not take it) and the CM will be with the child for the remaining hours until 7pm. I am sure she will be tired but hope it will do her good and boost her confidence and improve eating manners :-)