Posted about 6 months ago and still having dilemas about when to move ds (just turned 3). Ds is the youngest of 3, and seems at the moment the most eager to learn. He seems fairly clever but quite laid back, fits in around other people, and good company. not that I'm biased!
He started preschool A this September, it was the first time he had been away from me, other than a few dentist appointments, or with dh etc. He has settled in without a backwards glance. It is a very friendly preschool in a church hall but only a tiny bit of outside space which they only use when the weather is good. He usually goes out when he can. He only does 2 sessions but we are fairly busy outside of preschool too. Ideally I would like 3 sessions when his funding starts in January, but as he is my last, and we are already constrained by school run for the older two, and I am teaching him numbers, letters, craft etc at home I am not worried about the education side of things. The morning drop-offs are a bit of a pain as school + preschool are a 30 min walk apart, we are in the middle. The girls go on the walking bus one day, and I drive the other. An extra day will mean 2 days driving.
If you are still with me, the other option is for him to move in Jan to the school nursery. This will obviously be easier for me for the drop-off sessions. My concerns about it are that he will be there for 5 terms and might get bored, it is a bit more formal, with trained teachers leading the team, the inside space is smaller, but there is lots of outside space which they can access come rain or shine.
They say you have to do a minimum of 3 sessions, when dd2 was there they really pushed for her to do 4 or 5 sessions, which we refused as she hated the noise and bustle of nursery, fortunately all the dire predictions of how much she would struggle in reception have proved too be unfounded. I know that this would be a constant underlying point of tension, some parents have told me that now they say they 'have to' do 5 sessions (all on different days) from the Easter before they start school to get them ready. I won't be complying with that as it would mean that ds and I could never do a day trip etc while the girls are in school.
I think that he will need to move next September as the sessions that he can do at preschool A are mainly just play, they have separate afternoon sessions for the older ones once a week which would clash horribly with school pick up. I think he will be bored by then too. My dilemma is whether to move him in Jan, or leave him where he is for the rest of this school year but have to drive more to school and have more stressful mornings twice a week. I also don't know how much to let him have a choice as there are pros and cons to both places, he hasn't seen the school nursery but he knows that he will go there at some point. He is excited about going to school, but also says he really likes his preschool. Dh prefers where he is now as it is more play based, but he doesn't have to do the double drop offs.
Do you think children get bored if they are in the same place for 5 terms?
Do you think he should see the nursery and have a say himself?