Feeling a bad mum for not knowing about preschool education

[Sunshine78]

DS is my first and has been at the same nursery since he was 6m he has just moved into the preschool room there and I am at a loss as to what they do with them as I have a feeling its more than just allowing them to run riot now! Feel a bit silly asking the teachers as feel I should know. When I ask DS what he has done he says "nothing" - very helpfull! Had a parents evening last night but am still unclear what he should be able to do by the time he goes to school a year in September am a bit paranoid he will be behind if I don't know how and what to encourage him in over the next year. Sorry so long but does any one know.

In the pre-school attached to DS1's school they followed a Montessori-based curriculum and spent some time on learning letters - firstly tracing and then writing. DS1 couldn't do much more than write his name by the time he joined reception, but he had a good grasp of all the letter sounds and formations (they used Letterland characters). With numbers it was counting up to 10 and back again, sorting, matching and working with shapes. He also had music, art, PE and ICT sessions. BTW at first DS1 was in the pre-school room of the day nursery he had been at since 6 months, but we found that due to staff changes etc he was not getting a good enough (or consistent) grounding. In the end we moved him half-way through the pre-school year to the pre-school referred to above and I believe he was much better prepared for Reception as a result. I would therefore recommend you keep an eye on what is actually being covered in your DS's nursery. Having said that, plenty of children start school without going to pre-school first of all.

my dd is starting pre-school in sept. and as far as im concerned all i need is her out of my hair for a little while and getting her used to social interaction.

i do however know they do counting games, letter games, learn some french do singing, reading etc together.

dd however is quite well prepared as she can already touch count up to about 16 (we have 16 stairs in the staircase outside our flat) and can sing the alphabet (although hasnt got a clue what it refers too just yet!

ta for that will keep an eye on staff changes altough so far must say been very consistent as some staff are still there from when he started 3 years ago.