How much preschool?

[M0reGinPlease]

I know no one can really answer this for me, but I'm more after others experiences.

DD is an early October baby so will be near enough five when she starts school. I'm a SAHM.

Last year, so from age 3-4, she did one morning a week at the preschool attached to the primary school she will attend. She loved it and settled immediately with no problems. This year she has so far done two mornings a week and already I've noticed she's less tired afterwards than she was last year and she's still loving it. She seems to be making friends now she's there a bit more often and she enjoys everything they do. It's a wonderful preschool.

I don't fully buy into the idea that children need to attend preschool to get ready for school. I do absolutely see the benefits of her spending time with other children and adults, getting used to the idea of being dropped off and collected and getting some sense of what school will be like. However, I am a SAHM. We'll never get this time together back again and when she's with me we're doing interesting and exciting stuff including groups and plenty of socialising and learning.

DH thinks we need to up her sessions as school will be a shock, but agrees with me she doesn't need to go full time. We were thinking of adding another morning for her after Christmas and then after Easter making one of her days a full one, so she has lunch there and gets the experience of what a full day is like before Reception.

What are others experiences and how did you find your DC settled at school?

Hopeful bump

DD did 3 mornings and was fine with the transition to school (tired for the first few weeks but I think she would have been whatever she had been doing before). DS did a bit more, a couple of full days and one morning. Ditto tired to start with at school. It was all very dealable with though.

Has the lack of preschool affected their education? Er, well obviously impossible to say definitively but let's put it this way, DD is Yr9 and, apart from Graphics, getting 7/8/9 grades in everything (Old style A/A/A*). She is a 6 in Graphics (shocker 😀). DS is YR7, smashed his SATs and is on top set for everything at the start of secondary.

Would more/less pre-school helped/hindered/changed any of this? No-one will ever know.

Did a lack of full time preschool hinder my DCs?... obviously not by much...

We enjoyed the extra freedom/days out/ chill days for NOT going every day. They have so many years in education DH and I thought they had plenty of time to "build up their strength" for school once they HAD to...ie in reception.