2.9yrs - too young to start?

[burstingbug]

We have a great little primary school which has a preschool for little ones.
DS1 is 2.9yrs next week and the school has just rung to see if he still wants the place we reserved for him last year.
His cousin and friend will also be starting next week, so he will know several children there already.

I can't decide if he is still too young, although he clearly could do with more activity and structure than he gets now.
He does manage to stay dry most days now, so that is not really much of an issue.

I know it's a very personal choice, but I was wondering what age you sent your lo's.

My DD was 2.9yrs and my DS was 2.7 yrs.

Mine were both 3 when they started pre-school.

Like your LO they were ready, but I wanted to keep them close just a teeny bit longer.

With hindsight they would have been fine going at 2.9yrs.

HTH

My dd was 2.8 when she started playgroup for 3 x 2.5 hours sessions per week. She loved it!

Depends on the individual child though. Ds didn't go until he was 3.6 and wasn't ready for it until much before then.

DS was 2.6 when he started, and DD will be when she starts as well (she has been looking forward to going since she was about 18 months ).

DS1 was 2.9 and DS2 was just 3. I think only you can decide whether your child is ready for it but, likewise, I think we all want to hold on to them! Both of mine really enjoyed it and when DS1 went it gave me a chance to do thing with DS2 on his own which was lovely as well

After several discussions with DH, our parents and CM, we think the time is right to let him start in about 2 weeks.
Provided he settles in well, he will attend 4 mornings a week until Feb when he's 3, then he'll attend the whole day.

Thank you all for your input, it has reassured me

ds1 was 2.8, he went 1 session for half a term, then 2 sessions for a term, then 4 sessions when I started mat leave with ds2. 2.9 isn't too young, but that doesn't mean that he has to go at that age either.

a whole day at 3 sounds alot, how many days a week?

Initially it'll be 4 mornings a week, 9.15 til 11.45.
If he copes well and enjoys himself,then we will look at sending him for a whole day when he's 3.

All depends how well he does really. I'm not that evil to send him if he can't cope or doesn't like it

My DD was 3.0 and coped just fine. She loves it now.

I expect he'll be fine. If CM thinks he can cope then that's a good sign, and if he already has friends there that'll help him settle.

My dd2 is at a preschool playgroup which has a couple of sessions each week dedicated to children aged between 2 and 2 1/2 (with a higher staff ratio), so she started soon after she was 2. She was already familiar with the place because her older sister went there, and she was very keen to start. She then started doing a couple of morning sessions at 2.4 (with other children aged up to 4, though dd1 had started school by then) and coped very well. At 2.6 we added another full-day session (5.45 hours) so I could work. She still loves it and gets so excited about seeing all her little friends.