Other kids too young at nursery?

[Hubbard93]

My DS goes preschool, but this year all his friends moved up to reception bar 1. The nursery had a new intake of children, but they’re all roughly 2 year olds and he is over 3.

He has very good speech and you can have full conversations with him - I’m really trying to remember how verbal a child is at 2, and if he’d get any learning interaction.

He used to tell me all his friends names, and they’d all greet each other at the door. This time round, he only names the 1 person. Whenever we’ve taken his soft play or days out, he always runs over to play with other children so I don’t think shyness is an issue.

I bought it up to the nursery, but they were just cagey about it. I have a nagging gut feeling that isn’t the case based on his behaviour at the gate (not saying “there’s so and so”!), no excitement so see specific people except 1 said person, and the cagey reaction of the nursery.

At the same time I don’t want to pull him out if he’s genuinely happy and interacts with other kids when I’m not there, plus me and his dad both work. How would you approach this?

In some areas, a lot of 3 year olds move on to school nurseries, leaving less at preschools. Has this happened? It sounds like they had plenty of 3/4 year olds last year.

On one hand mixed ages are meant to be good for development. Many children are at a childminder at 3, with only a handful of other children, more like a family. On the other hand I understand your concerns. Some 2 year olds will have great language and social skills, but it's quite normal for them to be playing alongside each other rather than really chatting together.

How friendly is he with this other child his age? What does he say generally about preschool? I wouldn't take him out, as he will still be learning and you need childcare, but if you are worried you could look into other options.