Apologies for the really dim question but...

[lucysnowe]

Hi all!

So is pre-school from the age of three upwards or can younger children go - and if so from what age? I thought that they could maybe go from the age of 2 and it would be cheaper than a childminder but I can't find any info about that now...

Thanks!

It is a little confusing as different terms are used in different areas (or even in the same area).

Basically there are playgroups, pre-schools and nurseries. IME these terms are all used somewhat interchangeably despite meaning different things.

One use of the terms is:

Nursery - mainly used by working parents for day care, will take babies up to children starting school, tends to have opening hours of 8ish - 6ish.

Playgroup - will take children from 2/2.5 or 3 depending on area. Basically 2.5 hour supervised sessions - you pay for as many sessions as you use (unless funded for over 3s).

Pre-school - children tend to go the year before they start school, though some take children from 2.5 or even 2. Generally children attend up to 5 2.5 hour sessions (funded from term after 3rd birthday) though some have the option of paying for extra sessions/lunchtime etc.

I'm not sure you'd use a pre-school instead of a childminder. They would be limited in terms of childcare (as short sessions). Also one benefit of a pre-school is mixing with other children, which is more limited with a childminder.

Thanks red! Basically I will be freelancing from home so wondered if there were any options beside nursery/childminder from age of 2 onwards.

Tis confusing as I tend to think of playgroup as the churchhall where the mums and babies go.

Playgroup and pre-school 2 hour sessions - how much do they cost on average?

There are some near me but they all say 3 yrs and up, maybe I can ask them to confirm tho.

My DD is starting pre-school next week and she has just turned 2. There are only a couple of pre-schools that take them that young in my area, most its 2.5, and the state pre-schools (impossible to get a place as most go to siblings) start term after you are 3.

I'm sending DD to pre-school as I want her to interact with children her own age and also I'm 30 weeks pregnant and have little family help so I am looking forward to 3 mornings off.

Won't say the cost in west London as probably a lot higher than rest of the country. However, we are using DH's childcare vouchers so that gives us 40% off the fees.

Your local council may have the information on their website ours does and what ages they take them from.

I wouldn't have considered childminders as my DD would have been very bored on the countless school runs the average childminder does round here.

iwantit - yes it does seem like a good time for DCs to get social, doesn't it. I will try the council website as the one on direct.gov.uk seems to have missed a lot of em out!

The Pre School my DS goes to is in a state school but is 'privately' run, they take children fron 2 and they don not need to be potty trained, it's £7 a session. He only goes 2 mornings a week till he gets it free.

lucysnowe (as in Villette?), you could try searching Ofsted for childcare, then looking through the list for pre-schools. Or just ask around locally.

Around here, there are pre-school nurseries attached to schools, but they only take children the year before they start school, so 3 to 4.
Other pre-schools, which are often small, not-for-profit organisations often take children from 2.9 or so. They usually want children to be potty-trained. In my experience, 2 year olds don't really socialise with other 2 year olds, it's still a bit young for this kind of interaction.

Agree that 2 years don't need to socialise but I think at this age for children who haven't been in childcare a bit more fun to go to pre-school and do 6 school runs a day with a childminder.

Absolutely as in Villette. I wonder if Lucy and Thursday would get on?

I?m a bit paranoid about socializing DD because she seems to be developing into an amazingly outgoing child ? quite unlike her mum and dad! Take your points tho. At the moment she is in nursery and childminder and personally I prefer the former.

I found this website ? www.preschooldirectory.co.uk ? seem to have a few more links than govt site ? will do some digging.

Oh, I do like Villette. It is so very good.

I think maybe one reason pre-schools are relatively cheap is that they usually have quite a low staff to child ratio. DS goes to a pre-school nursery for 3 year olds and the staff to child ratio is 1 to 13! At this level of staffing they obviously need the children to be reasonably independant, so fully potty trained including bottom wiping, able to pour themselves a drink and play alongside each other fairly amicably.

From what I have seen, even outgoing 2 year olds don't get much out of spending time with other 2 year olds, especially when they are only just 2. They can't really play together and speech is often still unclear so they may not be able to understand each other very well, which can be frustating. I think an outgoing 2 year old will get a lot more out of spending time with adults or older children.

Obviously just my experience though