What do kids do in nursery, aged 3 - 4yrs?

[SleepyGrrrl]

I'm not sending my DS to school at 3yrs, although it does seem to be the norm where i live. Not doing it for a mixture of reasons, but i was wondering what they actually do at that age in school?

I want to make sure he's exposed to the same kinds of things, so when he does start at 4yrs, he's not 'behind' or feeling left out.

He does arty stuff, goes to playgroups and loves books. Is there anything i need to include?

Lots of play and role play - arts and crafts, gardening, cooking and music. That's what my son does at his nursery. I'm sure the nursery which your ds will go to will welcome you for a visit just to see it in action.

dd is 3 and her current 'project' is growing.

so they've got tadpoles in a tank and they've looked at books about how the grow into frogs.

they've planted seeds to see how they need looking after so they grow.

they've taken in their baby photos and talked about how they've grown and changed.

it's all play based but structured around this theme.

get familiar using a mouse on the computer

playing in groups

taking turns

learning about routines like playtime/drink time/story time

recognising name

singing

this book is good for ideas

mine go to the library, do yoga, music and dancing
lots of painting and sticking and glueing

Yesterday DS (just 3, goes to day care nursery in preschool room) did:

Playing with the baby dolls (dressing, undressing, change nappies, feed them, washed their clothes)

Circle time - find their name, sing some songs, talk about stuff

Cutting and sticking Canada day flag

Playing outside and in paddling pool

Planted sunflower seeds and picked radishes for tea that they had planted

Read various books

Did the white flower in coloured water experiment

Did dressing up

My DS is 4 and has been at nursery since he was 2 yrs 10 mths. It's been great for him.
The main benefits for my DS have been:

Socialising with other children.
Getting into a good routine
Having access to lots of different toys and activities, and a playground.

I wasn't a great 'Blue Peter Presenter' SAHM (the temptations of staying in PJs and pottering around house were too great!), so couldn't have provided everything the nursery do.

This week at nursery, they've been working on their gardening project, had a visit from a theatre company, had water play in the mornings and have been doing lots of crafty things indoors during the hottest part of the day.

DS is always full of stories about nursery.

thanks guys. we do bits of this already, but i want to step it up this year.

dd's goes to nursery (full time) which takes them to the local library and museum etc using the 'walkodile'. so they are also learning road sense as well as learning. they took them to see the a Regimental Parade from a unit returning from Afghanistan.

they do 'yogabugs' too and she shows us the moves every now and then.

they bring in a musician from the Sage outreach.

So stuff I would never had been able to do with them normally.

Maybe these things things can help you look laterally at what you can offer them locally?

We have a family park to the wetlands sanctuary nearby and they run activities with the seasons there plus it is a great place all round for you to pass on your own wildlife knowledge.

the Gala Theatre in Durham also has drama events for younger children which you cna also go to.

there is also a Botanic Garden too...

we have a family pass