Where do I start???

[mama2moo]

Dd will be 2 in June and I have been thinking for a while about getting her name down for a pre school.

TBH I dont have a clue about them - How often they go, how much they cost etc.

There is one near us that I think I will call. Do we go and view it first before we decide?

Can you tell she is my PFB?!!

mama - - depends on what sort of pre-school and how often you want dd to go - most nursery places I know operate a morning and afternoon sessions or all day and you say how often you want dd to go depending on their spaces. Preschools attached to schools (or in villages - I live in Kent) often operate either in the morning or during school hours and also during term time whereas nurseries operate all year round(ish).

Cost also depends on where you are in the country - in Kent I pay £3.80 per hour but it works out at about £33 per day as we have to pay for the whole day although I drop off late and pick up early IYSWIM.

I would suggest you ring a few places that might suit you and go and have a look round - I found that you get a sense of the place and the atmosphere by visiting. You can also look at the Ofsted reports although for me I am not convinced they are super helpful.

I would say for my two dc they both went part time when they were 2 and I found that having a block of days - eg Tues & Wed or Tues Wed Thurs worked best as they then got into a routine of nursery days then home days rather than going eg Monday and Thursday - for my dd in particular it freaked her out as she didnt understand whether she was coming or going and got quite confused with where she was going to be.

HTH - and good luck - go with your instinct and ask around locally, always difficult with PFB - Iwas a wreck