Does full time nursery/preschool really prepare a child for primary school?

[YellowFlipFlops]

I've heard/read so many parents saying how utterly exhausted their children were when they first started school.

Does full-time nursery/preschool prepare children for this? Or is it the school environment itself, rather than the number of hours, that is so tiring for children?

It's both the new environment and the change in expectations that makes them so tired in the early weeks IMHO

It isn't really a guarantee and there's no hard and fast answer to whether or not a child 'will cope' with school.

Sometimes a new environment can make you or break you.

My ds did 5 days a week, 6 hours a day. Didn't see any change after transition to school.

My DS only attended preschool 15 hours a week before he went to school. He's not a super-energetic child by nature but he had no trouble adjusting to a full-time school routine.

He was obviously a little more tired and emotional in the first weeks, but less so than many of his peers who had longer preschool hours.

I think it depends more on the individual child. Neither of mine were remotely tired from starting school (they had been in childcare part time) yet others who were in full time childcare were exhausted.

I do think it has an impact though if they are used to long days at childcare then the school day may tire them out less in general but as others say, the new environment itself can be tiring.

Not all children are tired, no, but if nursery/preschool doesn't tire them out, then there's certainly a higher chance they'll not be tired, just like if it does, there's a higher chance they will.

Definitely agree with that sirfred

Thanks everyone. DS is only 3. He's in full-time preschool and seems so tired some evenings, and I seem to hear more and more how knackered children are when they start school.
I suppose we'll have to wait and see how he gets on, it's still a long time away.

Thank you!

DD did school hours at pre school from age 2.5 (term time mon- fri, 8.45 - 3.30). It was necessary for work and I remember hating it at the start as I felt so guilty about her being there every day.
She loved it though, and I honestly think it helped when it came to going to school. She was used to the length of the days and being away from me, and had a head start on a lot of the learning which gave her confidence. She was also used to being a bit more independent in terms of getting changed for PE, doing her own coat and shoes etc.
I definitely think it helped her/us, but I have to say that all the children were pretty much settled by October half term, regardless of how they’d spent their pre school years!

Just seen your update OP, and that’s exactly how DD was. She’d be asleep on the beanbag by 6 some evenings, and was emotional and grumpy all the time to begin with.
It got better with time, and our experience was that she actually seemed to have more energy at the end of the day when she started school. We put it down to school involving more structured sitting down and learning time and more mental effort, where as at preschool she was go, go, playing all day long!

I have 2 boys, one September born one July. Both did 15 hours per week at pre-school (eldest did 2 years youngest only 1).

Neither were tired upon starting Reception, although my youngest attended 4 days a week til January as I was concerned about the jump from 15 to 30 hrs (need not have been in hindsight he loved school from day 1 and coped well). His friend (also summerborn) found it very tiring and napped in the classroom after lunch.

Yes if you choose the right one. Ours has learned so much about following instructions, group activities, playing with others, self care etc. It's really helped him. My husband hates our sons nursery because he thinks that the people who run it are incompetent and stupid (to be fair they are in contrast to the kind of service you get in London) but what my husband has forgotten us that he's still learned some important skills there that he wouldn't have learned at home although if we had kept him at home he would be further along with the reading and numeracy but we saw his social skills as something that needed working on more.

My DC were all different. I'll be interested to see how my youngest gets on as at the moment he is doing 3 hours a day 5 days a week at preschool and isn't tired at all.

That's really reassuring, thanks Wriggly! DS is exactly the same, tired and grouchy some days and looks ready to drop when he comes through the door! Really good to hear that children seem to be settled regardless within a few weeks.

Thinking about it now, the childminder we choose for DS will also make a difference won't it?

He does 8-5:45 at preschool now, and will probably do 7-5 when at school (childminder-school-childminder).

I was worried when I realised we'd need a childminder eventually that we'd essentially be paying for him to just wait around to either go to school or be picked up by us, but actually a setting where he's able to relax/unwind either side of school hours might really help.

Tbh i think my dd finds pe more exhausting than the general school day (being summer born she is smaller and possibly asthmatic and doesnt slow down when tired).
She went from 2 days preschool so 12h for 1 year to FT school.
I think one advantage of nursery is that they get a lot of illness out of the way before school and this would be more the longer hours they do and more years.
I think the issue with tiredness is if it affects behaviour at school. Some childeren as per pp with go to sleep, some get hyper and some misbehave. Unfortunately schools refuse to see that cramming lots into say the end of term or over 2 days will exhaust some kids.

I think maybe kids who do lots of extracurricular stuff from toddlers so like football stuff and sports have an advantage as they may be fitter

DD1 has been much much hungrier! They don’t get as long to eat their lunch (especially silly if they are chatty) and have fewer snacks.

Mine were fine. Went from 4 days a week at nursery to school and weren't tired.

If a 3 year old is doing “work” hours at nursery, I’m not surprised he’s tired! It would be hard work for adults and it’s obviously a longer day for him at nursery than it is for you at work. School will seem a very short day when he starts.

There is not much difference between full time pre school and 15 hours a week pre school when it comes down to achieving learning goals in YR. The children who have spent long days in childcare can be more “regimented” and biddable but the others do just as well. I never saw any difference in achievements based on nursery attendance. I think some attendance at nursery is highly beneficial but full time isn’t necessary for a child to adjust to school.

Mine were bursting with energy after school! Both went from 15 hours to full time school without a murmer. If you need after school care, then find one where he can play and don’t expect to do loads of homework!

Mine did 3 full days at nursery and when he started school last September I was expecting the prophesied tiredness and it never came.

He used to do 7.45-approx so I guess school day
Much shorter!

I found the opposite, very high energy 4.5 year old boy. School didn't tire him out nearly enough, had to go to the park/swim/trampolining after school every day, except Friday's in primary.

Yes, mine come out with so much energy I still have to find things to tire them out.

Yes, Bubbles, it is a pretty long day for him so hardly surprising really!

I was only asking about the tiredness that might come with starting school, I'm not under the illusion that DS's hours at preschool will help him do "better", I just wondered if it would help him adapt any better (I would definitely work part time if I could! ).

Really good to hear such a range of responses, and I'm pleased to hear that it's not always a given that they'll be shattered when they start.

Thank you everyone!

"If you need after school care, then find one where he can play and don’t expect to do loads of homework!"

Will definitely bear this in mind too, thank you. I hadn't even thought of this before I posted so will make it a priority now to find a setting where he can just relax and play.