... Would you say it affected them negatively (or positively!) on starting reception?
The reason I ask is my son will start school in 2028. He currently does two days a week at nursery, two days with our lovely nanny and Fri-Sun with me and DH. Right now this routine works great for us. He gets used a group setting at nursery, but with our nanny and ourselves he has lots of days out, swimming lessons, toddler groups, play dates, and downtime at home. He's a very happy little lad, and I think we're actually incredibly lucky to have a set up like this.
But more recently we've been comments (particularly from DH family...) that he should be spending more time in nursery before school. Lots of 'how will he cope', 'it will such a long week', 'it will be such a shock to the system', 'better get him ready now, he won't know what's hit him'.
I know school is a big change. But I think he gets the best of all worlds with his current schedule, I don't want to rush it away. (His nursery is lovely so it's not a reflection on them - we chose it because it's laid back and outdoorsy, small groups, it suits him. The pre school year is all forest school which he'll love. But obviously there is only so much that he can experience there). But are they right? Will he struggle at school having had so little time in that sort of setting?
Interested to hear anyone's experiences if your children didn't do full weeks at nursery before school. Did it do them a disservice or were they just fine?