How many hours of nursery/preschool does/did your SN child attend?

[Laurajay84]

DH and I are debating over whether DS, 3, will be doing too many hours at nursery. We signed him up for nursery a year ago, pre-asd diagnosis. Him and his NT twin brother will be going (starting in two weeks!) for four afternoons a week to a private nursery, totalling 20 hours. He will have 1-1 for approx 10 hours.

He is non verbal but fairly easy going with no behaviours. DH thinks he should only be doing two afternoons per week. I think he will enjoy the change of scenery and get to play with some fun new toys. My thoughts are that he would only be wandering around bored at home doing the same old things for that time anyway so why not be in a productive and fun environment. Of course, I will always worry though....

So the question is - how many hours does/did your SN child attend nursery and how many hours of that was 1-1?

Ds2 has ASD and speech delay and at that age he did three sessions of four hours each, 8-12. Monday, Wednesday & Thursday. By Friday he was exhausted. Nursery could offer him far more than home & I know he enjoyed it as he didn't want to leave, screaming & hiding under tables & low speed getaways on tricycles were my clue there! There was no 1-1 because there was high staff ratios anyway.

Antiquity That is just what I wanted to hear

I too feel that a nursery environment will offer him so many more opportunities than being at home. He loves exploring new places and loves new toys, etc.

Did your DS go to a special needs nursery? Mine is attending a private ms nursery on a 1:8 ratio. We weren't offered the chance to go to a special needs nursery but we wanted him and his brother to go together anyway.

I home educated ds1 until year 1 but nursery really was so much better for ds2 than I ever could be. He too loves exploring and new things, constant new things, and at that age his attention span was no more than about 5 minutes and he is/was not able to do things/play with things unless he's shown how to. No way I could provide that at home! Nor the social side as children would stay away from him out and about.

Ds was also at a private nursery with I think that same ratio. There were actually a number of children with special needs there, physical and with autism. Some of those may have had one to one but while ds2 had some level of funding he didn't need it.

It depends on the child. DS1 enjoyed 18 hours a week of nursery but DS2 struggled with 6. DS4 (3) is currently doing 6 hours at SN preschool and DS5 (2) is doing 3.

Dd went to a Montessori nursery x5 mornings working up to adding to afyernoons in the final year. I think 2 sessions wouldn't be enough to establish a strong routine, it should be at least 3. I think this even for an nt child of that age. Dd thrived at nursery, but she does mask her ASD. And the Montessori environment gives a child a lot of control over what they do, everything is child sized, was the perfect environment for my dd.