Thursday, July 9, 2009

Preschool


Should I put Preston in preschool?

Preston's birthday is the middle of September, so he will be almost 6 when he starts Kindergarten. I still have a lot of time to decide (at least a year in fact), but I am wondering if I should put him in some sort of preschool when he is 4 or 5 to prepare him for Kindergarten, or if I should just teach him stuff at home and enjoy the fact that starting this fall I will get to have 3 whole school years alone with him--good bonding time!

Any moms/dads out there who would like to weigh in on my decision? I welcome any and all advice! ;-)

8 comments:

Tamsen said...

You know I'm not a huge fan of preschool but it's a totally individual thing. I think you'll have to see whether Preston would benefit from it. I definitely wouldn't do it, however, to get him ready for Kindergarten. He'll be ready--and if he's not in some areas, he'll catch on pretty quickly. Preston is a sharp kid!

Josh n Betsie said...

I LOVE having jadon in preschool. I feel that he learns alot more there then he would from me. But then again Preston would get one on one from you. But it would also get him to interact with kids and could make the adjustment better. But I am sure they only have 1/2 days there for kindergarten. They have school from 8:15 to 4:15 for kindergarten here. SO DUMB!!

Megan said...

Holy crud...that's a LONG day for Kindergartners! WOW! That's even a long day for older kids! Ash had K from 8:05am until 10:50am...and in first grade it's from 8:05am to 2:45pm. Can't imagine an extra 1 1/2 hours at school! wow!

Thanks for the input Tam and Bets. :)

Tamsen said...

That IS long! I just can't imagine. Our kids had Kindergarten for 2 hrs. 45 min., and full-time school is from 8-2:15.

Anonymous said...

Um, I say yes, but that is just my opinion. It helped each of my kids with social skills, they made friends, and I got a tiny break. Mine were so proud to come home and show/tell me what they did. If it is just a couple hours, I think it would be good. But, then again you have to check out the place. Nick went to a government sponsered pre-school. Betsie was in a mother's co-op one, and I hated when it was my turn because I am not creative. Quinn went to the one that the highschool girls did as one of their child development classes. Each of them was very good. There, that is my 2 cents.

Patrick and Emily said...

I think depends on your kid. I'm not sure if preschool did much more to prepare Bridget for Kindergarten than I could have, but I chose to put her in preschool (she went starting at age 3) because....well, you know her....she is very social and LOVES staying busy and "having fun." I'm considering preschool for the fall for Avery but I'm not sure yet. She is much more attached to me than Bridget so I may wait another year. Still debating it. Also I may wait because she is much more "naughty" than Bridget was. I'm not sure if she is ready at this age for too much structure yet. Anyway, I think it depends on what type of kid Preston is. You have mentioned that the kids on your street are all Ashleigh's age so maybe he would enjoy the interaction. Plus with her going to school full day now it might be nice for him to have something while she's gone. Sorry for rambling.

arah said...

I had Brinley in preschool. She loved it. She learned a lot and mostly just played with the kids and did lots of crafts and hand on activities. I helped out a lot too. She was only there for 2 1/2 hours and it was a nice break for me too. Brinley got to see a little of what Kindergarten was going to be like too. when she started Kindergarten, she wasn't at all clingy or sad and she was a little ahead of the kids that weren't in preschool.
If anything, I say do it so he can socialize and get some energy out. It's not super structured, but they have a schedule and that way the kids always know when snack time is, play time, craft time, story time, etc. Brinley LOVED it.

Russ and Suzanne Ballard said...

Never put my kids in pre-school. But, I did have a "structured" school time for them each day. Kevin, especially, loved that before he went to K. Then with you girls I did it immediately after the older ones went to school. We did store-bought workbooks and took field trips. I wanted my kids to bond to me and not to a pre-school teacher. I felt that their "socializing" time was on Sunday in Primary as well as playing with friends in the neighborhood. Do you remember any of this? Nope - probably not. I would get to be friends with mothers of kids the same age as mine and then we'd trade babysitting since I never had a grandparent nearby. That would also provide socializing. Frankly, I think the best thing for them was regular attendance at Primary and Primary activities. Then in the summer I'd also add the Liahona Summer Enrichment program which was a big, free, fun thing our kids could look forward to. Hope this helps.