Is preschool necessary?

[my3peanuts]

My dd will be 4 in June and everyone keeps asking if we're sending her to preschool. We hadn't planned on it because I can't see the benefit to sending her away a year earlier than she has to be but I've had people(including a teacher) tell me she won't be ready for kindergarten without preschool and that she'll be further behind than the kids who had preschool.

Thoughts?

[mommy68]

I don't think she will automatically be behind if you choose not to send her to preschool. There are plenty of kids that go to kindergarten without ever attending preschool. Do you plan to do things with her at home to teach her the alphabet, how to write her name, draw, color, just the basic things they work on in preschool? That should be enough if you do those things at home. Plus, if you did choose preschool she could go as little as one day a week up to five days a week. She wouldn't have to go everyday and it would help her with her social skills to be around other kids her own age instead of just throwing her in to school next year all day (or 1/2 day) and expecting her to learn social skills all at once.

[my3peanuts]

Originally Posted by mommy68

I don't think she will automatically be behind if you choose not to send her to preschool. There are plenty of kids that go to kindergarten without ever attending preschool. Do you plan to do things with her at home to teach her the alphabet, how to write her name, draw, color, just the basic things they work on in preschool? That should be enough if you do those things at home. Plus, if you did choose preschool she could go as little as one day a week up to five days a week. She wouldn't have to go everyday and it would help her with her social skills to be around other kids her own age instead of just throwing her in to school next year all day (or 1/2 day) and expecting her to learn social skills all at once.

She does know the alphabet and has started recognizing letters. She colors well and has started drawing people, animals, etc. instead of just scribbling.

I wouldn't mind if she just went maybe 2 days a week for part of the day but I couldn't see sending her much more than that.

[amnda527]

Does she spend time around other kids her age?

[Miny20]

I enjoy preschool--but not for the 'school' of it.

My daughter goes to preschool 4 mornings a week. She started going 2 mornings a week last semester. She adores the time she spends with other children. She likes the interaction with other adults. We had some general trial and error with our own interaction when I dropped her off and picked her up--which I never would have considered when/if we decide to send her to school 5 half or full days a week when it comes times for kindgarten. It was nice to have the casual experience with more than a few teachers to help us work through it--turned out I was telling her every time I picked her up how much I missed her--and that really stressed her out, because she was really enjoying school, but worrying about me missing her while she was gone!

She doesn't really need to educational stuff--since she's 3.5 and reads already. But, she was really lacking in social interaction with the other children. She didn't know how to work her way into a group and participate in their games.

On the other hand--you have to consider the things to which you've exposed your daughter and if you're ready for her to know about stuff you haven't taught her. For instance, we never introduced our daughter to any characters other than Mickey Mouse and a couple of other classic Disney characters. Now, all of a sudden, she's telling me she wants Dora this, and Chuck-E-Cheese that--because all of the other kids have shoes, back packs, and tell stories involving those characters.

You really have to think about your approach to parenting, daily life, and your child's outlook on the world. Because, it took a whole lot out of me when my child started saying "I'm doing good" instead of "I'm doing well" because that's what her teacher says.

[my3peanuts]

Originally Posted by amnda527

Does she spend time around other kids her age?

I run a daycare so she's around other kids quite a bit but not necessarily her age. She does have kids her age at church and she goes to Awana's(kid's group at church) on Wednesday nights and is in a class with 30 other 3-4 year olds.

[rabrog]

We're sending DD (3yo last month) to preschool for part days, 2 days a week in the fall. We have several reasons for this:
- she's only around kids her age a couple times a week and is very social. She will love having more play time with other kids.
- in talking with friends who are kindergarten teachers, I've been told kindergarten is the new 1st grade. My friends have seen a huge difference between kids who have had a year or two of preschool and those who have not - social differences (ability to aclimate to a non-parent environment and how they deal with their peers), knowledge differences, etc.
- we're TTC a second child. I would be able to have a little alone time with the new child a couple days a week and DD could get away from the baby for a few hours.

These are our reasons, no one else's, so please take them as you will.

DD already recognizes the alphabet and all the sounds the letters make. We're working on writing her name and writing letters in general. She knows shapes, colors.

Jenn

[Plummeting]

My3peanuts, if you want to send your DD to daycare, then you should feel free to do so, but don't do it just so she'll be ready for school. The whole point of kindergarten is to get kids ready for school. I see nothing inherently wrong with preschool for kids who like to go, but you shouldn't feel pressured to send her by ridiculous arguments about how she needs to be "prepared" for kindergarten.

(Not accusing anyone here of making ridiculous arguments - I didn't see anyone saying that your daughter needs preschool.)

[RomanGoddess]

It's not necessary but my observation has been that kids at age 4 really do like to be around other children for at least some portion of the day and not JUST a parent. If your DD has a lot of siblings, this could compensate, but I'm thinking that from a day to day perspective, she might enjoy herself more spending 2 or 3 hours with some other children her own age.

[heket]

Originally Posted by Plummeting

My3peanuts, if you want to send your DD to daycare, then you should feel free to do so, but don't do it just so she'll be ready for school. The whole point of kindergarten is to get kids ready for school. I see nothing inherently wrong with preschool for kids who like to go, but you shouldn't feel pressured to send her by ridiculous arguments about how she needs to be "prepared" for kindergarten.

(Not accusing anyone here of making ridiculous arguments - I didn't see anyone saying that your daughter needs preschool.)

I agree with you on the point that Kinder is to prep kids for school, however, (and this isn't direct to you, but more of the great "you" here), what's the thought then when others say that preschool is vital for Kinder? I can understand why if your local kinder is an all day venture, but what if it's not? I've had parents tell me that if we're not going to send dd to preschool that it's a detriment to her because she might not be counting to 20 or writing her name like other preschoolers are suppose to learn here. :Puke

[RiverSky]

Originally Posted by cmlp

It's not necessary but my observation has been that kids at age 4 really do like to be around other children for at least some portion of the day and not JUST a parent. If your DD has a lot of siblings, this could compensate, but I'm thinking that from a day to day perspective, she might enjoy herself more spending 2 or 3 hours with some other children her own age.

Hmmm....our days before school do not sound at all like what you are describing. When my children were 2 and 4 1/2, our weeks looked like this:
Monday: playgroup at someone's house, sometimes ours
Tuesday: MOMS Club event, whether a field trip, playground date, meeting in a gymnasium, craft day, etc. + a preschool sports class
Wednesday: storytime at the library with a craft afterwards
Thursday: MOMS Club again.
Friday: stay at home, run errands, or sometimes meet up with friends.
Saturday: birthday parties, house parties, local festivals, etc.
Sunday: birthday parties, pool parties, family dinners.

When we put our child into kindergarten at a public school, there was far less time for quality socializing & running around and enjoying the outdoors than when he was out.

Do other people really stay at home all day every day and do nothing when their children are young??

[RomanGoddess]

Originally Posted by RiverSky

Hmmm....our days before school do not sound at all like what you are describing. When my children were 2 and 4 1/2, our weeks looked like this:
Monday: playgroup at someone's house, sometimes ours
Tuesday: MOMS Club event, whether a field trip, playground date, meeting in a gymnasium, craft day, etc. + a preschool sports class
Wednesday: storytime at the library with a craft afterwards
Thursday: MOMS Club again.
Friday: stay at home, run errands, or sometimes meet up with friends.
Saturday: birthday parties, house parties, local festivals, etc.
Sunday: birthday parties, pool parties, family dinners.

When we put our child into kindergarten at a public school, there was far less time for quality socializing & running around and enjoying the outdoors than when he was out.

Do other people really stay at home all day every day and do nothing when their children are young??

I'm afraid many do, not because they want to but because there is not much opportunity for getting together with other children. A long time ago, huge extended families lived together plus you had the support of a community behind you. This is still the case in developing countries. Nowadays, mom and child all alone in a suburban home is normal. This is pretty isolating and it takes a lot of scheduled activities to occupy a 4 year old all day in this environment.

For me personally, I stayed home with my mom unti the age of 5. All my brothers and sisters were already in school so I was alone. She did send me to friends a lot to play but I have to say that I think I would have enjoyed going to pre-K or even K at the age of 4.

[AmyLouise]

I'm trained as an Early Childhood Educator and from what I've seen and studied, it depends on the individual child. If your child doesn't get the opportunity to socialize with other children and/or is very shy, then preschool would be a good idea.

GL!
Amy

[EFmom]

We didn't do preschool. We did do a lot of learning at home. My kids could read when they entered K, knew their numbers, etc. They were also with other kids most of the day, so they were well socialized. They had no trouble at all handling K.

[sarahmae1]

I do think its a good idea for kids to go to a year of preschool/pre-k before they go to Kindergarten. Not really for academic reasons, but so they get used to having a teacher and classmates, following directions, lining up, etc. It will also help with "self-help" skills, etc.