Preschool woes and ??s please mamas.

[Strong Mama]

Sigh. I wanted to homeschool, but it is not going to work that way for us. Ds is 4(just turned in Feb) but will start pre k in August. We do not have half day schools here, they are mon-fri, 8-2 pm. That is a long time to me! There is a half day program 10 miles away, for 3 half days it is 100 dollars, plus gas money to drive there and back, we really cant afford it. I am just sickened at the thought of my baby in prek that long! He wants to go. He is bored at home, never has kids to play with, we have tried to meet moms and cant find anyone his age around. What should I do?

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

OK, full disclosure -- both of my kids have been in full-day preschool (8-5 more or less) for at least 3, mostly 5, days a week since they were 2 1/2... So I'm comfortable with preschool and with having the kids there all day.

I think pre K is good if your child will go on to "regular" school. There are a lot of things that don't get taught in the K classroom anymore because the teachers assume the kids have already had it it preschool. Not necessarily academics, more like classroom norms (wait in line, raise hand, that sort of stuff). Pre K classrooms have fewer kids, more help, more time to concentrate on that sort of stuff.

I think you need to concentrate on the fact that HE wants to go. We would all love it if our kids had exactly the same needs and desires as we do, but they don't. They like sports that we wish they didn't. They are extroverts when we want to hide at home all day. They want to play princesses when we want them to be "gender neutral". Or whatever -- these are just examples. Point being, they are individuals and they have needs, desires, and wants that we don't necessarily share. If he wants to go, is ready to go, and it would be mostly good for him (nothing is perfect, of course), then I think its time to loosen the strings a bit and let him fly. Its hard because you want to hold onto them. But that's not good either -- its our job to let them experience what they are ready for and to become more independent.