PreSchool/PreK

[Anonymous]

Hello Ladies!

Well, my DS will be 4 here in less than a month & I’ve really been thinking about preschool/preK for him. I live in the Va Bch area & can’t seem to find too much info for programs available in my area. The other issue I’m running into is $$$$. I never realized how stinking expensive it can be!

I guess I’m curious what everyone’s thoughts are in regards to preschool. My dh really doesn’t think my son needs it. He says it’s a daycare & I’m a SAHM so why does he need a daycare…yadda yadda yadda…

I’m wanting my son to get used to a school environment, learn to obey other adults, & not be completely shell shocked when it comes time for Kindergarten. My DS is super social & loves other kids, so I don’t think he’d have issues going…I just don’t want him to have issues w/knowing when to pay attention & listen to a teacher…Ugh…Obviously, you can tell I’m not sure what to do!

ANY thoughts/suggestions…even school suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks : )

[Anonymous]

i am going through the same thing.

my son will be 4 in june. we ARE def sending him in sept. I actually think sept is on the LATE side! if we had the money he would be going now a couple half days.

I am a preschool teacher actually. And personally i think its def time for my son to be challenged/stimulated/and interact with other children on a daily basis. He is so bored home with me, and i have run out of things to do with him !! He is at the age now where he needs more. I think its very important to start them at four. BUT NOT AT A DAYCARE. Then yes, your husband is right he is better off with you. He needs to go to a preschool where he is challenged and learning. I have been at places where its literally babysitting!! .. Then i have also been at places where they really interact with the kids and KNOW what they are doing! And have amazing curriculums.

So.. look into the schools more. I found a montessori school that i am most likely sending my son to. It costs more yes, so i am going to send him less often…then i would a normal daycare/preschool. I would rather him be at a good school a couple half days.. then at one that is just ok and blah fulltime. make sense?

[hellbennt]

can you look into churches or smaller schools that might have what’s called ‘mother’s morning out’ something like that- you drop them off just for a couple of hours in the morning
or how about little classes you do with him so he gets used to being in a ‘class’ -for example here there is a park that has a nature program that isn’t very expensive and the mother attends w/ the child…but there is a teacher, a table and chairs, structure, that kind of thing…you can start that way w/ structured programs where you attend as well- I had that at my sons’ preschool- its called the transition program…

[Anonymous]

Thanks for ur suggestions!

Yes, I agree…He needs a school, not a daycare. Unfortunately, my DH isn’t open to him going to preK. We had a long talk yesterday & ultimately it kept going back to $. My DH doesn’t think it’s worth it. I don’t know what to do b/c I don’t want to fight, but I want my son to go. I guess if I knew that my son was academically already prepared for Kindergarten it would be easier for me to agree w/my DH. I just don’t know what is expected of a kindergartener…

Does he sound like he’s ready to you guys…

He knows his ABC’s, 1-2-3’s(up to 30), colors, shapes, recognizes all upper & lower case, knows all alphabet sounds, is able to write some letters, recites word for word some of his storybooks(this is all on his own), knows his name & can spell it…Is there anything else he needs to work on? I’ve tried to start teaching him to read, but he is so over Mommy.

Maybe my DH is right & my DS is already prepared academically, but what about all the social benefits from preK?! In that case, maybe I should look into what Laura’s suggesting & forget about preK?!

Thoughts? : )

valentine4mommy2010-01-21 09:31:47

[Anonymous]

I can’t say enough about the benefits I’ve found from sending the kids to preschool. It is expensive though. Here we have some part-time programs which are good options, and our local community centers offer similar types of dropp off programs that are cheaper.

[hellbennt]

forget pre-K then, and look for social kinds of classes to do- check your local parks and recreation, libraries, etc. surely you can’t be the only mother in town who wants the social aspects but doesn’t want a full time pre-k 😉

ok, here’s your preschool parks & rec activities:
http://www.vbgov.com/vgn.aspx?vgnextoid=a95fbe297e991110VgnVCM100000190c640aRCRD&vgnextchannel=45d9c67a3e83b010VgnVCM100000870b640aRCRD&vgnextparchannel=dfee54cf18ad9010VgnVCM100000870b640aRCRD

as for academics: on the first day of K he should be able to write his first and last name. if he can do it w/ upper and lower cases, great! if all caps, that’s fine, too!
get those Leapfrog DVDs (if you don’t have them already): Letter Factory,
Talking Words Factory, Story Book Factory, Math Circus – I forget them all, but there actually aren’t that many of them (why, I’ll never know!)
practice using scissors, glue- to help w/ motor skills
get a WordWhammer (also leapfrog) for the fridge…

also: check out this website- we have this in FL, but this is the nat’l site- there’s a button to click to start it near you, if you don’t have it!
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif”>Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters
http://www.hippyusa.org/

here is a site to find local events near you:
http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/region/virginia-beach-va-usa

[Anonymous]

We LOVE those leap frog DVDs!

[Anonymous]

i was never a believer in preschool—but they are pushing the kids so hard these days that they are almost at a disadvantage if they don’t go. i could not afford it for my kids—but my mother payed for about 3 of my kids to go. the first one, because he had some problems and was behind, the last two because they had changed what the kids needed toknow for kindergarten. sammie went 1 1/2 years to preschool and sylvia went 2 years. (same teacher, just repeated the class)

it sounds like your little one already knows what he is expected to know/will learn in kindergarten—-so it sounds like you have done a great job with him. money issues are defininely a problem and not worth fighting with your hubby about. i think that finding little social groups is a good idead—even if you have to do them yourself once or twice a week.

i know there used to be a program called “joy school” that mothers in our area used to do—but i was never interested in it myself (i didn’t believe in preschool) a group of mothers would get together and take turns having preschool-like classes at their homes several days a week for about an hour or two.

i hate it that my kindergartener is learning to read at school—-i think they should be learning social skills and taking naps and having milk and crackers—–but i’m waaaaay old fashioned.

[Anonymous]

do you have a gym.. we have something called “my gym” for kids.. it was shanes first “class” without me being a part of it. VERY HARD for him at first… but it was a great way of breaking him from being with me..and he could learn to listen to someone else.

anything like this would be good before Kindergarten

[Anonymous]

Christine, so funny that you mention that you don’t like that sylvia is learning to read in school. I just recently complained that Hailey wasn’t learning enough! Also I fought with the daycare because I didn’t like that they were still forcing my 4.5 year old (who hasn’t napped in 3 years) to take a nap on a cot in the middle of the day!

I do agree with you though that there definitely is a push toward raising a superchild, which I am personally against. But I do think there’s something to be said for developing early social skills and early learning about routines, etc that is great about preschool. For Hailey, I think that eventually being in preschool really also helped with her feeding aversion. She saw other kids eating, and over time, learned to watch them and it was great role modelling for her.

s&h’s mum2010-01-22 16:46:09

[Anonymous]

Cooper started preschool at 18 months, he went 2days/wk for 3hrs and now he goes for 3 days/wk for 3 hrs at one of the local church programs. It is SO worth it for us. We have the option of 6hrs/day but they don’t do naptime so i pick him up at noon. He LOVES it and being with his friends and he learns so much more and faster than if I were to try and teach him. Caroline will start when she is 18-19 months old too… I think if they are social it helps them so much more, sorry for spelling errors typing one handed!

[hellbennt]

jonah started at two, when I had to go back to work (I took 2 yrs w/ him) and the preschool is a ‘church’ (synagogue) school where there are options to go 5x a week or 3x a week (or less- I’m sure they’d work with the parents) and end at noon or 2pm. Jonah ended at 2pm and then stayed on for after-care…poor baby! then ari also started at age two, but he stayed until noon and a babysitter (a nanny-share! it was the BEST situation!) picked him up (walking distance) and they went home to the (empty) house where she worked as a live-in nanny for lunch & then a nap and I picked him up from their house…
I definitely agree that getting used to routines/transitions from one activity to another (clean-up, going from one activity to the next, getting in line, pushing in chairs, carrying snack plates to trash, etc), and socialization aspects are what has been important at that age (for us)

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I’m looking into those & hopefully will find something that works for us! : )

[Anonymous]

Melanie went to preschool and i found it helped her greatly with her reading. Kendra started las year and she loves it. We do work with her at home some though (specially with letters and sounds). Since $ is an issue, i would look into your public school for a program called Child Development. It’s for 4 years old and it’s free. Here, i believe they go for half a day, but i am not 100% sure since we did not use it.

Best of luck,

Leo

[Anonymous]

I am sorry if this is a repeat of what anyone is said…and I know I am chiming in late here. Check with local Faith based (church) preschools. They usually have scholarship funds for children. With this, they won’t look at what you earn, but moreso special circumstances you’ve possibly had in the last year or 2 that may make it difficult for you to afford full-time tuition for a preschool program. Sometimes they will pick up 3/4 of the cost or more of the tuition and you will pay something like 35-50 per month for example. It is also confidential. It’s worth looking into, esp if you are having $$ problems. 🙂

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