How beneficial is Preschool? (activity, student, kids, childhood)

[wsop]

Unfortunately, I think most kids need some preschool prior to K. I say unfortunately for a few reasons. 1) We have free public education for a reason; that is that every child is afforded an appropriate education despite their financial situation. By making it difficult for a child to acclimate to K without some prior formal schooling places a financial burden on many families. 2) Many k teachers expect kids to start K with school experience and become frustrated with kids who have no obvious prior schooling, yet K is not even required! 3) preschools spend a lot of time molding kids into Kindergartners, at the expense of kids who are just not developmentally ready yet. 4) going to preschool does not guarentee your child will be ready developmentally for K. I delayed my son's start of K because he was just not ready developmentally for all the demands of K DESPITE 2 years of preschool. They really push the kids quickly these days, whether they are ready developmentally or not.

Still, I would say some preschool before K is a good idea, but the cost u quoted sounds unreasonably high

[Irish Eyes]

Originally Posted by rkb0305

I'm sure you aren't implying that parents who send their kids to preschool have no time and no intention of teaching their kids these things. I know how some SAH parents feel about day care, but please tell me we aren't including 1/2 day preschool for a 4 year old in with that now!

Of course not. I was responding to the person who implied that teaching your kids these things is helicopter parenting.

[Kibbiekat]

Originally Posted by Irish Eyes

Of course not. I was responding to the person who implied that teaching your kids these things is helicopter parenting.

That was me and that's not what I said.

[krististrange]

Originally Posted by FinsterRufus

I was just perusing the thread 'house vs school', and it reminded me of something I was thinking about today. My DD is 3yrs 4 months and we have just moved to a new city, and lately Mr FinsterRufus and I have been discussing whether it is time for her to go to preschool.

DD and I have been having a great time exploring the city, catching trains and buses, going to the library and lots of different parks and playgrounds, and I started rethinking the preschool idea - the tuition would eat up most of our spare paycheck each month as we are just getting settled, and I was thinking it may be better to put it off for a year-ish and use the money to keep doing things on our own for now, maybe taking a dance class or something as well. She's been hanging out and socializing with the neighborhood kids and we read a lot of books and are teaching her numbers and the alphabet.

I don't have any other kids so I don't have any experience with preschool to speak of, is it essential to a child's development or is it just as good to hang out with Mom and use everyday life as a teaching tool? I would do both and maybe just send her 3 days a week but that would limit our ability to go out and about and do other outings as the finances seem to lean towards either/or and not both (at the moment).

A friend who's a kindergarten teacher recently told me she's very happy that we're enrolling our 3 year 4 month-old son in part-time (three half days per week) preschool. She says teachers can tell immediately if a child has been to preschool. She says it gives them advantages in several areas, most especially understanding routines and the structured process of learning.

However, I read an article recently that said, while a child who's been to preschool does have these advantages, everything equalizes within a few months because children learn so quickly at that age.

But my personal feeling was I wanted my son to have the structure and socialization with peers that preschool offers. I can't give him that at home. He loves playing with his little brother, but it's not the same. Plus, I think it will make him more prepared for kindergarten overall.

[krististrange]

I should also mention that even part-time is quite a stretch for us financially. But, in the end, we decided to tighten our belts because it's what best for our child. Only you know what's best for your daughter, but I can say I mulled over everything you did, and almost decided to put it off a year because of our finances. It sounds like your daughter may be an only child so far, and if that's the case, you may have more time to focus on her. Since we also have a toddler, it's incredibly difficult for me to give my preschooler one-on-one time. I know that for our son, preschool is best, and it would have been wrong of me to hold him back. If she's learning, confident, has regular socialization with other children her age, and you take her to libraries, museums, parks, even Marbles, maybe you could put it off for a while...

[krististrange]

Originally Posted by FinsterRufus

Ugg Eresh, that's the very scenario I would like to avoid. I'm thinking of sending her next year when she's 4 - does anybody really think 2 years of preschool is necessary? She's going to go to school for the rest of her childhood life - as long as she gets an idea of school structure before she hits kindergarten that should be enough, no?

I have no qualms about her going - I would definitely send her and continue to do outings if we could afford it, but we're looking at 4 to 6 hundred bucks a month - which is going to limit our options as far as going to museums and other things that also cost money. I'm going to look into Mom's Day out as per no kudzu's suggestion, I've never heard of that until now.

We're only paying $50 per week for three half-days a week at Kids-R-Kids in Clayton. And I've heard there are other similarly priced programs available, especially with church preschools. What kind of program are you looking at?

[hopedelivers]

I am a mother of 3, 2 went to Preschool and believe me it was so beneficial to the two that went. They learned not only being away from mom was ok, but they learned structure, how to listen, how to be quiet, meet new friends, how to share, even though you do this at home they learn how to count, their colors, etc....kindergarten is not the kindergarten of yesterday....the standards are so much higher and it's full day not 1/2 day anymore. My son who just graduated from 5th grade was doing formulas and all kinds of equasions in math that I could no longer help him, I had no clue what he was doing...that's how progressed our educational system has come....and yes I was one of the ones hanging onto my mother's leg screaming my lungs out.

[omigawd]

IMHO preschool is NOT necessary at all. When they get to K, they're all going to learn the same things whether they already know them or not. By the time your child is ready for K, they are of an age where they know how to folllow directions and sit still --- and, even if they don't, they will follow the lead of their peers. Of course, if you feel the need, you can start him/her on a "routine" a month or so before the first day of school just to get him/her accustomed. It's really not necessary though.

"Socializing"??? I HATE when people use that term!!! Your child isn't being raised in a cave by wolves. He/She will know how to relate to his/her peers once she enters K. What happened in the "old days" before all this "preschool", "day care", and "pre-K" started?? Kids stayed home with their moms and went to kindergarten at age 5.

I wouldn't push preschool ---- if you're able to stay home with your child, you will be doing him/her a much better service by taking her to places in your city and exploring your city than dropping her at a "school" for 4-8 hours per day.

[bigcats]

Originally Posted by omigawd

By the time your child is ready for K, they are of an age where they know how to folllow directions and sit still --- and, even if they don't, they will follow the lead of their peers. Of course, if you feel the need, you can start him/her on a "routine" a month or so before the first day of school just to get him/her accustomed. It's really not necessary though.

There sure are a LOT of kids for whom this is not true.

What happened in the "old days" before all this "preschool", "day care", and "pre-K" started?? Kids stayed home with their moms and went to kindergarten at age 5

Yes, and Kinder then was more like what preschool is now. You can't really compare "the old days" to now. And the old days was a pretty long time ago. I'm 31 and I went to preschool, even before kinder had become what it is now.

[omigawd]

Originally Posted by bigcats

There sure are a LOT of kids for whom this is not true.

And for those types, preschool isn't going to help them. There are kids who are just stubborn brats who have no respect for their parent, no less any teachers. Most children, however, are happy to be in school and will participate without problems.

Yes, and Kinder then was more like what preschool is now. You can't really compare "the old days" to now. And the old days was a pretty long time ago. I'm 31 and I went to preschool, even before kinder had become what it is now.

Preschool is still not necessary. It's not going to get them "ahead" or anything else. All children entering K are going to learn the exact same things, even if they learned some of it in preschool. My child never went to preschool but she knew how to read (and comprehend) before K. Going into K, she had to be on the same level as the other kids. Yes, the teacher knew she could read well above her age level and encouraged her with books to take home, etc, however in class, they were all going at the same rate.

The state sets the school curriculum and they're not going to say there's an "A" agenda for kids who didn't go to preschool, a "B" agenda for those who did, and a "C" agenda for those who learned their ABCs and 123s from Sesame Street.

I think a child has a better experience being a child and exploring their hometown or city and going to musuems, parks, zoos, exhibits, libraries, etc than going to preschool. Kids have to be in school for 13 years.... why make them go before they have to???