Preschool ? for December/January Toddlers

My son turned two on Dec. 5th, and I was thinking of enrolling him in a 2s program in the fall. He would be almost 3 at the time.

However, it finally hit me that we would send him to preschool for 3 years if that's the case--the cut-off for our school district is Dec. 1st, so he will be almost 6 when he starts kindergarten. And the schools near us are not inexpensive--frankly, I'd rather put that money in his college fund. But on the other hand, he has a speech delay, and I do think putting him in a situation where he is forced to communicate his needs more often may help (I'm a SAHM).

Just curious to see when others plan to send children who just miss the cut off for school.

Re: Preschool ? for December/January Toddlers

My DD's birthday is Jan 24th. I was going to put her in a separation program starting now (she will be turning 2), but my ILs did not want to take her. So I'm going to wait until Sept and possibly put her in something then. She will be 2 1/2 and will go for 3 years, but she doesn't get a lot of socialization being with my ILs all day long so even if it's just a few hours a week I feel like it will be good for her.

Re: Preschool ? for December/January Toddlers

DD#1 was born Jan 11th and we did send her for 3 years. She only went 2 days a week when she was 2. She did not get much out of it, but playing with other kids. I did not love the school she went to and the school we did love, did not take them until 3.

Re: Preschool ? for December/January Toddlers

DD is in a Montessori school. She started at 21 months. She has had such a tremendous language explosion since starting. So if you want to help with the speech, I would recommend the peer interaction, combined with the educational benefits associated with pre-school

Re: Preschool ? for December/January Toddlers

See, I guess the thing is he does have a fair amount of socialization several days a week now. We have a playdate most weeks, I take him for a class each Spring/Fall and we do things at the library. When the weather is nicer, we go to a park and almost always see someone we know there. Plus, we have a center that provides childcare in our community and he is there with other kids every other week or so. He doesn't have trouble separating from us at this point.

I know we need to decide for ourselves, but if socialization seems to be the main thing, I think we can keep that going for a lot less money another year, or maybe until Spring 2011.

I hate to pinch pennies in this area, but they are so expensive. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Re: Preschool ? for December/January Toddlers

We are trying to make the same decision--on one side I do think he would have fun, but i am not sure i want to pay for 3 years of preschool when he does get a lot of other socialization.

Message edited 1/5/2010 4:41:38 PM.

Re: Preschool ? for December/January Toddlers

Josh turned 3 in Dec.

We miss cutoff. At this point, I can see sending him to pre-k for the year he is 4, turning 5.

Re: Preschool ? for December/January Toddlers

Our DS are the same age. I am having the same issue right now but I think I am leaning towards sending him. Although DS could care less if I am there I still think the separation is good, and I think learning to deal with his peers without all the mommies is a good thing too (he has a lot of socialization but we are always there to referee) and I think he would benefit from it educationally as well.

Plus he is asking to go to school so how can I not!

Re: Preschool ? for December/January Toddlers

Posted by Kelly9904

Plus he is asking to go to school so how can I not!

Re: Preschool ? for December/January Toddlers

Posted by cjik

Posted by Kelly9904

Plus he is asking to go to school so how can I not!

Awww, too cute! Mine is not asking, but he doesn't have the words--if I ask him would he like to go to school he says "yea," but then if I ask him "do I have an elephant on my head" sometimes he says "yea" too, so who knows?