Pre-K For Your OWN Kids

[lvt77]

I didn't send either of mine but I did put them in rec department activities (dance, art, soccer, etc) to get used to following directions of someone else and being away from me. They both did fine in K5.

I will add that my childcare is only preschool age and I run it like a preschool so I'm not sure if that helped them or not.

do you have any of your own kids in your daycare preschool? I run a preschool program too and my son will NOT participate in anyway. I find it very hard having him here sometimes, as he always disrupts class. He wants me to play trains with him or read to him in his room and so forth... Its quite the struggle to get him to join the group.

[momofsix]

Of my 6 girls, none went to preschool. Only 3 started K outside the home, the others started out homeschooling. Of those that started school later than K, one was first grade and the others were much older. The only one that had any problems was one that started in 5th grade, but that was a whole different issue
My kids had been to Sunday School, Children's Church, Park and Rec dept things etc....so they did know how to act in groups (other than at home) and follow others' rules.
I figured preschool would not do anything for them that I couldn't, and I think it's another way society is trying to "take" kids away from their parents earlier and earlier. It used to be preschool was actually PreK, now you can find "preschool" for 2 year-olds, and parents feel their child will not succeed without it! Not that I'm slamming anyone that sends their child to preschool though...everyone's entitled to their own way of doing things

[melissa ann]

I took my dd to preschool when she was 5 (Oct b-day). I'm planning on taking my son to preschool this coming year. I started doing preschool this past Sept. and my son does well. Knows all of the alphabets, count to 20, knows shapes, colors, and can write his name, his sister's name, mommy, dad, and stop. I'm only taking him to get him away from me. He is always with me. Even if he goes to visit grandma, within an hour, he wants to come home. I didn't do preschool when my dd was younger, because she was the oldest in my group. The next 2 were barely 2. It helped my dd tremendously. For the first few weeks, she did cry when we dropped her off, but I told her she would be fine and left. She is now a social butterfly. She's in kindy now. I hoping it does the same for my son. He's always by side and doesn't want to be with other people. He will be younger than what my dd was when she went to preschool. He turns 4 in April.
Oh, our preschool is like 2 blocks from my house, so I just walked all of the kids.

[MG&Lsmom]

My oldest went to pre-k at the public school with transportation since she's special ed (autism).

My 2nd is enrolled 5 day/wk @ a Montessori preschool. It was very important to me to have her experience being away from me. It's just her personality to cling to me and be a home body so she needed it. While I do carpool, I'm still on the hook for transport and take dcks with me. I have a vehicle big enough for 6 carseats so this works for me.

I've had people ask, since I'm fully capable of doing K readiness for her why I did this. I'm mom and it's just not the same as having to follow a teacher's instructions, deal with classroom life, and she needed that time away. Some kids adjust just fine. I knew mine would not.

[jenh171]

Yes, I do. It is called Herman E. Lawson Early Childhood preschool. It is just cross the street from Slaughter Elem school.

not a very inviting name for an elementary school, imo! ::

[Mrs.Ky]

My twin girls will be 4 in a month and have always been with me. I'm wondering if I should find something for them next year that is a few days a week just to get them adjusted to the idea of being away from me.

What do the rest of you do that have children? Just straight to kinder?

One concern is that because I have the childcare and can't transport, I'd have to find somewhere that either transports the kids or they would have to go a full day and my husband could drop them off and pick them up before/after work.

What did the rest of you do? For the ones that kept your children since birth and then sent them off to kinder when they were 5, how did they handle it? Would you have done it any differently? Any advice would be great!!

I have 3 children who are 11,7, and 3 years old. I sent my oldest to head start he went Monday-Thursday half days he loved it and I truely believe it gave him a great start on his first day he went right on the bus and I cried as the bus drove away he never had a problem leaving me to go to school. My 2nd also went to pre k at 4 I also believe it gave him a great start he also never had a problem leaving me. Now my baby girl is 3 and I was thinking about sending her in Sept. to the 3 year old program she will 4 in Nov. but I decided not too but I will be sending her to the 4 year old pre k program when she is 4 almost 5 it will be a 4 day week program half days at the church down the street and I will have to transport her. I highly recommend pre k I think it helps the kids get a great start and it helps Mom learn to be without her child during the school day and they will also make little friends.

[Missani]

My husband and I are currently debating this. As of tonight, we've decided not to send my son to pre-K. He will be 5 in September, but will not be able to go to kindergarten until the following year. He did go to a preschool last year (age 3) at a wonderful preschool/child care center when I was still working away from home. He is fine with separating from me and is very independent and social. I also run a preschool program, and my problem was that I didn't think he was learning very well from me and maybe needed time away from me. However, he has the skills needed for kindergarten and is fine at Sunday school, etc. I think when the time comes, he will learn to wait in line and other "real school" skills just fine and doesn't need pre-K to learn those things.

I just want him home with me one more year because I can never get those years back and he is growing so fast already. My younger son, however, will either need pre-K or ECFE or extensive parks and rec. classes or something. He will never remember being in the daycare center (he was there from 2-16 months old), is much more shy, and doesn't separate from me nearly as well. He will also be younger (a young 5) when he goes to kindergarten. I think it depends on the child to some extent. I also think that sometimes we are too academically focused as parents (we want our child to be the best and we want the best for our child-who wouldn't as parents?) and forget to let them be little kids for a bit longer and not be in such a rush to send them to school. I need to remind myself of this often, and then I don't feel nearly as guilty not sending him to pre-K next year. I suppose we might still change our minds though, as we just decided this tonight.

[QualiTcare]

i think pre-k is definitely a good idea - especially for twins!

not only have they never been away from you, but they haven't been away from each other! THAT may be the hardest part. more than likely, they will NOT be together in school. i've only seen young twins in the same class once and i was surprised even then.

it's just tough on the teacher and the child (mostly the child) when a kid starts school and hasn't been away from their mom. one of the busiest parts of the day is when the kids come in because the teacher is trying to tell everyone what to do, get the attendance turned in, do the lunch count, etc. and when a kid comes in crying bc they have separation anxiety they just can't stop everything to console EVERY morning. of course there's time to take a minute and say something and give a hug, but then the show goes on and suzy is left to deal with her feelings on her own. what makes it even WORSE is when parents think they're helping by walking their child into the school and/or to the classroom. well, it's no different from daycare - the longer the parent sticks around the worse it is.

i don't have experience from a parent's perspective bc my kids went to daycare and they were excited about school. from someone who has taught kindergarten, i think pre-k is a great idea for children who haven't been away from their mom and that's an understatement.

[QualiTcare]

My husband and I are currently debating this. As of tonight, we've decided not to send my son to pre-K. He will be 5 in September, but will not be able to go to kindergarten until the following year. He did go to a preschool last year (age 3) at a wonderful preschool/child care center when I was still working away from home. He is fine with separating from me and is very independent and social.

my son went to daycare also and separating wasn't an issue bc he had done it since before he could walk (literally). so - when i started working from home it was the first time he was able to stay at home with me all day. when i went back to work away from home and put him in pre-K he had a hard time. i imagine it was like what kids who haven't been away from their parents before is like - he just hadn't shown the behavior before because he didn't know what it was like to stay home with me. it was a total shock - i fully expected him to do just fine like he had before. i'm not saying you should send him to pre-k, i'm just saying be aware that if he was used to separating from you before and then got used to having a "stay at home mom" his ability to separate easily could change.

[WImom]

lvt77- THey were with me from 18m-to5y but my youngest is in K5 this year (my oldest in 2nd grade). They actually did really well with listening and wanting to follow along. My now 2nd grader was kind of the leader until she went to school.

I think if my children didn't participate within my childcare then I would have sent them off to preschool.

[AnythingsPossible]

I did send all of my kids to preschool the year before they started kindergarten. When I started my daycare, my husband was able to drop off and usually pick up, but if he couldn't we had an arrangement with another mom who brought my girls home. I currently have a dcg that goes to preschool and there are 3 different women who drop her off. So if transportation is an issue, there are usually ways it can be worked out.

[lil angels]

Yes we sent my oldest for 2 yrs three mornings a week. He needed to have to listen to another adult and not be here where he was the boss... My youngest we are going to sent one year he doesn't seem to need it so mush but he still needs to adjust to being with another adult and kids.

[Zoe]

I was struggling with that as well. I started transitioning my daughter when she was 3 into activities to see how she'd handle it. We enrolled her in dance class and took her to Sunday School. She never had any separation anxiety. Once we moved closer to my mother, she has been able to take her to preschool. My daughter was easy because she had been in daycare before when I was a teacher.

Now my son is a different matter. He's never been in daycare, and doesn't go to sunday school as often simply because we haven't found a church yet in our new town. I've enrolled him in preschool for next year (he just turned 3) just to get him used to listening to another adult and a more structured setting. I think if you can get a bus or join a car pool it would really be beneficial.

[E Daycare]

We plan on putting our son, whose 18 mo now, in a private Montessori program when hes about 4 too. Its going to be 2 days a week and gear him up for their kindergarten program. He gets a lot of socialization here but Id like him to be out in another atmosphere for a bit before hes gone full days. I think itll help my transition better too. I dont like thinking of him getting older

[SunflowerMama]

Thanks for all the great input. Even though all but one of my dcks is the same age as my girls and we do a preschool program, I just think they need to get away from me and each other a bit before starting K.

We have a church in our backyard that does a 2 day/wk preschool from 9a to 2p so I'm signing them up for that and asking they be in different classes if possible. I think the dcks and I will walk them to school and then I may ask one of the other parents to maybe walk them back to me since it will be smack dab in the middle of nap. I think it'll be good for them and me .