Another Preschool Q (For Our Own Kids)

[Momof2Boys]

We looked at a preschool yesterday for my 3 year old son (he will be 4 in March), and we fell in love with it! The director was amazing, and the teachers were all very personable and people we felt like we could trust.

They offer a few different classes, and I'm having a hard time deciding which one to choose. My son will be ready for Kindergarten the following school year (September of 2012), so I want him to be as prepared as possible. The two classes I'm trying to decided between are a preschool class M/W/F from 9am-11:30am, and a Pre-K class M/T/W/Th from 12:30-3pm.

I like the idea of the Pre-K class because I feel like it will prepare him more for Kindergarten, however, he still takes an afternoon nap. He usually naps from about 12:30-2pm. And of course, I don't know if he will still be napping come September. So I'm stuck.

Registration is March 16th. Do I sign him up for the morning classes, and just hope it's enough to prepare him for Kindergarten, or sign him up for the afternoon class and hope he's no longer needing naps by then? (I might add, he has always been a child who LOVES his sleep! He has slept like a champ since he was 10 weeks old, and even used to asked to take a nap when he was only 2. He still asks to go to bed when he's ready, and will even tuck himself in.)

Anyway, sorry for rambling. If you were in my shoes, and this was your child, which would you decide? Why?

Thanks!!

[Missani]

Tough choice! If it were me, I'd do morning preschool. My son is the same age and just doesn't do very well if he doesn't nap. I would worry that he would not learn much because he was tired. Preschool is for learning, but it's more for adjusting to group settings, etc. He could learn all of that in the morning and if you find he isn't learning letters, etc. (I'm guessing he will learn all of that anyway) then you can fill in the gaps at home to make sure he's ready for kindergarten.

We had the same problem. We have decided not to send my son to preschool next year, but before we decided we found a fabulous preschool that we loved. The choices there would have been M,W,F 9:30-12:00 preschool with mostly 4 year olds (my son has a Sept. birthday so will be 5 almost the entire school year), or M,W,F pre-K from 9:30-4:00! I loved the idea of a pre-K program for him with kids more his age and the idea of getting used to all-day school, but I wasn't ready for him to be gone all day. I just started day care this school year to be home with him 2 more years before he went to school, and I couldn't get used to the idea of him being gone so much of the week. We were going to choose half days even if it meant younger kids and less academics. You can always teach them more at home to prepare for kindergarten if necessary, but those little sponges pick things up so quickly that you probably won't have to.

Good question, though, and a tough choice. It's one I've actually thought a lot about myself. Good luck!

[Momof2Boys]

I really appreciate your response and it actually helped me decide to just do the morning classes 3 days a week. I would really enjoy the time with him (since he wouldn't be going 4 days), and I really don't think he'll be ready to give up his nap by then. Anyway, thank you for your help