Is preschool worth the cost?

[cattledog]

What do you think about preschool? My DD won't start kindergarten for another year and a half, but she was in daycare for the first three years of her life. I have her enrolled in various sports activities so she socializes with a few kids her age. She is extremely social though (and an only child). I think it would be good for her to be around other kids. Preschool is expensive though. The cost runs from $200-350/month for PT school. We would have to make sacrifices to pay for it. For those of you with young children, do you your children go to preschool? Was it worth the expense? I'm not concerned with preparing her for kindergarten, I'm more interested in the social aspect.

[Rosemary]

I think it was valuable for us. When DD was 3, we engaged in a cooperative preschool with friends - so that year was free. We swapped homes and the kids became more accustomed to being left in these homes without their mothers. When DD was 4, I enrolled her at a church preschool that had the same afternoon schedule as her then-future kindergarten, but only 3 days/week. It was expensive but it exposed her to many more children than she would have met otherwise, as well as taking direction and trusting teachers that weren't adults she already knew through our network of friends. The first couple of weeks were rough for many of the children in the class, but for us at least, kindergarten was easier because of it. On a social level, she also began learning how to make friends out of a group of kids, whereas her friends to that point were children of my friends.

The church preschool she attended had funding available for families who could not pay the entire tuition, so this might be something for you to look into at preschools in your area. Also, the church preschools were much less costly than the "private preschools" or whatever you would call the other options - for instance, commercially-run, or Montessori, or Waldorf.

[Miss Cellane]

What is your definition of "preparing for kindergarten?" These days, it's about more than learning letters and numbers. It's about knowing when to sit down and when to listen and pay attention--all sorts of classroom behaviors. Like following rules and transitioning from one activity to another. It's academic skills, social skills, fine motor skills, and gross motor skills.

All of which a kid can learn in pre-school. All of which a kid can learn at home, with a motivated parent.

If your primary concern is getting along with other children, you might keep her at home, but consider changing one or two of the sport activities to a craft class or other activity, where she can interact with other kids without all the discipline of sports. And just have a lot of play dates.

You could also check with the school you are planning on enrolling her in when she gets to kindergarten. Ask them what skills she will need, and if they recommend pre-school and why.

[Stella]

We sent our older two to preschool at our church and they enjoyed it. I think they got some value out of it, but my dad paid for it, so it didn't cost me anything. They both went to kindergarten at a public school and did just fine there. If I had it to do over again, and I knew I wouldn't be homeschooling, it would be a toss-up whether I would pay the money.

I have been thinking about this too and I don't think I'm going to send my younger three kids. The cost has gone up some and they get plenty of socialization. I used to work at a Montessori school, so I put together a variety of preschool activities for my middle kid, who is 3.5, and he is loving them. I made him some sensory bins, some sorting activities, some fine motor activities and set up some practical life stuff for him. He gets plenty of practice sitting and focusing at church, in Sunday school and at family dinner and family reading time. His sisters are joining a homeschool co-op with a preschool program twice a month, so I'll enroll him in that. It's $55 a semester, so it's not a whole lot.

[cattledog]

Thanks for the replies. I'm mostly looking at the church preschools. They are the most reasonable (around 200-250/mo). A lot of the other ones seem to function more as daycare.

I'm not too worried about kindergarten (I'm the at-home motivated parent :)). She has opportunites for other socialization (relatives, church school, etc.) and she gets a lot of practice following instructions from her coaches in her classes.

She loves being around people though. I really think she is a natural extrovert (I am not). She really seems to come alive around people. I noticed that when she was very little too. That's really the main reason I'd enroll her. I think she would love it, but it is expensive.

[try2bfrugal]

Our kids went to inexpensive church preschools. We had one bad experience at one school, but overall they loved it. Most of the kids in the public school system in our area do either go to preschool or daycare, so I think it helped to have our kids start kindergarten on at least somewhat of an equal footing with the other kids in terms of social skills. That probably didn't have to to be preschool specifically, but any place where they could learn basic preschool manners and social graces, like how to share toys, make friends, wait their turn, group snack table manners, follow a routine different from outside their own home and not have a meltdown, etc.

Do you have any preschool co-ops in your area or maybe even some baby sitting co-ops with mom's groups? That may be a less expensive option for socialization.

[awakenedsoul]

She sound really cute. I don't think I would spend the money, but I don't have kids. I used to be a teacher's aide in kindergarten, and all of the children did just fine. I would save the money and keep doing what you're doing. If she has relatives and church school, she should be very well socialized. Even just going to the park provides free socialization. I taught for 30 years, and I think many children are overscheduled now.

[Float On]

I paid for 3 afternoons a week in a 4 year old pre-school for my older son. Loved his teacher and she had a good program. The next year they had a new director who treated it more like day-care and didn't have a structured plan for each day. I pulled my younger son out after a month. I think it was only $80 a month 12 years ago.
The local schools around here offer a paid pre-school for 4 year old and also a free (income based) pre-school. Free is on one side of the building/paid on the other. Not sure what I think about that.
We homeschooled primary-6th grade.

[Zoebird]

We don't have to pay for it here because children in NZ are entitled to X hours of education per year. If you want more than that, then you have to pay, and if your school is private or special character, then there may be additional fees that are a tax-deductable donation (which means you don't have to pay them, and in our case, since we can't, we are given a pass on paying and are asked to "pay what you can, when you can.") So, we do pay a little bit each quarter for his special character education which is absolutely necessary for him and for us at this poing.

DS's an enneagram 8 with a 7 wing and a social subtype. He has strong leadership qualities, with an epicurial curiousity, and he's highly, highly social -- he needs to be around people A LOT.

School has been great for all of us. DH and I get some nice quiet time (though we miss DS) where we don't have to socialize while he is socializing (play dates, play groups were really hard on DH and I). The special character of his school understands his temperament and guides him in the right direction, utilizing no punishment/reward models as found in other educational styles. It's great to be able to go into a parent meeting and talk about his psycho-spiritual development rather than what he "knows" in an academic sense. They are also great at mainstreaming his giftedness which we find particularly exciting (DH and I were also "gifted" and it's not mainstreamed very well in most settings; just as special needs are rarely well mainstreamed). There are also several special needs children in his class -- and they are mainstreamed beautifully as well. I really like that.

DS loves kindy. He doesn't even say goodbye to us when we arrive. He's just "in it" right away. LOL

I often thought that I would homeschool him, but honestly, I cannot keep up with his social needs. For me, once a week is good, twice is max. But DS needs a lot more than that. So school fulfillns that for us.

[Wildflower]

My youngest DD really benefitted from preschool. She went to a morning church preschool 3 times a week. She was a very shy child and we watched her literally blossom in preschool. It was a wonderful experience for her! :)

[bunnys]

I am a high school teacher. I am not a parent.

I am completely convinced that the more formal education a child get, the earlier, the better.

Regimented, scheduled, orderly daily education where students are taught academics, patience, structure, socialization (beyond simple courtesy during playtime) will only benefit your child when she does go to kindergarten.

That said, you know where your daughter is now and what she'll be ready for next fall. Make your decision based on what you expect her to get in pre-school and what she'll need once she arrives in k-garten.

[Glo]

We sent all three sons to preschool many years ago. If I were doing it over, I wouldn't. In our case, our sons were bored when they got to kindergarden and first grade because they knew all their stuff by then and it was just a repeat for them. Maybe its different nowadays.

[Gardenarian]

Our town offers an inexpensive preschool play program, and I had my daughter in it for one year. I think it was 3 hours twice a week. Frankly, I just wanted a little bit of time to get housework done, and it worked for me. I don't think it had any particular benefit for dd.
We homeschool and I have become a strong advocate of homeschooling and unschooling. 'Nuff said.

[awakenedsoul]

We sent all three sons to preschool many years ago. If I were doing it over, I wouldn't. In our case, our sons were bored when they got to kindergarden and first grade because they knew all their stuff by then and it was just a repeat for them. Maybe its different nowadays.

My mom said the same thing about my nephew. My brother and SIL sent him to a very expensive private school from age 2. I mean like $2,000. a month! Now he's in kindergarten, and bored out of his gourd. He already knows everything they are teaching him. (his letters, etc...)

A very wise ballet teacher told a friend of mine, "Wait until she's nine to start ballet classes. She'll catch up to the others in a few months. If you start them too young, they have been doing plies for five years, and they get bored and quit." She trained many many professional dancers. She was British, and at the top of her field.

[goldensmom]

I agree with previous posters in that unless your child needs pre-school, don’t waste your money. In my work with young children, I’ve come to the conclusion that unless necessary, children do not need pre-school and really do not need to be in school before age 7. A piano teacher friend of mine would teach young children, starting at age 5/6, if the parents insisted but he said he taught the same thing over and over until they were about 8 and could retain, build on and progress.

[cattledog]

We sent all three sons to preschool many years ago. If I were doing it over, I wouldn't. In our case, our sons were bored when they got to kindergarden and first grade because they knew all their stuff by then and it was just a repeat for them. Maybe its different nowadays.

I was watching a promo video for the kindergarten class my DD may go to and she already seems to be way ahead of the curve based on the sort of things they were doing in the video, so I'm not sure what kindergarten will be like for her. The elementary school has a lot of ESL learners, so maybe it starts off slowly. I thought going to preschool would help her make some friends- or at least kids she sees on a regular basis (3 days a week most likely). I'm still mulling it over. Thanks for your replies.

[Zoebird]

That's really the benefit if steiner schooling -- it's non-academic until grades (age 7). So at this age, they are playing, they have stories, art time, etc. It's great for me because get too stressed out when we do crafts at home. They are too messy. It freaks me out. LOL

Non-academic programming is where it's at.

[jennipurrr]

She loves being around people though. I really think she is a natural extrovert (I am not). She really seems to come alive around people. I noticed that when she was very little too. That's really the main reason I'd enroll her. I think she would love it, but it is expensive.

I don't have any children but some times DH and I joke, God help us if we have an extrovert, haha. We are both introverts and I think in our case preschool would probably be a good option if we had a very social, extroverted child who thrived on that kind of interaction.

[San Onofre Guy]

Pre-school I found to be very beneficial to my boys now 16 and 18. The younger one especially still talks about how much he liked preschool.