Though it’s only March, I am starting to think ahead for the next school year. Drake’s preschool is pretty competitive with spots, so I am already being asked by the school about signing up for next year, and I am unsure what the best course of action is for Drake.
I had a lot of anxiety when I sent Drake at the start of the school year last September. I know my little boy — he is sweet, funny, and bright — but he also can be stubborn, rigid, and unused to being around children his own age. Since school has started though, Drake has flourished and thrived there. I think a lot of it does have to do with the fact that he is naturally quite inquisitive and likes learning new things. When I get him in the morning on school days, there is never hesitation on his part; he is ready to go and once we arrive, he barely gives me a backwards glance as he races off to join his class. I love that he loves going and enjoys his time thoroughly, and I love his wonderful teachers and classmates. Whenever I receive photos of what they are doing when I’m home, I’m always so happy knowing he is having such a great time.
Since I was unsure about even sending Drake to school when I signed up, I chose the Tuesday/Thursday class instead of the larger Monday/Wednesday/Friday class (which was filled up anyway). Drake’s school also has 3 different pick up times, the earliest being 11:30am, which makes the day 2.5 hours long (and the option we chose). Drake’s class is very small — only seven children including him. When we started, I really liked that since Drake wasn’t very good dealing socially with other kids yet; I thought a smaller class would be best so as not to overwhelm him (and less children would get beat up in the process of his socialization). He also would get more one on one attention from the teacher, which I felt was necessary for him since this was his first real experience spending time with so many other children his age. And as children go, I do feel that Drake is still on the emotionally immature side even for a boy. So while I always think academically he will be fine, I worry about him making friends and acting appropriately among his peers.
Now as school sign ups for the next year come around, I’m faced with a dilemma of how often to send Drake to school again. After speaking to a few of Drake’s classmates, some parents are considering switching their children to the MWF classes which has me wondering if I should consider changing too.
M/W/F Pros
- Larger class, more social interaction
- More days Drake is at school so more free time to get things done and spend time with just Juliet
- Will help transition to school five days a week when he starts kindergarten
- Larger selection of friends to make
- More expensive and I feel the cost is much higher for the additional time
- Less one on one attention if class is a lot larger
- Potentially more children to scuffle with
- Smaller class allows Drake to get more attention from the teachers
- Might make better stronger friendships with the few kids in his class
- Cost is more reasonable
- Too small of a class might make learning socialization harder
- Might be a bit harder to go from 2 days of school to 5 the following year
The biggest issue I’m worried about is the cost — the cost of going one extra day a week is close to $1500 more for the year, which is a lot if you ask me. I also worry Drake might be more apt to fight and scuffle with the other kids in a larger class since sharing is still a large issue of his. On the other hand if all his classmates from his current class transfer to the MWF classes, there won’t be any other kids in his Tuesday/Thursday class.
For this year I preferred the smaller class since Drake was so poor at socializing prior to school starting. Next year though since Drake will have already been in school for one year and have some better idea of classroom behavior as well as playing with other children, I think for him to have little contact with other kids would be a setback for him. Since starting school socialization is and has been Drake’s biggest obstacle, whereas the learning aspect has been easier for him since he came in already knowing quite a bit on his own. I’m still weighing out my options and also talking cost with Mr. Chocolate to see what the best choice is. In the end I hope whatever happens, I hope Drake continues to blossom at school and learn better social manners to make and play with friends.
How did you decide on a preschool schedule for your little one?
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
We are sending C to preschool T/Th next year, but it will be for his 2 year old year. We don’t have the money to spend for more, and at that age, I don’t think he really needs more. We will likely do 3 days per week at 3, and 5 days a week for pre-K.
grapefruit / 4923 posts
look at that face! did he get a haircut, by the way? looking spiffy!
i don’t think there’s any “wrong” decision, which i know isn’t helpful. just a thought, since the MWF class fills up quicker, is it possible to start with that, and if it’s really not working for drake, you can switch him to the TTh (or will the TTh be full)?
kiwi / 729 posts
We actually started off with a MWF schedule (9-4p) right before Lo2 arrived. My son did well and so we decided to add a 4th day so now he goes to preschool-3 (at a daycare) 4 full days a week. It is considerably costly since we live in the city but it has done him well. He had learned many things academically and also has been exposed to arts/music/literature. So, even though it was more expensive, if you can afford it, its not a bad idea to add another day.
It also afforded me the time to get things done around the house as well as spend time/bond with my younger one, which I cherish.
blogger / pomelo / 5361 posts
Sounds like both could be a good option. Tough decision, but I bet he will thrive either way!
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
Our preschool offers various schedules, but since we need full time care and they don’t have before and after school care for preschoolers, unfortunately any preschool schedule doesn’t work for us
another year of double daycare…
pomegranate / 3414 posts
We just went through this decision process for DD, although our options were 3 day vs 5 day and the increased cost was not nearly as much as what you are facing ($200-500).
I asked for her teacher’s opinion and she felt DD would do well in either option. She mentioned that DD is a little emotionally immature. However, she followed up by noting that DD is the second youngest in her class (she’ll turn 4 next month) and that it is hard to judge anymore because kids are starting preschool later. At least one of the boys in her class is a full year older than her (I know his mom). We opted for the 3 day option because we too felt it was a good transition to 5 day when she starts Kindergarten without being overwhelming.
You have good pros and cons. Like a previous poster said perhaps start him in the 3 day and then if that doesn’t work for him transfer to the 2 day if that is an option.
guest
If you are still concerned about the socialization issues, I would think it would be much easier to deal with them now when he’s still in a relatively small supportive environment. Once he gets to Kindergarten he’ll be in a large class with a teacher who has much less time to deal with any behavioral issues. My oldest was in preschool 5 days a week and still found Kindergarten exhausting because of the amount of time they are expected to sit still, pay attention and follow directions.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
5 days a week, skipping days is confusing for kids.
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
We want to stick with 2 days a week, also for financial reasons and the fact that I don’t want to part with Little P another day of the week! It sounds like that if cost is a big issue for you that might be a deciding factor.
I’m sure he will do great either way! 
blogger / clementine / 998 posts
I wonder how often I went to preschool as a kid. my parents both worked 5 days a week so i’m assuming they found something that was 5 days a week as well.
blogger / kiwi / 675 posts
thanks for this insight into preschool, we are still thinking about it for the future as well. I think one of my biggest thoughts is that Gemma won’t start kinder until 2016 which I know will go fast but is still a ways away.. when does Drake start?
cherry / 110 posts
I’d say in the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn’t really matter. Obviously, only you can weigh the cost part of it. But otherwise, my vote would be for MWF for the benefit of it being a nice transition from 2 days of school to 3 days to 5 days the following year.
blogger / persimmon / 1398 posts
I think that the jump from pre-school to kindergarten is a big one, regardless of if you have a two-day pre-school schedule or a three day pre-school schedule. (In our experience!) Our Mini was going three full days to pre-school and had a harder adjustment than many of the kids that had done two half days at pre-school. So I wouldn’t worry too much about the transition if that ends up being the only con.
blogger / pomegranate / 3300 posts
I am sure he will thrive in either situation. I agree with @Mrs. Paintbrush: that the difference from 2 to 3 days might not matter that much. The transition can still be tricky for some and easy for others.
Last year we did have James in three days and I liked it a lot. It just felt like he was getting more time to socialize. He was also able to get into a good routine with it. MWF is almost every other day rather than a four day gap with a TTh schedule.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
Eee! he’s getting so big.
I couldn’t find a 2 year old preschool so we have to wait until Fall 2015 to enroll J! It seems so far away. I’m not sure whether we’ll do T/Th or MWF yet, though. It will probably depend on whether he has started daycare or not.
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
I’m sure either choice will work out well. It always has a way of doing that
I applied to every single preschool within a 20 minute drive. All were lotteries. We got into exactly zero. So we have no preschool for next year and I’m out hundreds of dollars in application fees. I’m so frustrated.