Nest Book Club
CeeCeeSugaPie
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
NBR: Daycare vs Preschool Conundrum
Guys, I am so divided about what to do with DS. So, of course, I am bringing my woes to you all. 
DS has been at a small in-home daycare since he was 2. His daycare provider, who we love, doesn't do part-time. We would like to send him to preschool, but we had planned to do just a couple days a week. She had previously said that we could switch off with another child at daycare, but now she has changed her mind about that and only wants full-time. I am just not sure what to do. Do we send him to full-time preschool or keep him with her? She does follow a preschool curriculum, but I am worried whether it will be enough to prepare him for kindergarten. On top of everything else, she is pregnant and due in September. I don't know if any of you can offer advice, since every child and situation is different, but I appreciate being able to vent.
DS has been at a small in-home daycare since he was 2. His daycare provider, who we love, doesn't do part-time. We would like to send him to preschool, but we had planned to do just a couple days a week. She had previously said that we could switch off with another child at daycare, but now she has changed her mind about that and only wants full-time. I am just not sure what to do. Do we send him to full-time preschool or keep him with her? She does follow a preschool curriculum, but I am worried whether it will be enough to prepare him for kindergarten. On top of everything else, she is pregnant and due in September. I don't know if any of you can offer advice, since every child and situation is different, but I appreciate being able to vent.
Re: NBR: Daycare vs Preschool Conundrum
I should add, this is from my perspective of my son needing full time care and is already in a daycare with preschool. It's what we'll be doing in a few months when he's old enough for preschool.
my read shelf:
Wes: 10/8/2012
His current daycare does follow a formal preschool curriculum, but I am thinking that the social aspect of larger preschool would be good to prepare him for kindergarten. I should add that DS does not deal with change well and is very shy, so I am nervous about 1)changing him to a formal preschool and 2) him being overwhelmed when he gets to kindergarten. I am hoping that once we meet with the preschools, we will just know what the right choice is.
Also, I don't know jack shit about Kindergarten (yet), but do they offer any preschools/daycares that share a building with Kindergarten? Maybe that would ease transition? I know, I'm not very helpful. I think it just might depend on how formal you want his preschool to be.
my read shelf:
Wes: 10/8/2012
Another thought is when is his birthday? We held my son from kindergarten until he was 6 (birthday May 29) and it was the best decision we made. Just something to think about, but being shy, and a boy, sometimes boys do better if they wait until 6 for kindergarten.
My son is a sharp cookie. He does so well with his letters and numbers, but he does not do well with being away from his comfort zone. We knew that going from a situation where grandma watches him every day for 8 hrs to being in kindergarten all day was going to be a real shock to him. So our choice to put him in half day, two days per week preschool was purely a social transition decision. And he really needed it. There were many Tuesday and Thursdays that began in tears, but I cannot imagine what kindergarten would have been like without that exposure and time away from his comfort zone.
My daughter is a little social butterfly and makes friends with everyone in a split second. She benefits from preschool because she has a harder time with her letters and writing. So I'm glad we are doing two day per week preschool for her because it will benefit her academically. We shall see what kindergarten brings, but I think she's going to be very happy to start Grade K.
~ E ~ 7/2010
~ A ~ 3/2014
We are really excited about sending them to Montessori school in a few weeks. While we'll miss the ease of leaving the kids at home, we're ready for more structure and balance for the kids, less having to bend to the care-givers schedule because they'll be open for us.
We chose Montessori because the kids are given individual attention and freedom to choose their own projects and playtime while learning more comprehensive academic and life skills. The teachers are certified and trained, school is certified, etc.
We're planning to keep our oldest there through kindergarten because our assigned public school isn't that great.
Temporarily, we have to split the kids at two schools because of a lack of openings at the one school we like. The little one can join older when she's two. (Nightmare, but it's gong to be way cheaper to take them to school than keep them at home. Our nanny found a new position earlier than expected and we didn't want to leave her without a job to go to.)
We've also been through a pregnancy-daycare situation. We had nearly private care so she took a few weeks off after having the baby-except she was put on bed rest four weeks before. We had to find alternate care for 6-8 weeks, which made things hard too. You just never know how a pregnancy will go. Have alternatives on the ready if you choose to keep him there.
@NicoleAnne416 He just turned 4 this past January 30th, so he will be almost 6 when he enters kindergarten. I think it is a good thing as well.
Thank you all so much for your replies! I really do appreciate it!
We did an all day preschool/daycare which we started when our kids were around 3-3 1/2 years old. We chose all day because we both work full time so its easier for us. They went to in home babysitters up until that point. They were good babysitters and they did teach them things but I think they learned a lot more in preschool both socially and academically. That's just my experience, it really depends on the sitter. There was definitely an adjustment period. They cried every day when I dropped them off. That usually lasted for just a few minutes and then they were fine. I guess my outlook on it is that at some point they get thrown into the shark tank and are expected to learn coping, social and academic skills. I just preferred that my kids learn it or have a head start on it before they got to Kindergarten. Starting school can be nerve racking enough, I wanted them to have some experience under their belt before they got there. I'm sure that might not be the right choice for every kid though.