Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Lydia turns 2 next month, and we are thinking about starting her in a twice a week co-op nursery school right after her birthday (they can't take toddlers under 2 for licensing reasons). She's definitely a bit shy and clingy at times, and I'm extra worried because she is a late talker who is barely saying anything at this point. She seems to like being with other kids once she's comfortable with them, so that gives me some hope. I think the transition will be hard, but I'm hoping that she will like it in the end.

Anyway, how did you decide when your kid was ready for preschool? How did the transition go for you? I'd love to hear how this has gone for other PPK parents!

We didn't do preschool, but started daycare for our son at 2. He hardly talked at all, but once he started daycare, he started talking so much more. It really improved his vocabulary/pronunciation! He had surprisingly litte trouble transitioning - even though it was for a full day. He had so much fun being around the same other kids day after day. Iz used to be shy and a little clingy, but once he went to daycare, he totally came out of his shell. I would go for it!

My son just started at a coop preschool last week, he goes two mornings a week, parents help out 2xs a month. My son turned 3 in June and his school takes 3 yos whose birthday was before 9/1. I am so thankful we got in, as its 15 kids in each two your group. I am so happy that school is the highlight of his week, he has asked to live there.

He has been talking about going to school since he was ab 2 1/2 (we babysat another family's kids and their oldest went to k), but my son is very outgoing and loves new places and people. i think i knew because he is just bored at home without interaction with other children. But for the other kids there (i just did my first helper day today), it seemed that they were ready/engaging with different things- some with the activities, some with the animals, some just involved with play, and my son was one of 3 (15 kids) who seemed socially motivated. There is a girl in his group who doesn't speak any english, but she is already involved and singing along with the group at circle, maybe it will be the same for your daughter?

Perhaps, since she is a bit shy, can you take her there and get a read on her interaction either with the place (empty) or during a session, it might help you know if its right for her and you. Good luck in your decision making.

Well, Walter has attended a total of 3 hours of preschool, so I can't really speak to the transition except to say that his first day went well. According to his teachers he was perfectly happy to walk around the classroom and do his own thing, and when I came to pick him up he was pushing an empty swing by himself (sounds pathetic, but he is most definitely an introvert, plus he's young and still into parallel play). We'll see what he thinks next week, when he realizes I'm leaving him there again.

We decided to start school partly so I could get a break, and so I'd have a time every week for things like dentist, doctor, haircut, etc. Socially Walter is just getting interested in other kids, but he mostly just stares at them and shouts HI! He talks a lot and says a lot of words, but his enunciation is crepe. I can understand him most of the time, but almost nothing he says is intelligible to other people; I am hoping school motivates him to say more of the sounds in words...

well, tzipi's in full time daycare and i can't say enough good things about it. in general i think it's really great for kids around 2 or so to get out and spend time with other kids and adults without mom and dad around and i think that most kids adjust really quickly and learn a lot, if the school and teachers are the right fit for them.

one of the major issues that i have heard about and seen first hand is that some kids have a hard time with a twice a week or every other day routine, especially younger ones without a great grasp of time. i guess that might be my only hesitation... 3 hours twice a week is not a lot of time to get adjusted to a whole new set of people and routines, so i'd expect that it take a fair amount of time for a quieter or shy kid to really come out of their shell.

Today when I got to school at 11:30 he was asleep in the teacher's lap, wearing his coat and backpack, poor thing. I feel guilty; maybe he's a little too young for this.

That sounds really cute. It doesn't sound like a bad thing. Sorry you are feeling guilty though!

sending them off somewhere else is a minefield of guilt, no matter how old they are. i KNOW that tzipi is happy at daycare, i KNOW she loves her friends and teachers and i KNOW she is having a fun and exciting time there, but gosh, there are times when i pick her up and realize that something went wrong for her that day (scraped knee, bum rash, off day, whatever it is) and i just feel like total crepe. even though logically i know we could have had a worse, more cranky, more difficult day at home. today was kind of like that for me, so i feel your pain.