Pre-school - Virginia Beach,VA

We had my daughter do the preschool (morning) part at a daycare center until she was old enough for traditional preschool. The daycares are usually more relaxed about ages because they can take 6 weeks-age 6. We started her in the 2s room on her 2nd birthday which was in mid october. If you look hard enough, you will find the option for you.

Here in the Dallas area the YMCAs offer a Mother's Day Out Program that starts at 2. I don't know much about it, but I looked into it briefly when I was choosing a place for my daughter. I know it's not everyday, but I can't imagine it's religious based either.

i'm in a shrinking minority i know, but i think the only good reason for pre-school is if the parents are working and need it. i do not think kids need it one little bit. that's what kindergarten has always been for, and if it's not so today it's because parents have changed their expectations. schools will do what parents demand.
littles should absolutely play with other littles, but 3 year olds don't need academics beyond what good parents are already doing with them.
i really dislike the trend to hand over our babies to be developed by others at such a young age.
khairete
S.

Check out the preschools that are run thru your local churches. they will usually have a 3 year old class that meets twice a week and a 4 year old class that meets 3 times a week. If you go for something like the goddard school it can meet up to 5 days a week but you will pay a huge amount. Our local community college has a great preschool program that runs 5 days a week. preschool is great as it has taken the place of the old fashioned kindergarten. the kids get the socialization part down and a lot of the learning that used to take place in kindergarten like colors numbers, abc's etc. kindergartners learn how to read etc now.

So I'm a little confused. Do you want her to start preschool when she is 2, turning 3 in December, or 3 turning 4 in December? If it is the latter, you should easily be able to find a preschool that will allow this. If it is the former, she is really still a little young and developmentally immature to begin preschool at 2. The children there, just by virtue of being a few months older are just a little more capable than a 2 year old of handling some of the activities in preschool, especially things like sitting still, coloring and some more detailed craft projects. These require an attention span that is not typical for most 2 year olds and even many 3 year olds! And why rush it? She will be in school for the next 13-20 years of her life. I believe that parents really rush this process of kids beginning school when the job of a 2-4 year old is just to relax and learn through normal everyday activities and play. If you really want her to have some additional activities, try little classes like Kindermusic, Gymboree play and music classes, story time at your local book store or library, or a little gymnastic or tumbling tots class or swim class at the local ymca. This gives them a little interaction with other kids as well as an opportunity to follow directions given by another adult. Also, just having a weekly play group that you attend and maybe the parents take turns doing a little craft or singing some songs goes a long way toward providing all the stimulation she should need at this age. Look at preschool when she is 4 turning 5 in December. That gives her one year before she begins kindergarten to get into the swing of school if you really think she needs a preschool environment. Otherwise, plenty of kids never go to preschool and do just as well socially and academically as their "preschooled" peers.

I would keep looking. Most of the preschools in my town are 2 days for 3 year olds and 3 days for 4 year olds. So your daughter would be able to start at 3 (almost 4).

There should be plenty of preschools to chose from starting at age 2. Many church preschools do not teach religion in their programs. Many just rent space from the church. Our child attends such a program, no religious beliefs are taught and none of staff even attends the church. You may want to just check some out and get her started in a program next school year. Good luck.

My daughter was in the same situation (a Sept birthday). As far as I know if it is a private preschool not one for the school system than she can go now. I chose not to send my daughter until she was almost 4 because I did not want her going to preschool for 3 years. So this year she is in preschool 2 half days and next year it will be 3 half days and then kindergarten. I dont know if it is the same for the state you live in. I wil say that before I had children I was a daycare teacher and always said I ouldnt send them when I can teach them at home but now adays kindergarten is not for socializing and basic curriculum. It has been awesome for my daughter who is shy to adults and needs to know what is going on in her surroundings before she participates in activities. I am hoping she will be so much more comfortable going to kingergarten since she is use to leaving me and going to school and knowing she will see me right after. Good luck deciding.

"Back in the old days" kindergarten was to learn socialization, numbers, colors, practiced writing their letters and number recognition, practiced writing numbers. But they also went half day and had nap time, which have gone by the wayside as well. Things have changed, and we can't go by what we did. Now preschool is where you learn all that, and kindergarten is learning to read and stuff like that. They expect your kid to be socialized, know how to play and handle simple situations with PEERS (not just adults) by the time they enter school.
You should be able to put your child in preschool starting when they're like 2 years old. Pre-K is when they are 4 or 5 (depending on birthday and when they're starting kindergarten). There should be lots of places you could go for preschool (the YMCA, the Goddard schools, any private place like Primrose Academies or something like that). Check at your local daycares, and I'm sure they have preschool (it's basically just daycare for little kids, but they play and learn how to play nicely, handle little relationships with kids that are not necessarily the same as them, how to share, etc and they should be learning like one letter and color a week, counting, stuff like that. At age 4, my son goes to a daycare 3 days a week and they discuss weather, where clouds come from, how to make rainbows, colors, they have all learned how to write their own names, recognize their names on things, trace a letter a few times and then practice writing it (one letter a week) with show and tell with something of that letter every Friday. Simple stuff, but he's actually picking up on some good things. Next year instead of kindergarten (because of his birthday, in October), he'll go to pre-K. I was tempted to put him in a private school for pre-K to make sure he's academically ready for "real" kindergarten year after next, but I've since changed my mind. I think it'd be better to save the money (3 times the cost of where he's currently at) and put him in private school LATER (like 3rd grade or so). But that's a choice you make based on your own child.
What I'd suggest is to get info on the school standards in your state to know what is expected and start working on it with her. Most of the education should come from home no matter what their age, in my opinion. I got our state standards for kindergarten (but he will be past that by the time he finally gets there)---stuff like sequencing and recognizing patterns is something we haven't tried yet though---then I just made a list of the classes I remember and what I think is important: Bible, math, science, reading/writing/spelling, history, geography, foreign language, physical ed/health, art/music, social studies, character development, volunteerism, all of it. I try to incorporate little fun things throughout the day that will touch on all of this. Cross learning is great and should be used much, much more in "real" schools too. We can have a lot of fun reading a story, playing/pretending with that theme, breaking out a map and learning about where the story is set and some history or what the people do there, etc. I'll get off that soapbox though....that could last forever! But yeah, preschools are everywhere (daycares or a private academy)....pre-k is your choice, whether she stays where she's at or goes to a more "exclusive" place, or is eligible for a school-based pre-k (some schools have that, but most often for lower income or children that are a little behind, unless the state funds the school district well). But you can get the state school standards online and make sure your child has those bases covered whether you put her in preschool or not. I chose to do so because it's good for him to play with friends that are peers, not just adults, and also it gives me time during those hours to play with my younger son and let him have that time to feel like he has all the attention, as my older son had at that age.

We are in the same situation. I wasn't interested in preschool until he was four. And at four we just go part time. Three days a week from 8:30-11. It's been great, he gets some independence and is learning how a class works, but I don't feel like he's shipped off all day...I still get to be selfish and enjoy him before he is gone to all day school. We found this preschool at our local recreation center. It's a good program with a wonderful teacher and it's very reasonable. They also offer a part time just for three's class. My SIL found similar programs at her YMCA. I a, unfamiliar with your area, but maybe those are avenues you can check into.

they teach the kids to read in kindergarten so if they dont even know their letters they will be far behind. ymca and rec centers sometimes have preschools. or you can teach her at home. just the basics really to be able to identify shapes colors letters and numbers. to know what each letter can sound like and be able to write them both upper case and lower case. have her practice cutting coloring and glueing with glue sticks. basic things we take for granted knowing how to do that will help them not feel lost when they enter the classroom come september. my childs school did ask me when i was enrolling her for kindergarten if i thought she would need to go to summer school the summer before school started to get used to it. don't know what they did there but it was for a month all day i think like school. it taught them to be away from mom and get used to the way things went before it mattered. you could check into that.

Our son is a November 2008 birthday and he will be eligible for preK when he is 2 mos short of 4 years old (it is 3 year old PreK but you have to be 3 by the September 1st cut-off as they go on a school year basis). It stinks but we are going to wait for then for official preK. He has however been in a Parents' Day Out program through a Community Presbyterian Church (they teach ZERO religion in the Parents Day Out Program...but we are Catholic, not Presbyterian anyway). Maybe check to see if there is something like that around you. They take kiddos in my area 1 or 2 days a week for the hours 9-1 (they eat brown bag lunch there) and they can start at 1 year old.

isn't your school cutoff around 1 sept? so she isn't going to be almost six when entering kindergarten. she'll be closer to five and a half. four months shy of six years old. what's the rush?

Our preschool offered a 1 or 2 day a week 2yo program and a 3 day/week 3 yo program as well. I am sure you could find some in your area that do this as it is fairly typical. And her birthday is really not that late.

Have you checked all of the pre-schools in your area, because the one my children went to had 3 year olds on Tues & Thurs. and 4 year olds Mon., Wed, and Fri. with the option for 5 days for 4 year olds.

She might be able to start 3 year old preschool once she actually turns 3 - so she wouldn't start in Sept., but maybe after Christmas break with the new semester, if it's through the school district or they follow the school district calender. Our school district has a program called Hand-in-Hand for kids that are 2 as of Sept.1 and will be turning 3 during the school year - a parent stays with them but it's in a classroom setting and they have a lot of the same routines and elements (story time, a table with a craft project, etc.). It took place one day a week. Something like that might be an option to for your daughter.

Another thought is 4 year old preschool is considered more essential for getting ready for kindergarten than 3 year old, so if she doesn't do a 3 year old preschool, it's not the end of the world. I would research what your preschool options are where you live and see what they have to say about her age and where her birthday falls. Some Montessori programs lump the 3, 4, and 5 year olds together so maybe that would be less of an issue. Also, just because a preschool is run in a church does not mean they are getting any kind of religious instruction. One of my friends has her 4 year old twins in preschool this year that takes place in a church, but it is not religion-based at all.

I would just start her the next fall after her 3rd birthday. If that is the requirement, then that is really your only choice, unless you can find a school that will take her in the middle of the year. My daughter will be 3 in June, and will be starting preschool in September. She goes to a preschool associated with a church, but there is absolutely no religion taught at the school.

Actually, check out some of the preschools in your area that are HOUSED in churches. YES -some do have a religious component to them, but many actually don't. My oldest went to a half day preschool for several years that's in the basement of a Presbyterian church here, and I can tell you there is absolutely NO religion whatsoever infused into it (the director is an atheist). I know of several others -in fact about 6 others -in our area that use the church buildings but don't have any religious anything going on. Basically, churches need money and the schools pay them rent to use their facilities, so check around and ask them point blank about it. You may be pleasantly surprised!

I live in another State but is the Pre-School your daughter will be going to part of the school system? That may be why you have to wait. My daughter started day care at 18 months. She is 4 and in Pre-K. My daughter is a Thanksgiving baby so she will have to wait to start like your daughter. If you want your daughter in school I would suggest sending her to a church daycare. At your daughters age she will not only learn her ABC's and how to count but she will also learn how to deal with other children. This includes sharing, sitting still at story time and having experience with other adults. My daughter cried at 1st so be prepared for that. She will be going to a place that is not familiar. She loves daycare. It took her about a month to adjust. She has friends and its fun every evening to learn what she did that day. It also helped mature her. If you can put her in a daycare until she is 4 and old enough to go to the one you want her to go to. Like I said my daughter has loves it. Good luck with your decision.

My son started a pre-school program at 2-1/2 (he's a January birthday) and has attended a 3-yr old and then a 4-yr old class. "Pre-K" is offered to some children who are age 4 by September 30th. But pre-school classes are offered to all kids over age 2. I think there just may be confusion about pre-school vs. "Pre-K." Any type of pre-school (meaning before 1st grade) is licensed by the Dept of Social Services as a "daycare" but some are just structured more like a school setting, hence they call themselves pre-schools.

My kids attend Courthouse Academy off Dam Neck Road in VA Beach and I would highly recommend it. I had my oldest attend two mornings a week at age 2, three mornings a week at age 3, and again three mornings a week at age 4. He is registered for Kindergarten at 5-1/2. Hope this helps!

I initially registered him to have alone time with my second child and to be able to run errands while allowing him to socialize and learn necessary school-related skills. I don't feel that I had enough time to spend with him on his letters, etc, so he gets most of this at school. We both love it!

Keep shopping for a school. It took us a few months but we finally found a preschool for my daughter who was 2 at the time. It is not a school through a church and it is not a day care with education. It is a school that operates from 8:30 - 3:00. Our daughter goes 2 days a week and loves it! It was a hard find but well worth the hunt. Good luck!

DS will be 3 in June. We had only applied to 1 preschool, and it doesn't look like he's going to get in.
I'm OK with that. I'd like him to get some structure, so we register him for programs at the local park district to get a classroom "feel". He starts Art class next week, actually.

It depends on your child, I think. For us, DS learns a lot of what they teach in that first year (colors of different things, alphabet and numbers, shapes, etc...). I think that writing begins when they're 4.

So our plan is to make sure he goes somewhere at 4. But for this year, I don't think it's a big deal that he's not going.

You're fine, starting when she's almost 4 is fine! I put my girls in at 3, but I have a neighbor who's MIL watches her daughter, and does not drive, so she had trouble getting her into pre-school. She has only just enrolled her for the last few months of this year before she turns 5 and starts kindergarten in September, so she gets used to school structure. She is a sweet, smart and wonderful girl. I think as long as you do playdates, and do some "schooling" at home, like flash cards, etc you'll be all set. We also do stuff like go to our library alot, our children's museum etc. All of that kind of thing will help your daughter!