Nursery School

Hey C., i too live in indialantic and a mother of an almost three year old. I have been asked so many times why i am not putting my daughter in preschool, i believe preschool is day care at that age, i stay at home so there is no need for me to put her somewhere where i can do the same thing and be the one at this time to raise my daughter. Secondly, she is so attached to me it would break my heart to see her cry evertime i drop her off. There might be a time i will put her in but it will be around the age of 4 just to prepare her for kindergarden. Like you i dont want to rush her shes my only child, i cant have anymore so I will spend the time i have with her now becausue when school starts we will never have this special time that we have now.
K. W.

Your his mother and you know in your heart how you feel. If you are fortunate to stay at home with him then I think you shoud take advantage of that. He will be fine when he is ready to go to VPK. You are not being ignorant. If anyone is they are. I have always worked full time and now finally I am fortunate enough to be able to work from home so I can spend more time with my kids. Believe me, enjoy every moment with him and don't worry about shipping him off to a nursey school. He will be in school soon enough.

I too am a stay at home mom with a 2 year 1 month old son, in the melbourne area (satellite beach). A lot of my friends are doing some day programs with their similarly aged kids already, but like you I wonder if it is really necessary. My mother-in-law never put her kids in any school programs until kindergarten and I am not sure if I will follow that lead, but I am enjoying having my son at home now. I feel that he is learning plenty (like colors, numbers, etc)in the activities we already do (group classes with me present and play dates) and gets a good amount of social interaction as well. All I would say is go with your instinct on this one, if you feel you or he need the time apart to adapt socially then do it. I always think you need to do what you need to for your sanity, but if you feel he is fine as is then wait a bit longer for school, it will come soon enough. Best of luck,
P.

Hi, nursery school is an antiquated term but I think it can very different than daycare. How much socializing does your son do with other children around his own age? I don't mean the park. Children his age NEED structure and they need to be around other kids in order to develop social skills like sharing, communicating, expressing his feelings etc with people other than mom, dad etc. He needs to learn independence. It's easy to want to keep him a baby and keep him home with you but it's probably not in his best interest. You'll be amazed at how much he learns (good and bad. You don't need to send him off everyday, maybe 1 or two days a week for a half day. Try an organized playgroup or art class. I think you will be very pleasantly surprised. I also think you need some time to yourself and you will really appreciate that time if you send him to "school" couple of days a week. I have seen and heard from too many moms that waiting until it's really time for preschool is traumatic to both child and mom. Why put your child through the separation anxiety, crying and whatnot later when he really needs to be at school. You're just prolonging the painful process. Ease him to some structured activity or class not. I guarantee you will not be sorry. Perhaps your MIL see something your son's behaviour that makes her think he needs a little time away from Mom.
Best of luck!

I somewhat felt the same way with my 2 year old daughter. But, I soon started to realize that she didn't feel comfortable being left anywhere other than with either of her two grandmothers and she would be hesterical if I left her anywhere else. So, I started my daughter in a three day a week three hour a day program at out local church, that has classes up through elementary school and offers the VPK progam. I was heart broken the first couple of weeks leaving her there, but now she realized than when Mommy and Daddy leave we will always come back for her. We tell her where we are going say love you, get some love, and leave. It was hard she would kick, scream, and cry, but she realized it wasn't forever and once she would get distracted it would stop. Of course that is always after you leave and are crying in the car, wondering if you did the right thing. I think my Husband and I did, our daughters social skills have imporved from being around other children her age, the sharing thing is a minor issue now, and she has friends she looks forward to seeing at school. Now we can't leave fast enough for her because she wants to play with her friends and do her 'fun school' stuff as she says. It might seem like your just paying to ditching them on strangers, but a nursery school like that, is smaller and they really care about the children. Unlike things I've heard about daycare. I found her school to be very educational and refreshing for me.

It's really a personal decision. If you're not ready, don't let anyone push you into it. Having said that, my son is currently in nursery school and I love it. I have been a stay at home mom since my oldest was born, and it was very important to me to start my son on a program, away from me. I do believe it is extremely different than day care. He goes two day per week, for 3 hours each day, so it's not very long. He has learned so much since the beginning of the year, and his social skills are so good now. I absolutely love it, and I plan on putting him in either the three or five day program next year. I'm really happy with my decision to enroll him.