https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 11 May 2026 05:27:59 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2771276 Fri, 01 Sep 2017 18:04:22 +0000 looch 2771276@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@caterw: That's great! Any good teacher will be able to handle kids of all abilities in their classroom. If they can't, I would be questioning that! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2771260 Fri, 01 Sep 2017 17:02:26 +0000 caterw 2771260@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: We had "orientation" with kids and parents today... And I totally see your point now. I think she will do fine after watching her do a day with everyone. She is definitely ahead but she was able to be a "helper" and she seemed to enjoy that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2771258 Fri, 01 Sep 2017 17:00:24 +0000 caterw 2771258@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JerricaBenton: Not all of them- our cutoff here is Sept 30 and there are several kids who aren't 3 yet and won't be until December. They let the ones who come in when they are 2 do two years of 3 yo school before they move up. She had her "orientation" today (first day but I the parents stayed all day) and she seemed to enjoy it. They only separate them for morning meeting and snack so I think I probably have nothing to be worried about. If she gets bored with her classmates she is only stuck with them for like 30 minutes a day. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2771083 Fri, 01 Sep 2017 05:04:04 +0000 looch 2771083@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Here's my view, take it with a grain of salt....</p> <p>The key is to think about being an adult, and what kind of skills are needed to cope in a world where you have to interact with people of all kinds of abilities. As an example, I do project work, and we are only successful if the entire team works together. It does no good for me to rush and have my stuff done first, I have to get a ton of people involved, explain things three times, document my evidence in a way the person with the least amount of experience can understand, etc.</p> <p>That's why I think it's best for kids to be in classes of mixed ability and age. It gives them the skills to be able to cope in the long run, which is one of the points of school, imo. It's not just about personal learning. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2771025 Thu, 31 Aug 2017 18:28:36 +0000 JerricaBenton 2771025@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Won't these be the kids (agewise) she'll be in kindergarten with? At my lo's school they put them in grades by when they'll go to K. My lo has a pretty small class so she happened to be one of the oldest in her class despite not being 'old' for her school year and I was also slightly concerned after meeting her class. Going into her first year of preschool she seemed a lot more advanced verbally, socially and so on. She did gravitate towards the kids closer to her and joked with us about not being able to understand some kids and stuff like that but for the most part the other kids have caught up and she had a great year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2770992 Thu, 31 Aug 2017 16:05:19 +0000 Eminthevalley 2770992@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Preschool is more about social development, and I personally feel like my boys benefited from being in a room with an age range of 2-4 last year...they became really patient with "babies" as they call all the little ones. They have 13 years to be in classes with only their age group; I don't feel like one year in a mixed group will do harm. I also kind of cringed last year when people would ask me, "when are your boys going to move up to the next classroom?" It's not like they're going to fall behind or anything! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2770916 Thu, 31 Aug 2017 12:34:15 +0000 caterw 2770916@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: that is a really good point! Most of the older class has done school before so she would be the only one who didn't know what to do. Thank you!</p> <p>@Corduroy: I might after a couple weeks goes by just to see how it goes. Hoping for the best! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2770833 Wed, 30 Aug 2017 23:12:57 +0000 youboots 2770833@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: I agree with this. </p> <p>Just see how it goes! Ask your daughter how she likes it. Social development is one of the main reasons for preschool IMO.</p> <p>My DD has been in very limited childcare (8 hours a week) since 5 months and it's been a mix of kids older and younger- the preschool kids come back after 11. Now she's at the top of her group and in 16 hours a week but she's benefited from being the youngest and oldest in different ways. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2770830 Wed, 30 Aug 2017 22:44:55 +0000 Corduroy 2770830@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@caterw: I think you can talk to the teacher to express your concerns. Then if a spot opens up in the older class during the year they may bump her up - or not - but you'll have more info. DD was the oldest in the younger class last year 2-3.5yo. They moved her up in Dec when there was an opening. She did fine in both classes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2770827 Wed, 30 Aug 2017 21:58:11 +0000 PinkElephant 2770827@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@caterw: if it's her first time at school, a slightly younger class (where many kids are going to school for the first time) might be an easier transition than them throwing her in a class with a bunch of older kids who have also attended preschool before! My daughter's first preschool experience put her in a class where she was one of the very youngest (3.25, whereas some kids turned 5 as soon as the year started). In some ways, it pushed her in a positive way (socially), but in others, it set her up to be behind from the start with academic concepts she simply wasn't ready for (but some classmates were) even though she's bright and verbal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2770825 Wed, 30 Aug 2017 21:44:12 +0000 caterw 2770825@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Alba4: the cutoff here is Sept 30, but they apparently let late 2s into the 3 year old class (but not late 3s into the 4).</p> <p>@Truth Bombs: Just monitor to make sure she isn't bored being with the other kids and that she has someone to relate to... Also to make sure she isn't being bossy or mean to littler ones. The classes do mix for part of the day so hopefully that will help. The more I read over this the more I sound like I am being crazy, which is kinda what I was hoping. This is the first time she has ever gone to school and I'm nervous.</p> <p>@erinbaderin: The two kids are a couple months younger and everyone else is much younger (like early 3s to late 2s even while my kid is almost 4). Sorry- that was totally unclear! I'm glad you had a good experience with mixed ages. I'm a SAHM and my kid hasn't been to school before so I'm hoping I am just being nuts.</p> <p>@Pancakes: I'm not super concerned about academics. The school does learning through play and I specifically chose it since they aren't pushy about learning to read and whatnot.. It was more a social concern. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2770823 Wed, 30 Aug 2017 21:07:54 +0000 Pancakes 2770823@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What are your specific concerns? That she will be bored? Academically ahead of the other children? That she won't have anything in common with the other kids? Personally I feel that social development is as or probably even more important than academic development at that age. So even though my daughter knew all of her letter sounds and could read before her peers, she was never bored and she still benefitted from learning from play (and this was what was most important to me). If anything, being more verbal than her peers gave her some opportunities to be a leader, which was certainly a good thing. Definitely try to figure out your specific concerns though, and if it's something the teachers can address, then by all means, discuss it with them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2770817 Wed, 30 Aug 2017 20:05:28 +0000 erinbaderin 2770817@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If the next oldest kids are only 2 months younger I don't think that makes her the oldest "by far". I don't know what talking to the teacher would achieve, since you say there isn't room for her in the 4 year old class. At our daycare the preschool class is for 2.5 - 4 year olds and it works out fine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2770816 Wed, 30 Aug 2017 20:04:47 +0000 Truth Bombs 2770816@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If the room above is full, what would you hope to accomplish by talking to the teacher? I don't mean that in a snarky way, I'm genuinely curious. If your child has to be in the room she's in, I think you just have to hope for the best and assume the teachers are prepared to cater to multiple development levels. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2770808 Wed, 30 Aug 2017 19:38:24 +0000 Alba4 2770808@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>At my son's preschool, they only let kids who will make the Kindergarten cutoff into the pre-K/4s class. What is the cut off in your district? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/concerned-about-preschool#post-2770805 Wed, 30 Aug 2017 19:31:11 +0000 caterw 2770805@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 3yo daughter is starting a co-op preschool on Friday (eek!) and we just did parent orientation. As I was looking at the roster, I realized that she will be by far the oldest/ most mature child in her class. Her birthday is Oct. 12th so she is almost 4, but she is super smart and verbal. The next oldest kids are late Dec birthdays (twin boys) and there are a few kids who won't even be 3 till December. She does have one friend in the 3 year old class, but two in the 4 year old class.</p> <p>Should I talk to the teacher? Let it play out and hope for the best? There is no chance of her moving up a room because the 4 year old room is full to capacity or even slightly over. </p>