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My gut would say do the 3’s, especially since most kids in the 4’s have had a year of preschool already. And then next year she moves up to a different class as well. 3 years 8 months isn’t that old- it’s not like she’s 3 years 11 months.

Of course you know your kid best. Does she do better with kids who are older than her or younger? Also what would she do the next year if you do fours this year?

Can you start her in the 3’s and move up in a few months?

Since you already know you're doing 2 years of preschool, I'd start with the 3s program.

20 kids is a lot in a 4s program, I'd want to give my son the chance to get adapted in a smaller setting. I wouldn't worry about boredom, I'd worry more about the transition to having to be one of 12 or 20 kids in a room.

Did you have a chance to observe in both rooms? The smaller class size would be really attractive to me, especially for a first-time experience in a group setting, so I would probably only choose the 4s if I liked the teachers a lot better, or if I thought the threes classroom was really geared towards the youngest ones in the class for some reason.

Since you already know she is going to do two years of preschool I would definitely do the 3s. I don't think boredom is a huge issue at this age especially since their focus is learning through art and play. At this point she's really going to learn how to function in a classroom setting with a group of kids and a teacher. Are you sure she's going to actually be one of the oldest? Most of the kids in my DS's 3s preschool class this last year had fall birthdays, so a December would be right in the middle of the pack. (We have a September cutoff in this area fwiw.)

ETA. What would you plans be next year if you put her in the 4s class this year? Would she repeat the 4s class again? I'd be more worried about boredom at that point since she'll be used to the classroom/other kids setting by then.

DS2 has a November birthday, and I had the same problem when first deciding which preschool classroom would be the best fit. I went with the older classroom, and I'm glad that I did. We started him off in the 3's classroom, and about half of his classmates were older 2's, turning 3 by the end of the year. The following year in his 4's classroom I saw the same pattern of about half of his classmates being older 3's, turning 4 in the fall and winter.

LO attends a preschool that is more play based, and the teachers are able to work with kids of varying strengths and weaknesses. I don't sense any of the kids being bored or too challenged in the same class. Every student is encouraged to learn at his or her own pace.

I don't think she would be bored in the 3s because the whole experience will be so new to her, and it's only 2 days a week. It's not like she'll be there M-F 9-5.

Since she is new to all this why not have her try out the 3 class and after a little while reassess if is the best fit for her or if she is ready to jump to 4s

One more consideration is the ratios of students to teachers in each class. When I chose the 4s class for my 3 year old, I didn’t realize she’d have a 1:13 ratio instead of 1:8!! Huge difference.

@catgirl: If I had the option Id start in the older room and move back if necessary. But if it helps, my sons room has a 8 month split between youngest (him) and oldest kid. 18 total. They started today.

My gut would be to choose 3s (but of course you should go with yours!). I’d do it for class size alone, 20 is a lot and could be overwhelming. Having been through play based preschool I actually don’t think their academic level matters that much - the kids do what they want a lot of the time anyway, they can always do extra and it would be nice to stick with the same kids for 2 years (for you also making mom friends).

@catgirl: Does the school have a 5's program? If not, would your daughter simply repeat the 4's program curriculum? I would do the 3's just because I couldn't imagine having my son repeat the curriculum.

Also, while the school is play based, do they have stated curriculum? Having gone through this with my son (he's a cut off baby), I feel like it would be easy for me to decide by looking at what they learn in each class. For instance in my son's 3's class last year they learned things like: the months, identifying all numbers and letters, writing their names, opening all components of their lunch box on their own. If I was presented with my son skipping the 3's class and knew that, let's say, he was required to do his own lunch from start to finish (i.e. opening his own yogurt), and he wasn't capable of doing that yet, it would be an easy decision. Also, I think with her having never been in school before there are certain things that are just inherent behavior to kids that have been in school - lining up, sitting for story time, etc - that she may have more grace about being in the 3's class.