Is there an ideal time to send your kids to pre-school? When I was a kid, most children only started school at the age of six, straight into kindergarten. Pre-schools weren’t that popular back then but now, it seems like the thing to do for a lot of families. How do you decide when the child is ready for pre-school?
Some parents start sending their kids to school as early as 2 years old. I don’t know how a child is at that age, but I seem to think that it is a little too young. But then again, I’ve been told by a mother recently that she attended her son’s sports day at the pre-school and she was totally impressed with performances by classes of 2-year-olds. This shows that they are able to take instructions and even execute them perfectly. It’s amazing how kids are so much quicker in learning than we ever were back then.
Anyway, back to the topic of pre-schooling, I am quite readily agreeable to it. Not because I’m one of those parents who want her kids to excel in everything at a tender age, but because I feel that a pre-school will do my little one good in more ways than one. First and most important of all, he will have friends his own age and learn how to socialise with others. Socialising is every bit as important as any other formal education.
Apart from that, some pre-schools also shape kids to be very well-rounded individuals. It’s not just textbook lessons like learning how to count and spell, the kids are also taken on field trips to learn about things around them. Since we’re at work 5 days a week, I feel that he will stand to learn so much more being at a pre-school for half a day during the weekdays. And hopefully, he will also have a life of his own, having friends to play with, talk to and perhaps even have fights with! Nah, just kidding about the fighting. But you get the idea, it’s a good place for a kid to be nurtured in life.
Do you agree with pre-schooling? Or do you feel that they are better off starting school when they’re due to attend kindergarten?
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
IMHO, the ideal schooling age is 4 to 5 years old. But parents nowadays starting giving their children intensive tuition at 3 years old. WTF…
I think its good to start at 3. 2 maybe a bit too early. I am concerned if the baby would get sick/ill if she mixes with other kids who are sick. My sis’s daughter started at 3 and I could see really big improvements on her command of English as well as her social skills. She used to be very shy.
My ideal age will be around 5 yrs old. Kids nowadays started the pre-school thingy way too early and they’ve miss out all the fun of being an ACTUAL kiddo at their tender age. All they ever know now is to attend class and adhere to instructions like a robot.
i would say at about 3 yrs old. i enrolled my younger one in a nursery when he turned 2 yrs 3 mths. it’s kind of too early, but if the nursery good, the kid will still be able to have fun (like all the other little kids) and at the same time, be able to learn things much faster and socialise better. the key issue here is fun learning, not the robotic, intensive kind of tuition.
btw, i’ve added u to my blogroll
HyperX, intensive tuition at such a tender age is very cruel, I must say!
Amy, I also have that same concern about how easily a child will fall sick when he/she starts attending school and mixing with lots of other children! But I guess this is something we can’t avoid…
Rae, some pre-schools can be fun and there are absolutely no homework involved. That’s the kind I envision to be a great place for a young kid to learn and play and have lots of fun!
Ai-Ling, I must learn something from you then!
And thanks for the link up!
I sent my girl at 6 and will be sending my boy next year at age 5. I guess that says a lot of what I think about preschools yah. haha. But then I’m not working so I like having them at home with me just loitering around the house.
I think age 5 is a good starting age.
I do envy your position…I guess if I can stay home with the kids, I would want them home with me too instead of in school
I sent mine at 2.5years old. Just wanted him to have a chance to socialize.. 3 hours aways is okay for me.. I think my bottom line is he needs to be able to tell me what happened in school….. Cause I will not be with him and I would love to know if he is having fun or whether got mistreated by anyone else onot…
He learnt discipline, patient, taking turns, Queuing up etc….