Our new adventure in parenting is to decide whether to start Caleb in preschool or 4-year-old kindergarten in the fall. Our town just passed a referendum to start 4K in the fall next year. It's for all kids that turn 4 before September 1st. Caleb's birthday is August 24th. We have added to the stress by not realizing that the registration is NOW for both preschool and 4K. Tuesday is the registration for 4K, and a lot of preschools are already full for the fall.
Now, Caleb, Abby, and I went to two facilities that will be hosting the 4K program today. The owner of one of the facilities is on the steering comittee for the 4K prgram, so I got a lot of questions answered today.
The 4K program is going to be similar to preschool. The intent was to prep the kids for kindergarten. It will meet for 2 1/2 hrs in either the morning or afternoon. It meets five days a week. The cost is included in our tax money. The teachers are required to be bachelors prepared, and the curriculum is controlled by the school district. The classes themselves are held at several daycare centers in our city. It is required to go all five days if you are registered for the program. Transportation to and from the classes are provided by buses if needed. Also, if needed, the hosting daycare centers will provide wrap-around care. Kids can be in 4K for more than one year if they are not ready for kindergarten at the end of the year.
Preschool: Programs depend on the facility that you go to. It meets for either 2 or 3 days a week (more if you choose). The cost is usually included in the cost of a day's daycare at the facility, or you can pay for just the preschool portion. Teachers are not required to be bachelor's prepared. Training is completely up to the facility that holds the preschool. Curriculum differs with each facility.
So, my dilemma is this...Caleb is so close to the cut-off...he'd be one of the youngest ones in his class. However....now I know that it's going to be like preschool. Intellectually, Caleb is solid. Social maturity is a bit of a problem. I think he'd do great in preschool. I also don't know if I'm ready for him to be gone five mornings a week. Preschool is 3 mornings. Are we cheating him by deciding on preschool without trying 4K? He had an absolute blast today looking at the classrooms and seeing the kids. All he would talk about is going to school with his friends and what kind of backpack he would get. I'm having to remind him that school doesn't start until the fall. Ugh!
Anyway....enough of our issues :) Here are the pics that I was talking about at the beginning of the post!
2 comments:
Hey I know you didn't really ask for opinions but I would totally do the 4k because he is on the younger end of things. He would be with older kids and his maturity with social skills will improve faster than being with younger kids. We are sending our 4 year old (he will be 4 in May) to a 4K program that the school we go to as had for 20 some years and the compliments that we get on our older kids reading skills is awesome. That is just my opinion I'm sure you will make the right choice!
:) I was actually hoping to get some opinions! We're wanting as much advice as possible... especially from people that have had kids older than ours, and been through it before!
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