Attending Pre School (Pre-school in general)

Member Name: wendybull

Product:	Pre-school in general
Date:	19/12/05 (158 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Social skills, preperation for big school

Disadvantages: Cost before age 3

My daughter is due to start pre school next September, and I have a feeling she will be a whole different kettle of fish to my son who started big school last September. My review on this will be based on my son’s experiences.

You can start attending most pre schools from the age of 2 years although the particular one Daniel went to only took the kids from age 2 and a half. He was 2 in the May and started Pre School in the January following his birthday so he was 2 and 8 months. This tied in very nicely with my giving up work following the birth of my daughter in the November. I had gone back to work following the birth of Daniel so he was quite used to going to other places without me and had absolutely no problems with starting at Pre School. He would sometimes get a bit clingy if he was having an off day but this was rare.

It cost me £7 per session (2.5 hours per sessions) when he began. The government do fund these places up to 5 sessions per week but only from the term after they are 3 years old. So in Daniels case I had to pay for his place until September. To start with he went only 2 days per week, this was the minimum they could attend, then went up to 3 days from Easter. In the September I increased him to 5 sessions per week, some mornings and some afternoons. The Pre school sorted all the forms and everything for the funding to apply so I did not have to worry about it.

In Daniels pre school each child was allocated a key worker, so you always had a point of reference to go to. All the staff helped look after the children and they had all the relevant qualifications and tests done. They were basically like a mini school and the activities the kids did were based on the national curriculum, but were done in a fun no pressure sort of way.

Daniel was always coming home with pictures he's done, or things he had made and was always very proud.

The Pre school made sure the kids got outside time too and they had a dedicated play area outside for them. The Pre School itself was located within the grounds of the primary school Daniel would be attending so I found this very important in his routine. He got used to the surroundings before he attended big school. The pre school children would go into the big school some afternoons to see the reception classes and make them feel comfortable.

I would highly recommend a pre school to anyone with eligible kids as Daniel made firm relationships with children there that have gone on to big school with him and become close reliable friends there. Also his social skills improved and any babyish behaviour he was displaying were evaporated at Pre School. By this I mean, hysterical crying when he didn't get his own way at home, just didn't last at pre school as he realised that’s not what the other kids did and stopped.

He was allowed to have lunch at school on the days when he attended in the afternoon and this was also key to preparations for big school. They also had the odd outing where the parents had to attend as well but it was just like a school trip and Daniel flourished on these.

The last 2 things I will mention from Dan's pre school are that they did a parents evening where they gave you updates on how they thought your kids were doing and a sports day. How proud can a parent get to see their 3-year-old racing down the track to burst through the ribbon at the other end!!

When they leave pre school the staff should have prepared a report for you to give to the teacher of their reception class which shows in detail how they have achieved in various topics like social, academic, physically and so on. It is not really a school report and should not be for you to worry about good or bad your child has done because after all pre school is about learning preparation skills and social skills not how to read or write.

I can honestly say Daniel did not ever come home unhappy, and loved every day he went there. My daughter is extremely clingy (total opposite to Dan) so I may be writing a separate review on my experiences with her next year!!

Hope this has helped.

Summary: recommend pre school