Normal Pre-k Hours, Would You Switch?

My son goes from 9:00-11:30 and I think it's a good length. They have snack and recess as part of it. I think they spend about 15-min. for the snack process and then 15-min. playing outside on the playground. They also do a circle time, lots of free play at stations, and usually one group craft project.

My son goes 8:45 - 11:30. They spend about 15 minutes eating and then about 45 minutes playing outside. It's a play-based preschool, so they have a lot of opportunity for free play inside and out, plus group time. It works.

He has friends that attend another school from 8:45 - 1:30 and they do well on that schedule too. I think it really depends on the kids.

My daughter's preschool is 8:45AM to 11:15AM, Tuesday through Friday. It includes snack time. They also offer an afternoon program. 12:45PM to 3:15PM.

most preschool programs in our area run from 9 - 1130 or afternoon sessions from 12-230

we go 8 to 11:10 for morning class at our public school. the afternoon class is 12 to 3:10

When my son was in Pre-K it was three mornings per week. I think 9:00-11:30.

When my kids attended private preschools, they went 2 days a week, 2.5 hours per day. (There was also 3 day/wk option.)

The public school district offers 4K now. It is 5 days a week, 2.5 hours per day. Some kids go mornings, some afternoons.

2 1/2 hours does seem a little short to me. My son's first preschool was from 8:30 to 12:30. They provided snack and he brought his lunch. It was the best preschool ever! He loved it and we miss it so much. Now his school here (we moved which is why he isn't in the other one anymore) is from 9:15 to 12:15. They provide snack but he has lunch at home with me. Which is fine. I wouldn't go any less than 3 hours though.

I've seen anywhere from 2.5 to 6 hours. 3-5 hours is more common, though.

My son attends a preschool that also has daycare "hours". However, for the children who attend the "preschool" portion only, they have asked that the children arrive by 9:00 (circle time starts) and lunch is at 11:45. Some children stay for lunch and leave before nap. Point being, the "academic" time is from 9-11:45. After that is lunch, nap, snack and outdoor recess/ free time.

When my daughters went to private school they were 8am-11:30am (my first) and 8am-2:30pm (my 2nd).

I just pulled my son about a month ago for Head Start - which is a preschool program for lower income. They arrived at 8:00 (had breakfast) had carpet time with was singing & reading a book till almost 9:00. Then they had "class" time with was more like play/art time and stopped "class" time around 10:00/10:30 to set up lunch and lunch started around 10:45 to pick-up time at 11:15.

My son started when he was 3 - last year... he did make progress last year, but didn't seem to make any progress this year... I got tired of it and decided to teach him at home. Before I did I talked to a few of the teachers at the school he will be going to next year for Kindergarten, found out what they needed to know & what I should be working on. I only work with him one on one for about 1 - 1.5 hrs a day, but he has make a lot of progress in just a little over a month!

We ues letter, number & picture magnets, chaulk & chaulk boards, read books, have a homemade notebook w/ letters, numbers, shapes & colors in it. He is starting to sound out letters & putting them together and can read a few works. His favorite game to play is one we do with magnets... I get out the farm magnets (pictures of different animals) and the letter magnets - then I use the letters to write out the animals (like cat, dog, chicks, cow) he has to sound out the letters and figure out with animal goes with the word - then he puts it next to the word. It is a game, but he is learning. But we also sit down and do atleast 30-45 min of paper work... or what our school calls "bell work" as in writing letters & numbers, counting, matching capital letters with lowercase, same/different, reading, finding items that start with a letter or finding a letter in a sentace.

Maybe regular preschools are different then Head Start... but the last year has put a sour tast in my mouth as to preschool. I am not sending my now 22 mo or 6 mo old to preschool - as long as I am still a SAHM I will teach them myself.

My daughter did one that was almost all day (optional, half day or full day)...but it wasn't like they were doing 'school' stuff all day. It was only 2x a week and they took walks, pointed out plants, counted things on he walk, painted, did imaginary play, read stories, practiced acting out stories, talked about people in the neighborhood, animals, patterns, opposites...you name it! She loved it :). They did do lunch and a book and rest time (my daughter fell asleep...probably 25% of the time for an hour or two).

My daughters go - T/Th 3 / 4yr olds 9:30 - 12 and
MWF 4 /5 yr olds 9:30 - 12 For the older kids they do extra lunch bunch if you want to stay until 1:30 on the W and F and Th for the younger class. Alot of kids do stay but mine only once in a while. And it is just preschool at there school. I am assuming the hours are because the owner is 1 of the 3 teachers and needs to get her own childen on and off school bus.
I worked at a daycare center and the preschool class there ran from 9 - 11:30 and then 12:30 - 3 (no lunch options). T/Th younger class, MWF older pre k class. We had a seperate daycare class

My daughter who is 5 now (December birthday) goes to the local YMCA Kiddie Kollege Preschool, which is for 3-5 year olds. Her session is 8:30-11, with a snack each day. They meet Monday, Wednesday and Fridays - on Wednesdays they swim in the pool there from 9-9:30, in the middle of "class". I think this is the perfect time frame for most of the kids there. My daughter is one of the oldest, and one of the most mature, and she has still learned lots (even though she has been reading already since she was 3) the social skills, and writing time, and just learning the ettiquette ( sp?) of how to behave at school have been greatly impacted by only 2.5 hours, 3x a week. Next fall she starts all day Kindergarten, we shall see how that goes, since she still naps most days for 2 hrs. in the pm.

I think your idea of 2 shorter sessions sounds great!

Jessie

Ours was a preschool and day care. So they opened at 6:30 am for parents that needed morning care. But morning was free play, snack, etc. class time was 8:30-11:30am. 11:30-12:30 was lunchtime and recess. And then 12:30-2:30 was naptime if the child needed to stay thru the afternoon. And then 2:30-6:00 was fun learning activities, free play, recess, etc.

My daughters preschool is 8:20 - 11:20 4 days a week. They also have a 12:20 - 3:20 afternoon class.

My daughter has a breakfast time in her morning class and the afternoon class eats lunch at theirs.

My daughter is very happy and so am I with her preschool.

My daughter is in our local Head Start program. She gets the bus at 8:30 arrives at school at 9:30 ( yes she is on the bus for an hour). They have breakfast when they arrive. Start "class" at 10am I think that they eat lunch at 11:30, have outside play and some more class time. They are done with their day at 2:30. So she is in class for 5 hours and loves it.

The hardest part for her will be in the fall when she starts kindergarten she will in be in class for 2 1/2 hours. Really wish the school district will go to full day...

Maybe you could have 2 play times during your sessions.

Ours was 3 hours a day, 9-12, 3 days a week. With snack time & active play. I think it was perfect.

I think 2 1/2 hours (with snack time) is the norm here. My older son went to a preschool through the park district. It was Tues/Thurs when he was 3 and Mon/Wed/Fri when he was 4. Many of the churches in our area do the same.

My younger son is in daycare (since I went back to work), and he just had a PreK screening. We have our fingers crossed that he'll be offered a spot for next fall. They go every day for 2 1/2 hours.

Some places have both morning and afternoon classes and some just have morning. I was very happy my older son was able to go mornings, because at 3 he was still napping for about 3 hours every afternoon (but only sleep 7-8 hours at night). He might have been ok with afternoons at age 4. My younger son just turned 3, and I fear he is ready to give up his naps now. Even if he is, I'm not sure that he would be do well in an afternoon program. He might be awake, but he would not be nearly as alert or pleasant. Just something to consider :-)

Our pre-K or the younger pre-school programs run a tiny bit different.

Pre-school is from 8am to 2pm and pre-K is from 8am to 2:30pm. Monday through Friday 9 months of the year and they keep the same school calendar as the local public schools.

9 to noon is typical. No lunch. But, they should be given a snack at 10 or 10:30 am and some outdoor play time if possible during that 3 hours. If you're teaching the entire time (except lunch), I'd expect them to check out too.

I think an afternoon program with little ones would be really tough (though I see them offered). That is primo nap time.

DD's program is PT and will be 9-12:30, including lunch with her class. Some programs around here run 9-1 or 9:30-1 if they are not full day. The longest I found without requiring aftercare ran to 3PM if you paid for a longer day. I don't know if my friend's kids' program has lunch or not. Their day ends at 11:30. Not sure when they start (8:30 or 9).

I think it really depends on your clientele and what they plan to do with the time their child's in care.

When I ran my preschool, most parents really wanted the 'longer' 3.75-4 hour morning. Most of the parents were SAHMs, I had a couple Work-from-Homes also. My son is in a four hour program now, also, and does fine.

Yes, lunches go long. Sometimes painfully long. That's when I'd get out a book and read a story at the table while the poky ones finished up. I offered about 40 minutes for lunch; I believe my son's preschool offers about the same amount of time. That said, lunch is also a great time to relax and converse and build community between the kids by finding commonalities....

Are you including some good chunks of low-transition free play time in your day? Kids often need those restorative down-time moments between instruction or yes, they do tend to 'check out'.

One thing to consider if you are doing an afternoon program: a lot of kids this age are pretty tired in the afternoon. Many kids eat around 11:30-12, so you might end up having a lunching group again. Also consider if you'll have enough turnaround time between sessions because your afternoon families will expect the preschool to be tidied up/prepped and just as clean as the morning program. Make sure *you* get enough time for lunch, too.;)