Pre-K Vs 4'S Class What Did You Do and Why?

I kept my son (now in k) in a 2 day pre k program last year, 9-2p, only b/c I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could before he was gone all day for the next 12 yrs.

I found out it didn't matter if he knew everything he was supposed to for k or not...while he was fully prepared before even starting prek, they basically dumbed down all the "prepared" kids in his k class this year so the kids who had never been to prek could catch up. Its January and some of them have still not caught up.

do you need childcare 5 days a week? or is it just social/learning time for her? if you don't NEED the full-time care, i think 3 days a week is more than enough :)

It is really all about learning to follow class routine so that when they go to K they will not have tantrums when you have to stop coloring and go to gym instead. My kids did 2 afternoons preschool and then 3 afternoon pre-K. The "curriculum" is different - less play and more structure as well as content. Not reading.writing and arithmatic, but fine motor skill tasks like tracing and scissor cutting to get ready to hold pencils and draw letters. They also had to trace their name the 2nd year for the 1st half of the year and then write it by themselves the 2nd half. They made 1 poster per week for a letter of the week, and they would look for pictures in magazines that started with that letter. My kids could not wait until they got to the first letter of their names since the kids' names would go on the poster. Those posters were displayed all along the top of the classroom so by the end of the year the whole alphabet was there. In our town they start K in the year that they turn 6, so she would have time for both perhaps? But then again, there were also kids in K that had never been to school yet. It depends on what you want and if you want some time without her - although half days is barely enough time to go grocery shopping!

my 4 year old is in a preschool that is 5 days a week. she loves it. i would never do a 3 day a week preschool :)

Some of it depends on the kids. I am enrolling DD in a play based preschool for 4 yr olds. She will be ready for the local county school system when she graduates. I would ask the school what the difference is and if their offerings vary on the length of day, age of students, academic ability, etc. In our case, DD already knows much of what she needs to know (my mom is a preschool teacher so she gives me tips) and for DD it would be getting used to a school day. What is your goal for your child?

I'd do whichever is better for your schedule, your wallet and your child's temperment. I look back at the fuss over preschool, preK etc and it's over done. Like someone said, they bring K down to a very basic level so if your daughter is getting some alphabet stuff at home, is fine with following directions and all, she'll be fine either way.

We did 5 days a week. for my daughter, she was almost 5 (missed the kindergarten deadline by a month), so I felt 5 days would be like a mini kindergarten. For my son, he just turned 4 and I knew he would be just turning 5 in Kindergarten. He was immature and behind in his skills and 5 days a week would help him brush up. He also loved school and wanted to be there 5 days a week. I would make the same choice again.

At this point we made the move from 3 day to 5 day so he could start getting used to going daily and be ready for full day Kindergarten.

Go to Pre-K. We had the choice for Head Start or Pre-K within the public school system. I found that the Head Start experience wasn't bad but it wasn't anything like real school.

We put our 4/5 yr. old in Pre-K this year instead of doing Head Start for 2 years, first the 3 yr. old program then the 4 yr. old program, and it is a world of difference. I have been so pleased with the differences.

I "accidentally" lucked into finding a 5 day K4 (didn't know there was any such thing) just before extending my daughter's daycare for 4 year olds. I literally drove by a sign for the school, checked the website, and realized there was a "kindergarten" for 4 year olds.
I am soooooooo happy I did it. my daughter absolutely loved the structure, the desks, the writing, the P.E. classes, saying the pledge, EVERYTHING about "big kid school". I was immediately so glad she wasn't still in a "circle time and daycare" type setting. This year I'm actually homeschooling her (possibly putting her back in school for first grade) and I'm amazed at how far along she is because of that K4 year. We're through first grade material already because she got all the kindergarten basics in K4.
I would make the same choice again, for sure. It's not imperative, especially if you're planning to put her in full day kindergarten when she's five, but it's a great head start.

My son (just turned 6 and is in full day Kinder) did a year of Pre-K starting at 3 1/2 then did a year of play-based 4s at another nursery school last year before starting kindergarten at 5 1/2. Both were full time 5 days per week.

Kind of a backwards order I know, but it worked for him. (We thought the structure of Pre-K might be helpful. He ended up getting diagnosed with ADHD the next fall and did the year in very loving play-based school while we worked on finding meds and treatment that worked for him).

If your child has some basic academic skills it probably doesn't matter what you do. The kids in his 4s class last year were all as kindergarten ready in June as any of his pre-k friends were the previous year.

HTH
T.

I signed them up for 5 days a week because the older one needed it while I went to university and for my younger one we did an afternoon program for a few months and when September came we went to full days so I could work.
We did Pre K because it was a city program attached to the same yard as the public school they would go to.

I guess it depends on on how old she will be when school starts - will she be 5, almost 5, or still in the middle of being 4? How mature is she? Has she done any preschool before? Will she be bored in 4 year old preschool or overwhelmed by pre-K? Where I live, preschool is for 3 and 4 year olds. There is a Pre-K, also called Junior Kindergarten, for kids who could start kindergarten but have late birthdays (our cut-off is Dec.1, and pre-K is for b-days between Sept and Dec, as well as other qualifying factors, like being relatively immature, less socialized, etc.). Preschool is either 3 or 4 mornings a week, while Pre-K is 5 mornings a week.

My daughter's b-day is August, so we don't get a choice. She is in preschool 4 mornings a week now, she'll be 5 this August, and she will be expected to start kindergarten the following month. I chose 4 mornings as opposed to 3 because she loves going and that 1 extra day that she gets to go and is out of the house is worth it for her, because she is so happy there. At this point we don't have any reason to think that she won't do well, or that we should hold her back from starting kindergarten this Sept.

We did three days a week (mornings only), mostly because the schedule worked better for us. At our school, the pre-k class is four afternoons a week and didn't work out with naptimes. Also, I like having a couple of mornings free with my son this year. We have a playgroup one day with non-school friends and we run errands or visit other friends on the other free weekday. I figure there is plenty of time for him to be in school every day and it's kind of nice to still have some free time.

Ex K-1 teacher here. I sent my son and daughter to a pre-K class because of age. They were both 4 1/2 in Sept. but more ready for a 4 year old class. I did it because of age, and maturity. Also, my kids had the stamina (boy did they ever) to keep up with 5 days a week classes. Those qualities should be your guide. Not your desire to push early reading and writing.

My son is in a pre-k class, but only goes 3 days a week. Different preschools have different schedules. Shop around find the best fit. My son does half day (4 hours) and the other days he takes classes at the rec. center. He gets PE at his school, but loves swimming and gymnastics, so he gets to do it regularly, as well.

This works great for us and for him. He is 4 and starting to read, knows all of his letter sounds, writes his letters, sounds out simple words, counts with 1 to 1 correspondence to 25 (maybe more now, a few days has gone by...) I wouldn't change it at all. There is plenty of time for them to be in school in the future, I want him to have fun and enjoy learning and enjoy being active. I also get to cuddle him more on the days he has off of school. Super bonus!