whats a good age for school?

Question

hey i'm a stay at home mom with a 20 month old kid, people have started telling me to send her school, i personally feel she's a little young for that, though i do teach her quite a lot at home and she knows kinda all body parts, alphabets, poetries atleast10, numbers till 20 shapes etc etc , can someone tell me whats a good age to send her to a play school i don't want to send her for a full day play school please help i'm in a jiffy

Answer 1

I think 20 months is WAY young. Personally I think five is a little young, too. Kids that little need to be with their parents. Some people think kids need to go to school to learn social skills but seriously- who better to teach social skills- the parents who actually have social skills or little kids who bite and kick and throw tantrums? Kids need social contact but that can be accomplished through play groups, etc. My daughter is home with me and she loves to play with other kids but we just go play with other kids- don't need school for that. I feel that the social contact she gets outside of school is better because if she and I are with another mom and kid and there is some kind of argument or something, we can intervene and teach the kids some good ways of handling the problem. Schools cannot give toddlers the kind of one-on-one attention that parents can. They have too many kids to watch, they don't know the kids like the parents do, and they don't love the kids like the parents do. Toddlers are still very spontaneous and should be free to play with blocks or read books or color when they want to (provided it's not nap time or lunch time or something) but at schools there are specific times for everything. I think school is a very bad idea for a 20-month-old. I do not plan on sending my daughter to preschool at all. She is thriving at home, not only does she know more than most kids intellectually (letter recognition, colors, body parts, etc) she is also socially more adept and doesn't scream, grab, hit, or throw tantrums like other kids. I only have to focus on meeting her needs (and her little brother's in a few months) not the needs of a bunch of kids. Classroom settings cannot provide the same kind of attention that homes can. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Answer 2

It depends a lot on the child. 20 months really isn't that old. If you're not happy about sending her for a full day of play school you might want to try something like a mothers and toddlers group (I don't know if there's an equivalent outside the UK) where mothers and toddlers go obstentially for the toddlers to play but it allows the mother to talk to other mothers and have some form of social life whilst keeping an eye on their kids. It's not really like school in the sense that the children don't really learn anything excpet how to interact with other children. If you're interested you might want to check out this link: http://www.netmums.com/lc/parenttoddler.php

Answer 3

At this age it is not the learning she needs most.. you have done a great job....What is important is to learn to relate to other the same age .
A daycare two days a week would help her ready to go, to full school in all aspects of life

So many people think about how much a child knows at this age it is important to know also how to relate the knowledge to others..

Daycare is a choice and so is Mommies and Me classes

This the best time to learn for a child might even think about a second language for you both to learn together

Have fun

Answer 4

Hi! I think that around 3-4 years old is a good age for preschool. It will help her get ready for kindergarten. Try and check around at some of your local churches that have preschools or daycares when you're ready. My nephew went to one that was a co-op preschool so the parents could come in if they wanted and one parent came in at least once a week to help out. Also, it was only for like 2 1/2 hours a day so it wasn't all day long. Good luck!

Answer 5

School is not always about what the child learns. They need social skills as well. Your child needs to learn to talk with kids her own age, learn to share, and how to solve her own problems. You can send your child for maybe only a few hours a day or maybe two or three full days a week. Churches offer Mother outing days and that would be a great start if your nervous about leaving your child! Also, before you enroll your child anywhere, you need to talk to your child about it. Read books about going to school. If she has a favorite cousin or Aunt have them tell her about their school experience. This will make the transition easier for her.Good luck, I know it'll be hard, but it'll be a great learning experience for you child.

Answer 6

play school cant do any harm - though i dont think u can send her until she is 2 years 10 months? if shes ahead of herself for her age you could maybe send her to daycare? in daycare if they feel that shes doing well they will move her onto an older group, for example she may just go straight into the 2-3 year olds room instead of 1-2 year old. this would benifit her as they would be doing harder activities etc.

Answer 7

find a reputable day care center. something that is monitored by the state and where the teachers make lesson plans and follow a curriculum.

my son goes to a child development center on the military base where my husband works and it's great for him!! he is around other kids and it's a very nurturing environment.

my neice attends a daycare that is similar in the medical center where my sister works, and she has learned so much!
she knows all about dinosaurs and police and ambulances. she can already write her name and other people's names if you tell her how to spell it...she's only 4!!!

kids are expecting to start reading in kindergarten.

even if it's half days, it will be good for him:)
take care.

Answer 8

she is a bit too young for school. everyone is in such a hurry to educate children. so much competion. just enjoy your baby as a baby. enjoy teaching yours at home for now, because time goes by so quickly. why rush them? mine is 4 and he is going to start school next year.

in a parenting magazine they studied if there was an advantage to preschool. and they said that the kids who did not attend preschool caught up to the same level as kids who did attend preschool rather quickly (within 2 months). by the end of the school year u couldn't tell which kids attended preschool and which did not.