Sending your child to preschool is a personal choice that every family must choose for themselves. Personally, now that I am a Stay At Home Mom I have been actively contemplating homeschooling Madison. While I know that she will have more interaction with kids her own age in pre-school, Homeschooling is still something I want to do. I’ve been reading a lot of homeschooling blogs lately and the joys of homeschooling seem infinite, but I also have to think, do I want to be home 24/7 with a toddler? So let us look into the pros and cons of sending your child to pre-school today if that’s something you may want to do.
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Pros of Sending Your Child to Preschool
1. Your child gets time to interact with kids his or her age.
2. Your preschooler has time to adjust to being with other adults and children who are different from him or her.
3. Your preschooler is going to learn many academic concepts that will prepare them for kindergarten.
4. Exposure to the alphabet, numbers, and other basic learning concepts.
5. The preschooler will learn how to follow directions of adults.
6. Preschoolers are introduced to different types of sensory environments.
7. They learn to make their own decisions.
8. Preschoolers are able to build and maintain their own relationships and friendships.
9. Children have a chance to “be themselves.” For example: create artwork that expresses their individuality.
10. Introduced to a variety of “worlds” that are not available in a normal home environment.
Cons of Sending Your Child to Preschool
1. Paying a monthly or yearly fee that puts a strain on your family’s budget. I recently checked out a pre-school for Madison and was told that 2 days a week would cost me $175 – OUCH!
2. Spending time commuting to and from preschool. (Most preschoolers only last 2-3 hours in the morning or afternoon).
3. Spending time away from your preschooler for a few hours a week. Actually, I’m thinking this might be a PRO for me but those parents who love having their kids around, this might be a CON.
4. Allowing your child to be influenced by someone other than you or your spouse.
5. Placing your child in an environment that has other children (not every child is well behaved).
For most people, the pros of preschool outweigh the cons. The best part of preschool is that your child gets to learn quite a bit while they’re there. Honestly, some children learn better when they are not trying to pick up concepts from their own parents.
The best thing you can do for your child is to give it a trial run to see if preschool is for them. Some parents put their preschoolers in at the age of 3 and some parents wait until their child is 4. Whenever you decide to put your child in preschool, you can’t go wrong.
If you choose not to put your child in preschool that’s okay too. Some children do perfectly okay not spending time in preschool before kindergarten.
What choice did you make when it came to sending your child to preschool?
