Janeway Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 Hoping I could list the pros and cons and you all can give an opinion. Pros -The preschool is amazing. No worksheets, everything hands on. They do everything from gardening to music. -Daughter enjoys it. She has no sisters so it is her girl time where she gets to play with other girls. I do not know anyone with girls her age so if she does not go, she will spend a year at home with no other girls really. I have tried, I really have. But even the one girl I did find is headed to kinder this fall. -2 days a week, I am free to focus on anything else. I know she is well taken care of and in a good environment and I can do whatever I want to or need to, which usually ends up with field trips, or lessons, or on occasion, a date with my husband. -friends..she has no little girlfriends to play with. No neighbors, no one. Her only friend is going to kinder this year. She made friends last year but only saw them at school. So the preschool would be her only interaction with other little girls. For the year anyway. Cons -cost. My husband was earning a fair amount more before we started with this preschool. However, there are no other options. This is it. It is not like I can simply find a cheaper preschool. I found more expensive ones. I also did find some a little cheaper, but the quality was so low that I would not consider them. We have not had a vacation in 3 years. We can squeeze the money out, the question is, should we? -Friends...the whole time my older son was in it, he did not make friends. I figured this was because he was not as social as his sister. I let it go. But my daughter repeatedly tried to invite friends over. Specifically, she asked me to let her have friends over and I kept inviting them. The moms never answered my emails or phone calls or texts. So I wonder if the friend issue is actually self defeating. I send her to the school and she has little girl friends to play with. But, then she wants to see them outside of school and their moms snub us. I do not know why. But I do know that we drive 20 minutes to the preschool and do not know anyone around us going to that preschool, so that might be a factor in it. I am unsure if friends goes under the cons or pro category so I stuck it in both places. It may be that sending her is making her think about these new friends and sad that she cannot see them, so if she didn't go, this would not be an issue. On the other hand, things might be worse if she never sees friends. There is no point in mentioning the cost. That would be very comparative for where each person lives. I can say it is 5% of our income for 2 6 hr days a week. We are not massively in debt or anything, but we have children approaching college age. The friends issue is a biggie. I am unsure which way it is. Is it that she is sad because she misses her friends and this would be a non-issue if she did not go to preschool in the first place? Or, she will be more sad if she does not get to at least play with friends 2 days a week. I hope someone's crystal ball is working today. Or at least someone here has experience that can help me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 I think the "friends" is a positive, and you can tell your daughter that school friends are to hang with at school. I can think of a lot of reasons why the other moms aren't into play-dates with preschool friends. I don't know their situations, but I used to dread the idea of my kids having friends over. Well, for one thing, I had skunk smell in my house half of the time, thanks to my woodsy backyard. :P And I didn't want to do the social thing with new people during my limited "personal time." I felt that preschool was for socialization and that was enough together time. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tita Gidge Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 I have six at home right now, the youngest is a girl and the rest are boys (and teenagers at that). So I get where you're coming from there. I'm not sure any of can know which situation is best for her re: friends :o so it sounds like a gamble either way. I think if I were in your shoes I'd sign her up and give it a shot. It's doubtful the other moms will suddenly open their social circle to you guys, which sucks, but maybe there will be another new family you can connect with. Or maybe once a month you can volunteer in some capacity and try to break into the mom circle yourself as an initial step to bringing your daughter into the social fold. I used to do a monthly craft in my nephew's preschool, and that made a difference in getting to know the parents. I also did weekly readalouds to my other nephew's kindergarten class and the kids loved me so suddenly THOSE parents were calling THEM for playdates. If your signature is updated, she's currently 4. Cost being a factor, I'd swing it if I could without causing undue stress on my husband. I'd figure that if this year didn't work out, she could be home for kindergarten next year and we'd take the friend thing from there. Having teenage students, and teenagers in general, a little break to work on their lessons, field trips, or just time to spend with them (or husband!) is a great recharge for you ... and worth it, financially, IMO. So I'd look at cost through that lens as well - not just as an expense for preschool. Sorry, no crystal ball here, but good luck deciding. I hate these kinds of decisions!! :willy_nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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