Guest Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I currently work in the same nursery that my son attends, but would like to send him to a preschool for a few sessions a week as well so that he can meet children that he will go to school with in september 2010. One of the preschools that i contacted reccommended that I chose one setting and stuck with it. As a preschool room leader myself I have never considered it before as a negitive thing, as I have children in my room who go to two setting and are fine...anyway I'm looking for some opinions please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Hi, speaking purely as a parent, both my children attended two settings for a while. The problem came when both decided that they preferred the local pre-school to the nursery they were attending. For this reason we've just had to remove my daughter from nursery completely, as she was getting hysterical about going there. The only reason we did both was for the longer hours at nursery, but it's not a huge problem for us (in fact as I'm chair of the pre-school I'm rather pleased that she 'opted' for us!) I think this whole 'communication between settings' is a bit of a red herring to be honest. Okay it's fine if it happens, but I'm not sure how necessary it is for a 3 year old to have her every move reported on, and I'm not sure it's something that hard pressed practitioners should have to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_64 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I personally have always thought that sticking to one setting is the best thing for any small child. I found that those children who attended more than one setting often had difficulties in adjusting to the different routines and expectations. This probably isn't such a problem if the settings are fairly similar and the message they are getting at both are consistent but can raise issues otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_15046 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 (edited) I think that, like many things it depends on the child. I have cared for children who attend the nursery, the preschool and my childminding setting with no issues whatsoever. I can also see that some children would be unsettled by attending different settings with different routines and expectations. Some children spend lots of time with various family members and babysitters and others are only every cared for by their parents. I think that attending a setting where you are not working will help to prepare your son for school and he would probably benefit from knowing some of his cohort before he gets there too. Children generally adapt very easily to their environment. You know your son best. I would go with my gut feeling on this one. Edited July 1, 2009 by AlisonP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Hi - I think you do what is right for you, your family and child - as a practitioner I sometimes feel that I would get to know the child if they came to us more than just a couple and did not go somewhere else, however we have a little boy with SEN and he attends two settings - I think he has done really well - Dot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_19762 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 We 'share' some children with other settings and this has never been a problem. I think it is very important for children to attend a setting with those that they will attend primary school with (sorry terrible grammar there but you get my drift!). Go for it! Sunnyday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I think that it gives the child a wide range of friends, activities & different styles of learning in different environments. Many of our children attend two settings and we have no problem at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_3975 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I think it depends on the individual child, many of our children attend two settings without any problems but for a few it can be difficult. We work with a second preschool in our area and often recommned each other if the other is full. We also confer with each other if our children have difficutly settling and I have encouraged a parent too take up more sessions with the other setting as he was more settled there and attending two was too much for him. smiles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_7120 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 just read our closest settings recent ofsted.......they were praised for forming strong links with the other setting their children attend (which is us - we have 6 that do both) the person who runs it hasnt spoken to me in the 20+ years ive been running mine and when we ask parents for info on eyfs stages as most start there first as they take them younger the message i get back is "that information is for their staff and parents only" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_5458 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 We have children who go to 2 settings and to be honest it's different for different personalities. It's worked for some but not for others. I'd go with what you think is best for your child. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_20414 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 We also have several children who attend both our pre-school and a full day care setting down the road! The only comment parents make is that their children seem happier with us! We also have a policy that staff children do not attend on days they work (it has caused problems in the past) and staff seem to be fine with this arrangement! dottyp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_11962 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 like many others it depends on the child. but it would be good for him to get to know his cohort before school. could he just attend the other one if he find two too much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I totally agree with the previous threads. it will depend on you as a family and what your child is like. I would whole heartedly agree that your child might benefit from being in a setting where he doesn't have a parent, and I think it is really important for friendships to be forged before school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I think it is important that children go to a setting with children they will be going to school with. However I also think that children need consistency and routine. I have a number of children who come up to me who go to more than one setting. Having visited them in their different settings the children are very different and behave differently. Some that are very confident in one setting can be really clingy and upset in another setting. The different pre-schools/nurseries have different issues with them then- some are behaviour issues at various settings, some can 'read like a year 2 child' (!!!!!!!). It can be very difficult to pick up all the pieces. Just my opinion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts