Should 2-Year-Olds Go to Preschool?

How can you resist a kid in a moneky hat?

Another comment that turned in to a blogpost…not that I am long-winded or anything like that. I responded to a comment over here about preschool and should kids go to preschool. 

My older two girls attended two different preschools as 2-year-olds. I was a WAHM editor at the time and desperately needed time to work. Two mornings a week at preschool was as much as I could afford. In reality preshcool at 2 is really day care or babysitting. The classroom were cheerful but loud as there was always a “just turned two-year-old” in the classroom with a bunch of “almost 3s.”

I found the staff in the 2s room to be kind, but largely unqualified. One of the assistant teachers had been one of my husband’s special educati0n students — she did not have a high diploma. My husband recognized this young woman and immediately said that we needed to find a new school. This young woman was sweet, but barely made eye contact with the students.

The preschool morning was all about diaper changes, snack time, tantrums, and a relatively small amount of actual learning. My girls each had huge separation anxiety about being left at preschool — a separation anxiety that last at least a month. I also worried that if there was a problem in the classroom my less than verbal 2-year-old might not be able to articulate it to me.

My son on his preschool "graduation" day -- his school did not have the kids wear paper mortar boards. 🙁

My girls both transferred to another preschool at 3. The classroom at both schools was night and day from the 2s/toddler room. With the elimination of diaper changing — pun intended — the teachers were free to teach the children. Snack time, circle time, and craft time were all more orderly now that all the children were 3 years old. It’s a fact 3s are more verbal, less tantrummy, more able to occupy themselves when mommy leaves them at preschool than 2s. I regret that I had to put my children in preschool at 2, but had no other option since I needed to get work done for my job.

My 3-year-olds knew the alphabet, numbers, and shapes before starting preschool. We’re a family of readers! Preschool built on what they already knew. One started reading in preschool, while the other read in kindergarten.

My son started preschool as a 3-year-old. I was a SAHM at that point. His transition to preschool was seamless. He cried once. I did the same amount of school work with him at home. He was reading mid way through kindergarten.