To Kindy or not to Kindy....
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Topic: To Kindy or not to Kindy....
Posted By: blondy
Subject: To Kindy or not to Kindy....
Date Posted: 03 March 2011 at 1:55pm
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So already we're a bit late in making this decision and possibly enroling Nat... but I have a dilemma!
atm, Nat goes to in-home care 3 days a week, and when I go back to work at the start of next year (and potentially a wee bit sooner), she'll be in care fulltime again. So begins the kindy dilemma 
This year, it wouldn't be an issue as I would be home to drop off/pick up Nat from the kindy sessions, but come next year it will be impossible for me (or DH) to do that. I know Nat's carer has done kindy runs in the past, but i know how disruptive they are to the other kids, and that she prefers not having to do them, especially now that she has a school run to do too. We love Nat's carer, and are planning for Alexa to go there fulltime when i start back at work, so don't really want to change care arrangements. We have no family near us but could potentially jig up some arrangement with a neighbour to pick Nat up from the afternoon sessions, but the whole thing starts getting so complicated, especially when the morning sessions would start. So, my question is: is kindy really worth it? Nat goes to playcentre twice a week and music once a week, so she already gets some large-scale kiddy interaction, plus her carer is awesome at getting the kids doing creative play, art stuff etc. Is kindy really that essential in the lead-up to starting school? What other benefits would she get out of it? TIA  -------------  
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Replies:
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 03 March 2011 at 1:58pm
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Hmm, When Alia was in homebased care the last few months before school they did prepare her for school. She did also go to kindy as well but it wasn't really necessary other than she knew kids from kindy that were at her school. So she already had her little circle of friends.
Which reminds me, must enrol Cooper somewhere! ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com"> 
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 03 March 2011 at 2:01pm
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Ethan started kindy at 2 years 9 months..slightly different as i moved him from preschool to do it.. he loves it and its great..having said that.. (i assume its the old style few hours at kindy?)my career is happy to do dropoffs etc.. and while he loves it and its good for him.. I would prefer him doing one thing all the time.. as a pre school teacher i found some kids didnt react well to going to both.. anyway for us kindy is awesome but I don't think you need to change unless you think she is going to get something better/ new out of it that the carer cant provide..sounds like she gets large scale interaction elsewhere anyway.. ? ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: crafty1
Date Posted: 03 March 2011 at 2:48pm
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Just my opinion and maybe i'm off base about what i expect from kindy but i kind of see it as the start of their education for school, not just socialising. Their whole focus is on learning and i'm not sure that a home based carer looking after multiple ages would be as able to provide that. They may well be if well supported to do so or if they have a teaching background. Those are the kinds of things that i would be worried about.
Much easier for you guys though to just do one drop off and pick up, i totally get that! ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: jaycee
Date Posted: 03 March 2011 at 3:35pm
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I am guessing that your local kindy is still sessional (as opposed to the new full day hours that many kindys are bringing in)?
If so, perhaps wait until Nat is 4 and send her to Morning kindy - this may fit in better with the drop off times and the other kids. If it is part of the Kindergarten Ass then she would just slot in to the wait list according to her date of birth not how long she has been on the list. Amy is heading fast towards school  and she loves kindy but in terms of learning/teaching it is more about the basics of sitting for mat time, listening, taking care of themselves (toilet, morning tea/lunch etc). If they are interested in the writing/learning side the teachers support this but do not push it.
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Posted By: EmDee
Date Posted: 03 March 2011 at 3:53pm
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We were lucky, I guess, as my SIL was our carer. She only had our children and was more than happy to do kindy pick up/drop off (fx'd she'll be our carer again when I return to work!). We were always going to send Ollie to kindy and never had a reason not to.
In hindsight, it was/is excellent for Ollie as he is quite a shy child and it takes him a while to get used to new situations. For him, being in a more structured environment (they have set times for things like morning tea, mat time etc) with a lot of children is a good stepping stone to school (he is only just starting to talk about going to school, previously he was adamant he was staying 4 forever!). Something I really like about his kindy (and I have no idea if it is like this at other ones) is that they have a really close relationship to the school Ollie will go to (they are right next door) and often have the new entrants class over to play sports etc. So he has already met his teacher and is getting more comfortable with the idea of school. This is just our experience and something that was a great benefit to Ollie given his personality. I love our kindy (awesome set of teachers) and I can't wait for Lilia to be old enough to attend. All the best with your decision! ------------- DS 8 DD 6 DS 4 DD 2 |
Posted By: blondy
Date Posted: 03 March 2011 at 4:12pm
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Thanks guys - one aspect I hadn't thought about was the teaching of basic 'social' school protocols like sitting on the mat, listening etc etc.
We have 3 kindy's very near us with one being right next to the school Nat will be going to (sessional only; one of the others slightly further away does a 6 hour session, but that still wouldn't fit well with working hours!  ).
I think I'll have to have a more in-depth conversation with Nat's carer to see what she thinks might be do-able! I also really need to get onto enroling her! I do like the idea of maybe delaying until the morning sessions when she's 4, so will talk to the kindy about that too. If only I could clone myself, and be a SAHM and work at the same time -------------
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 03 March 2011 at 4:21pm
| Is daycare an option? Like send her to daycare for 3 days and home based care for the other 2 then shes got the best of both worlds. Daycare teaches everything that kindy does. You can use 20 free hours to pay for some of it |
Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 03 March 2011 at 4:30pm
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for me kindy was more than just socialisation. They taught the kids about finishing a job, doing projects, researching information. They got used to a structured mat time and a set time to eat as well as the concept of naming work and taking responsibility for it. so much more than just meeting other kids.
i think it is the carers job to make sure all the kids needs are met and if that means taking one to kindy then it should be made possible. Lots of parents have to juggle kindy and school pick ups and manage it so i should think that a home carer should be capable as well. ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: _SMS_
Date Posted: 03 March 2011 at 5:02pm
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Is she enrolled in Playcentre? Maybe start her going a few more times a week. See if they have an older kids session.
I know our playcentre has a session for over 3s only. They start preparing them for school. Well mat time, learning etc in general. -------------  
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Posted By: fire_engine
Date Posted: 04 March 2011 at 9:11pm
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Given you have such a good carer and Nat is getting lots of exposure to different activities and groups, I'd probably leave it till she's four. Although *gulp* I've just realised that only buys you until the middle of next year. Also, when are you looking at moving? If it's likely to be next year, I would consider waiting till then to reduce the change and disruption. ------------- Mum to two wee boys |
Posted By: linda
Date Posted: 05 March 2011 at 9:42pm
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We moved DS2 from daycare to kindy as I was at home and could do the pick up and drop offs. I think you really need to check how the kindy is run, our one was 0830-1240 for 3 year olds two days of the week and 0830-1430 for 4 year olds for the other three days. The whole day was unstructured, so much so that they had no set time for lunch, kids could eat it whenever they liked. I would arrive at 9am and some of the kids would already be eating there lunch. For us, we couldn't see how this prepared them from school but he enjoyed it and has transition well to school.
We didn't really rate our kindy that highly. Could another option be that you wait till she is a bit older before getting her into kindy so that she does the last few months there before starting school? ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
Alex 6 and Harry 8 |
Posted By: crafty1
Date Posted: 06 March 2011 at 2:11pm
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We visit our kindy to get Alex used to it and they are always doing learning projects about things like insects or volcanoes or dinosaurs. Learning is more than just reading and writing, but the kids do write their own names in the book. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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