As I said, that was PART of it, but far from the whole story, as anyone who has looked into preschool would know. Offspring #1 was happy to learn phonics etc at home with mum, but did not do well in noisy busy environments where she was not the center of attention, so FOR HER, it was about socialization.

With #2 its (not suprisingly) a different situation. She has a shorter attention span but is totally unphased in a large crowd. However, trying to teach her basic phonics etc at home is a lot harder, hence giving Montesorri a go.

Its not clear to me if you have kids?

"It's more to do with socialization..." is what you said


I have made no comment about whether preschool or home school for pre-kindergartners is better. That's for each parent to decide and I am sure that whether both parents work has a large impact on the decision made

I have 3 kids, 16, 9 and 6 but I fail to see what that has to do with anything.

My initial post merely stated that I find it ridiculous that children require "preparation" for kindergarten.

I would suggest that our generation probably didn't attend any form of pre-school prior to starting school. I would also suggest that the prevalence of Pre-school these days has more to do with the fact more women work full time than when we were kids. I have not seen any compelling evidence that those children that attend pre-school do better academically or socially than those that don't. Have you?

Only the evidence of my own kids development...

FWIW my kids did not go to preschool as an alternative to child care, as I said, my wife is a stay at home mum because thats what we have chosen to do. Im 39, and I attended a nursery preschool too, even though my mum was a stay at home mum during my younger years too. Both my parents thought that it was a positive thing to, although obviously I dont remember much about it. If people want to send their kids to preschool rather than stay at home or send them to daycare I dont see the point in arguing. I dont think you can expect to say its the same as daycare without someone pulling you up on it, because its not the same.

Heres a relatively academic summary on the benefits, its one of many google throws out;

http://nieer.org/resources/files/Benefits.pdf

I agree it is not worth arguing over the preschool/stay at home issue. As I said, it was the suggestion that children needed preparation for kindergarten that riled me.

People just want what's best for their kids. Your kids didnt need it, but other people will have different ideas and they know their kids best. Having tried it, Im not going to knock it, but even with my two kid sample, they have very different requirements it seems. Fortunatley there are also very different preschool environments out there to cater to those differences. Maybe some are no more than glorified day care (thats not been my experience) who knows.


The evidence in that report certainly seemed to indicate that its beneficial in many cases.

I agree with you Almost Canadian I thought the research showed that it helps kids who come from deprived backgrounds, not much evidence that it does much for others over the long term compared to kids at home.

Anyway, back to the original question:

There isn't a "Canadian school system" per se, each province does it differently, so it really depends on where you're going. For instance, I've never heard of Junior K in BC except in some private schools. Kids here start K at 5 (they must turn 5 before the end of December of the year they enrol) and it's half -day, which really means a couple of hours a day. They've talked about going to full day but there isn't the money for it, realistically. From what I"ve been told it's mostly pretty much different kinds of crafts and some music.

They start full day school in Grade one, which for most kids is around 6. HTH.

I didn't say my kids didn't attend preschool. I didn't say they did. I have no doubt that most people want what is best for their kids.

Like Iain, I also went to a preschool from the age of 3 and not because my parents required daycare. It was a wonderful way for me to make friends and learn some of the conventions of traditional school before going there for real.

I have taught children in their 'reception' year in school in the UK for many years, and generally, those who have attended some sort of preschool education in the UK are more 'prepared' when they start school. There were very few children who hadn't had some sort of preschool experience, and those who stick in my memory were often children who had separation anxiety in the first weeks, as well as those who had no idea how to sit still during 'carpet time' , make a line, etc. Those with preschool experience also tended to have a head start with certain academic achievements such as recognizing and writing their names, being able to recognise and understand early number concepts etc.
Whereas it is entirely up to parents as to whether to send their children to a preschool, and some parents do a fine job in academic preparation, I would still stand by preschool as an excellent way to ease children into the idea of what early school life will be like, without the pressures of formalising their education too soon.
Preschool educators are well qualified and knowledgeable individuals, often with degrees in education, who know a great deal about the early stages of learning. Whilst there may be some very good daycare available, I believe the quals needed to run such care are very different. To merely say one is like the other is ill informed and inaccurate.

But...hey....what would I know???? I guess my experience counts for nothing here

snoopster, your post makes a lot of sense I bet it does help with those early months.

Did you bother to click on the link

Iain, I would like to see what website you got the link from?

Okay, I've read the link and so? Maybe you could point me to the page where it shows a signifcant long term difference in social skills, academic skills etc. between preschooled kids from nondisadvantaged backgrounds and those who aren't. Cos I'm not seeing it.

No, you're subject to the parochial and self-serving vagaries of the local school board. "no Johnny, you can't read Harry Potter, because we said so."

As I said, I googled "benefits of preschool", that one was near the top.

The author specializes in the economics of education, and is a director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. His research includes studies of the economics of early care and education including costs and benefits, the long term effects of preschool programs on children's learning and development, and the distribution of educational opportunities.

Well, the school board and the BC Teacher's Union. har.

I actually like our school board a lot. Kid's school has an amazing arts programme, thanks to them, with good teachers. They never close schools either

Iain, it was an interesting link and like I said, preschool is good for kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, and hey, I went to ps and so did my daughter. I just don't think you can argue that if a kid doesn't go to preschool, they're somehow not going to do as well in life that's all I"m saying.