to preschool or not at 2

[tiggersreturn]

I have dts aged 2 and a ds aged 6 1/2. Dts not great speakers although improving and the fact that they're twins and premature obviously doesn't help. They're also august babies and I am concerned about how they'll do when they start school next year (nursery of school starts at 3).

I'm considering pre-school but the cost is putting me off. I've found a very nice quite small one (8 kids), 3 1/2 hours a little institutional but more about setting routines and teaching the basics of putting your things in trays than anything more than that. Please convince me it's really worth it or is there some way I can supplement what they're doing to help develop their language and social skills.

We have activity groups in the areas but they're all mother attended and most of the kids don't seem to interact that much.

[chocolatecrispies]

They won't get more language input at preschool than they do from you at home - is that why you are thinking of putting them in? The level of attention you can give them at home will be far more than what they will get at preschool and as you know them better the language you use with them will be more relevant to them and better adjusted to their level. I would talk, sing, read and play more at home now and give them a chance to grow up a bit before nursery. If you want some evidence to back you up, try reading 'young children learning' by tizard and Hughes. They looked at children talking at nursery and to their mums and found that they got many more significant interactions and used more sophisticated language at home, regardless of whether their mums were middle class or working class - it wasn't what they expected to find stall.

[AndThatsWhatIThinkOfYou]

my DS has gone to pre school since he was 2 he loves it, made friends alot better at socialising and they do lots more fun activitys than I could ever think of at home.

[LovingTheSunshine]

My b/g twins started pre-school (3 hours p/w) at 2 years old & I'd highly recommend it. They also go to private nursery 2 afternoons. You could give it a try & see how it pans out. Good luck in whatever you decide :)

[stopgap]

Starting in November, my son (2.3 by then) will be going for four hours twice in a week in a group of eight children and two teachers. The preschool is highly regarded, friendly, low-key and my son loved the trial session (while we were there).

I'm still a little unsure, but I'm 27 weeks pregnant with DS2, exhausted, and need the break.

[RawShark]

Personally I thought the level of attention and play my DS got at nursery was generally more focused than what he would get from me if at home with no breaks (bug hunting, painting, storytelling, free flow to outside, mud pies, more painting and glueing) but also that when he was with me we talked more. Either way his speech has not been quick to develop although his comprehension is great.he is also sociable. You do say local groups not great for toddler interaction so nursery is a good option?

I really liked the staff too. If it had just have been about " putting things in trays" I would have hesitated.

[CocoE]

If it's a good nursery, definitely worth the money. My DS is a late talker and was very anti-social even though I brought him to play groups all the time. Even after just one week his speech improved massively and I noticed in the playground how he wasn't afraid of other little kids anymore. Even though I counted with him every day, he never counted until after he started nursery.

[basia2]

I recently started my 2 year old in nursery school, just for the social interaction. My other two chi!dren are grown and don't live with my anymore, so I wanted my little one to have other children to play with.
He started In December, and I have already noticed huge progress in his speech and language development.
On the downside, he has been sick constantly with colds and sniffles since he started.
But he loves going to school.

[vj32]

I think it depends what the issue is with their speech and language. We started DS at pre-school at 2 because he didn't talk. At all really - he had about 6 words, 2 that were recognisable to strangers. He could communicate quite efficiently using sounds, gesture and Makaton but wouldn't actually speak. We did loads with him at home, had SALT and pre-school had a speech group and worked with him in small groups on his speech. 9 months on it is hard to tell he had a significant speech delay, at one point something just clicked and speech poured out - many new words every day for months.

We will never know if preschool helped, but I think because DS wanted to interact with the other children he had to try harder to communicate, and that meant talking not just signing all the time as none of the other children used Makaton.

Preschool shouldn't be that expensive if you can get childcare vouchers - we pay the equivalent of just under £3 an hour (in a nice market town in the SE where everything is expensive!) which I think is very good value given the ratios and facilities at his pre-school.