When to start child in preschool
What age should my child start preschool?
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hi I'm Gina Melvin executive director of
parents sleep and welcome back to
parents League presents today I'm with
Lisa kaki our expert preschool advisor
and we have a couple of questions for
her first and foremost Lisa when we
speak to parents one of the first
questions they ask is what age does
preschool start so traditionally in New
York State a preschool begins when your
child is two years old by September 1st
the year they attend preschool there are
a handful of schools that start at 1.6
but by and large most schools minimum
age is 2.0 what do I do
though if my child is not 2 by September
1st what are the options so the good
news is is you have lots of options you
have essentially three different options
you can first do classes you can
continue doing a basic music class at
gym class maybe a swim class and your
second option is called a preschool
alternative programs those are programs
that mimic a preschool experience
they're usually several times a week
they meet for several hours there's
usually a component of separation those
programs are not licensed by the city of
New York and that's why we call them
something different if you are
interested in one some of them are
terrific have great curriculums
wonderful directors it's really
important that you ask a lot of
questions when you go see them ask
questions about the faculty ask
questions about the curriculum where the
teachers come from what their
backgrounds are you know the hours you
want to ask a lot of questions to get
the answers that you need as a parent
the third option is something called a
pre school based toddler program and
those are programs specifically for
those children who miss that cutoff so
they're within existing nursery schools
they often have the same teachers and
faculty although not everyone does and
it's often the same director again not
everybody follows that but those are
programs that are usually shorter in
days and hours and again sort of mimic a
preschool schedule great so there are
three options for families whose
children are not - by September 1st one
is classes two is preschool alternatives
and three is preschool based toddler
programs and all of these are mentioned
in our directory called let's play and
there's always the fourth option which
is do-nothing and I've enjoyed this time
with your baby go to the park put them
in the stroller take them to the grocery
store the post office you don't have to
have a schedule baby and there is
absolutely not a baby resume that three
schools are out there looking for so
enjoyed this time with your baby
do not over schedule them as long as
they're getting some social experience
that's all preschools are interested in
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thank you
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