Until you see an enrollment form with a summer birthday and a little panic setting in, it’s easy to understand age restrictions in preschool. This is a concern that all Pleasant Hill families have each year and the reason a good preschool Pleasant Hill age guide is helpful when enrolling children. Always the same questions: Am I too early or too late, is my child ready, is my child old enough?
Let’s face it, it’s no secret.
Children are accepted into most Pleasant Hill preschool programs at 2 ½ years of age and the ideal age for structured Pre-K programs is 3 years. They can be very helpful and there are two year olds, but they are very different to Pre-K – lots of sensory play, parallel play with others and lots of adult guided exploration. 2 is not the school you want — and if it is, you should check out that school.
Change is a little bit more emphasized in 3 year old programs. Children’s language is rapidly expanding and they are starting to play co-operatively, not side by side, and are starting to have the early emotional vocabulary for kindergarten. These are all intentionally provided in a high-quality Pre-K 3 program. Not only is it structured it’s developmentally-timed.
At the Pre-K level, there is a greater level of intentionality with school readiness, with four programs being more intentional than three. It doesn’t just happen that you recognize the letters, understand the numbers, follow directions that require multiple steps or make transitions without a meltdown, it’s a curricular goal. It is apparent that there is a step-up from a three-year-old to a four-year-old program. Occasionally, different expectations in the same building.
Here, the timing of the birth is really important. If a child enrolls in a program beginning in September and his/her birthday is in October, he/she is about 1 year younger than his/her peers. This is a good age at which to have this gap. It becomes constricted over time but in early preschool, it may impact a child’s experience of the classroom every day. Holding back and pushing forward are not necessarily correct — it is dependent on the child.