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What is the average age that children typically begin preschool these days? My mom didn't send my sister and I until we turned 4 y/o, but I know that educational philosophies have evolved over the years. While I also am aware this is different for everyone and a personal choice based on the readiness of the child and considerations of each family, but I just wondered if there's an average age. I live somewhere where there are 300+ kid waiting lists to enter most preschools (even those in public schools), so I need to think ahead.”

Asked by Meredith on 22nd January 2010 | 9 replies

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The preschool that my son attended started at age 2 but he did not start until he was 3 years old. Prior to that he stayed with my mom while my husband and I worked. When he finally did start preschool, I think my mother was more nervous than he was. The school he attended taught him a lot. He learned his ABC's, colors, numbers, five senses, spelling words, etc and even the 50 states. He attended this school for two years and ended up being awarded the spelling bee trophy at his preschool graduation for being the best speller. Preschool has really paid off and he is doing excellent in kindergarten. I give him extra work to do at home because he is so advanced and I don't want him to get bored with the work that he does at school. His teacher has suggested that I give him some more challenging books to read and also have him start wrtiting sentences.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Dianntap on 31st January 2010
Sorry. I probably should have been a little more thorough. We live in MA and state law says 2 years, 9 months. So our daughter will start in winter 2011. Most people here do send their kids to pre-school because the criteria here for Kindergarten really does require a more formalized education than most kids receive from in-home care. It's a state testing issue from what I understand.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Phe on 29th January 2010
The state we live in does not allow children to start pre-school until 2 years, 9 months. I know that I was in pre-school when I was age two though. My how things have changed...

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Phe on 29th January 2010
Thanks for all of your answers, they are very insightful and comforting to me.

Mich: When I say downtown, I do mean right downtown (LP, GC, OT area), and I did have my husband call LP coop on the 25th, which price wise was still expensive, but sounded more reasonable than most of the other more private preschools. One of my friends works at a public elementary in Roscoe Village that she boasts has an awesome preschool, but again, I'm just not sure if we will be able to afford it. I will, however, look into my employers' preschool/daycare, which I think runs about the same rate as LP Coop, only kids attend full days instead of 1/2 days (which I'm not opposed to at some point, but I'd like to ease the kids into it with 1/2 days starting off).

Yes, the hub is teaching them their basics, and as you mentioned, I'm not really concerned about them being academically on point b/c I think most kids are sponges well into there early elementary years (if not longer), and so I'm fairly confident they'd catch up. You hit the nail on the head--it's the socialization that I think is important, and the variety it will bring to their weekdays. They really do spend so much time with my hub and me, and prior to 3-3.5y/o I do plan to enroll them in 1-2days/week of some sort of group activity...it always comes down to the $$ though...we're just struggling to make ends meet here in the city...very difficult to support my fam on my single income here, we're certainly being priced out.

Thanks again Mich, Oceans Mom, and SKL for answering my question with such thoughtful input.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Meredith on 27th January 2010
Preschools don't start generally until at least age 2 (that was the lower cutoff in ours, before that it was "daycare"). Chicago Public pre-schools are generally full with high-risk kids and then some neighborhood kids get in by age 4. If your husband stays home, you might consider looking into co-op preschools if the main goal is getting them a little socialization with other kids. When you say "downtown" Chicago I don't know if you mean literally or are just stating you live in the City not the suburbs (people do it both ways).
Though if you like your employer's preschool I'd certainly get them on the list, a year is not so long if you're planning at age 2 that you'd like to send them somewhere around age 3 or 4. And some of the co-ops & religious schools offer sibling discounts (not all, but some).
We went with CPS preschool just to get my daughter the special services she needed but her home-based daycare had been great; she went into preschool ahead of many peers just because they'd worked on colors, numbers, letters, etc. So if your husband is teaching all that stuff at home, they'll likely be ahead of some of their peers academically if they walk into kindergarten with no prior care and just use kindergarten for learning some of the all-day socialization skills.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Mich on 25th January 2010
Where I live, most preschools start at 1.5 years old. Most people start their kids at either 1.5 or 3 years. the one that we take our son to is the only preschool that goes all the way down to 3 months old so he started then. When we took him to meet his cousins over the holiday, he was on par with his 4 year old cousin and way beyond the cousin that is his age (almost to the day). My inlaws were all impressed with him, too so I guess it pays off.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by oceans mom on 25th January 2010
If money is an issue, maybe consider free alternatives such as library story hours and Sunday School. I did library story hour plus 1 or 2 once-weekly "Mom & Me" group classes for about a year before my kids started preschool. I think it helped them to feel relatively comfortable in the group setting. On the academic side, to the extent the child's everyday environment doesn't provide enough opportunities (e.g., alphabet blocks, signs in the neighborhood, helping to cook, etc.), use the library for both books and educational videos. You can also download free preschool materials (such as worksheets) from the internet, and find free on-line preschool games (I never actually tried these). Another thing to look into is the possibility of a co-op preschool, which I assume is a lot less costly.

Your kids do have an advantage: a same-age playmate. Presumably they know more about sharing, etc. than most kids their age.

I never went to preschool, just showed up at KG at age 4.9. I excelled academically anyway. But I was scared of my own shadow at school (despite having 3 siblings close in age). Would preschool have made me more confident? I don't know. Honestly, I doubt it.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by SKL on 24th January 2010
I live in downtown Chicago, even my employer's childcare/preschool has a 1year waitlist (whether trying to admit newborns or preschool age). Fortunately, my situation allows for the option of waiting, as my husband stays home and cares for them. However, we are living in a neighborhood where the waiting list and costs of even 1/2 day preschool (~$500/for 3 1/2 days/week) alone price us out of preschool for out twins. My salary alone does not cover the cost of living and preschool together, and the work my husband would do wouldn't be enough to cover full day preschool (~20K/year for both of my kids), so we may have to wait until we can relocate (something we've been attempting for 2 years now in this awful market). I can't tell you how inept and 'down' I feel knowing that my hard work can't even pay for my children to attend preschool--a milestone that I never thought they'd miss out on since it's something I did and seems like the 'normal' thing to do. Really gets me down sometimes.

Thanks for the info SKL. You did help relieve some of my worry.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Meredith on 24th January 2010
Wow, that's quite a long waiting list!

I am not sure what the average is, but I do believe a fairly high percentage still don't go to preschool before KG. And I don't think that's a problem, as long as they have some opportunity to learn how to deal with other kids & adults.

So I assume your question is, what is the average age among kids who do go to preschool. I would guess around 4.0, but that's just a guess. A lot of people start at 2.5-3, while another whole group just want to get in one year before KG, just to get the child used to what he has coming. And in both groups, many don't go full-time / every day.

I started my kids between 2.5 & 3 because they needed to be in some kind of "care" full-time, and it was clear they were more than ready for academic preschool, as my youngest could have probably passed a KG entrance exam at 2.5. They were used to most of the things done at preschool, except for spending all day in a group of 8-12 kids (which has been great for them). If I'd had significant concerns regarding maturity, I might have opted for a different program where they would focus first on emotional/social development. Academics will come pretty easily once the child's brain is sufficiently mature.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by SKL on 24th January 2010