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Home › Articles › Development › Off to School We Go

Off to School We Go

Should You Send
Your Toddler to Preschool?

By Lisa A. Goldstein

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Whether or not to send a toddler to preschool is a decision many parents face. For some, it's a no-brainer, while others would prefer to wait or forego it entirely. We asked two moms and an expert to tell us why they feel the way they do about this issue.

Yes!
"I'm a big believer in preschool," says Karen Quinn, a mother of two and former preschool admissions officer in New York City. "Kindergarten has become what first grade used to be, and kids need to have the pre-math and pre-reading skills that nursery schools provide."

The whole area of socialization is not one to be minimized either. "Preschool is usually the first real experience away from home where the child begins to deal with socializing with other children," says Quinn. "Mom is not there to intercede, and the child begins to learn to function in a group as well as one-on-one with other children. They also learn how to relate to other adults. This is also a very important skill as they move through school. Keeping a child out of preschool makes it a lot more difficult for the child to develop these skills. I think they're important tools for dealing with the world."

Quinn admits that it is possible to keep your child home and provide the benefits of preschool. One of her clients was "homeschooling" her toddler and approached it like a full-time job. As a result, Quinn says, he was very bright, friendly and socially well adjusted. "But most of us can't provide that rich of an environment for our child," says Quinn. "Maybe we work full time. Maybe we have other children. Maybe we just aren't the kind of person who would be comfortable teaching her own child or maybe we don't know how.

"If the parent was doing the kind of things my client did or even half of the things she did I'd be comfortable," says Quinn. "I'd just want to know that the child was getting at home what he would be missing from not being in a day-to-day group learning environment. But it takes a very special, committed parent to make staying home as enriching as going to preschool."

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