congratulations on having her potty trained already! FSD will be 3 in august and is no where near...as for pre-school, they can go as early as 3 but it depends on bday. one preschool said no bc her bday is at end of aug and they want u to be 3 by beginning of aug. but its yr choice when u send her and i think 3 is the earliest but 4 is acceptable too. also i think if they go at 3 it might be like pre-preschool. maybe they will go for 2 yrs then.

Depending on where you live and what kind of program you're looking for, there could be a waiting list. I've known folks who put their unborn children on waiting lists for good preschools as soon as they found out they were pregnant due to the waiting lists being so long! My oldest started preschool when he was three. He was potty-trained, could write and recite his letters and numbers and was learning to read, so off he went. He needed it. He was ready. It was a private preschool and they didn't go by birthdate/age so much as by ability. My youngest, though, didn't go to preschool. By the time I had her, I had become a SAHM, so I just kept her home with me and we have been working on preschool-type activities for a couple of years now. She'll start Kindergarten in the fall.

♥ Georgia, the un-stepmom ♥

"Good men don't just happen. They have to be created by us women." (from ROSEANNE)

My BD16 started pre-school at about 3 1/2 and went for 2 1/2 years. My BD12 started at 4 and went for 2 years. BD7 started at 4 and went for one year. All of my kids have a birthday in November or December so they were all going on 6 when they started kindergarden. Pre-school is a good thing but kids need to be socially and mentally ready to start. Mine could not start until they were potty trained which I totally understand.

There are lots of choices out there and you have to choose the one that works for you and your child.

My son, now 14, started preschool about 2. He was becoming bored with me (SAHM) and needed more stimuli. He learned early how to get along with adults who weren't his parents and how to get along with groups of children. I ended up working at the preschool because i wasn't ready to be away from him, although he was ready to be away from me. Of course i wasn't in his classroom. It helped consiterably that he not only knew letters, words, colors, reading (basics), recognition of written language, but that he knew how to wait his turn, sceduling, and that he wasn't the only person in the world. He learned how to solve conflicts through verbilization instead of physical actions. I believe having him in so early has helped him become the independant young man he has become. He learned to deal with bullies and meek children before he started kindergarten. This helped tremendously in his learning. By the time he started school, I was involved in the school also, I saw children who had limited or no before school training in these areas.... social interaction learning is just as important as the ABCs. There were children who could not handle situations that social situations bring up because they just haven't been exposed, or had limited exposure to 20 different children from different upbringing styles at one time. Children's minds are a blank canvas, they absorb knowledge like a sponge. There is a balance needed, but early educational and social interactions are beneneficail to the growth of a child.

They have programs for younger and younger kids. They call it pre-K, 2K and 3K. Really what the 2k and 3k are around here is just glorified daycare.

*~So sayeth Nymh~*

Preschool typically is for three year olds. Then Pre-K is for four year olds. My BD4 didn't not attend preschool because she decided to regress on potty training when her little sister came along. But she has done really well in Pre-K, so I don't think it hurt her. The others are right. If it's an all-day program it's really just glorified daycare. My daughter's pre-K is MWF 9-11:30 am, and it's pretty focused on learning during that time.