Parenting & Lifestyle for you!!

Is Play school necessary?

What is the right age for Play School?

As a child grows, we as parents get concerned to be the “best”in all the upcoming phases, be it feeding, or downloading mannerisms or even when it comes to schooling. But there are two school of thoughts when it comes to admitting a child into the play school. I see many parents getting confused on what is the right age for Play school? Ah, let me clear here, I’m not talking of formal school, rather the Kindergarten or Play school as a beginner for a child.

I still remember that I used to hear from some relatives that we should get a child enrolled after he turns 3 year or more. But somehow I had a very different opinion in my mind.

My School of thought was due to some points I wanted to address : The sooner the better,

1. We have a nuclear family, so my kid was not expected to be much social.
2. He was growing & wanted some friends along.
3. He has a creative bent and thus me along with him need to learn new creative activities every day.
4. I wanted him to be social and learn “sharing”.
5. He had to be outspoken.
6. Since he is a very active child, I wanted to channelize his energies in some extra curricular activities which were not possible at home.
7. I cannot get him outdoor, indoor play, friends, creative art, all done every day at home, all by myself.

Another school of thought was: Much protective,

1. Kid is too small
2. He may catch infection
3. He may not understand things yet
4. They cannot express their thoughts or body happenings
5. He may feel threatened or introvert
6. Feel neglected among many students
7. Adaptability issues

So here came the confusion, when to enrol a child in play school?

I took the decision that my 7 pointers cannot be addressed by me and my hubby at home. Hence we need a play school for him to open the pandora box that life offers. And I admitted him to play school when he turned 2years.

I thought this was a perfect age since by then,

1. He started loving the company of friends
2. All the time, he wanted to go out and enjoy games, rides
3. He started developing a bond to get ready with his favourite dresses
4. His spoken skills were developing and he wanted to be exposed to much more vocab than me/my husband alone could.

Was the Play school decision at 2year age correct ? How I handled Separation anxiety?

Looking at these developmental phases, we tapped on a school near to us. Zeroing out of play school was difficult, since we wanted quality, more of teacher – kid interaction, good playground, and ample activities. I need to agree that initial 15 days separation anxiety phase was difficult for me and my kid. This was the first time in his 2 years that he was trying to stay away at a new place without mom-dad. But, I was glad, every day taught me a new Parenting lesson with the help of that lovely school. And soon the day came, when my kid bid me goodbye happily to enter his play school premises.

Its been 10months since now, and I feel that I really made a strong good decision.

Changes I see in him due to those 3 hours make me really happy as a mother,

• Its really heartening to see him enjoying the company with his “new friends” everyday.
• I see him taking the lead even in the social gatherings with kids smaller or even elder
• The way he has started loving sports is awesome, I have to play “Football” in my lobby everyday for atleast 45min daily [side effect, lol].
• He shares his things with the friends and surrounding people.
• He is so apt to show his gratitude.
• A secret, it seems somedays, even my vocab is enhancing. I find he has gone chatterbox.
• Awareness to his surroundings has increased immensely.
• His cognitive skills are developing on a super rate & I have to find ways to engage him at home [yes, I do cheat some directives from school activities]
• My adorable “Picky eater” from complete 2 years has become a munchkin asking for food himself. What a happiness it brings to a mothers heart, I swear.
• I see his fine motor skills developing much ahead of kids at home at this age.
• He is for sure going extrovert, when he puts his points clearly in front of others. I’m sure he’ll rock the stage in next Annual Function.

Things were crystal clear to me, I opted for another school of thought and I’m really happy now.

Hey friends, what were the decisive factors in your case? Which age you felt was good for your kid to start play schooling and why? Why not let’s have a discussion here and help many mama’s trying to find an answer to it!

Happy learning!