his next steps

We are in the very fortunate position 

that since our son was born

I have been able to stay at home with him.

I have relished every second with him

watching him change and grow

watching him learn new skills.

I've been there for first steps and first words

and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

But in the not too distant future

my little man will turn three.

And three is a milestone age I think,

where they leave the baby and toddler years behind

and he'll become a proper little boy.

With his third birthday,

(or rather the term after his birthday)

comes his funded childcare hours.

And while we are lucky enough not to need childcare for him

we are keen to begin preparing him for life at school,

to get him used to spending time,

making friends,

and learning new skills

away from mummy's watchful eye.

I was a reception class teacher

before I became his mummy,

so the early years curriculum isn't something which is unfamiliar to me.

I know from years of doing induction for new intake

and visiting the nurseries and preschools of our new pupils,

that while all places work to the early years foundation stage curriculum,

the provision varies massively.

The difference between a private nursery taking children from birth throughout a working day

and a preschool which only takes children for 3 hour sessions from 2 years or more 

is enormous.

For us, sending our son to a nursery or preschool

isnt about education as such.

I have no doubt he will learn lots while he is there

but I don't care whether they will help him to learn to read,

or teach him phonics and basic maths.

I can, will and am already supporting those at home myself.

I feel pretty qualified to be teaching him the foundations stages of academia.

I want to send him to nursery or preschool to learn other things,

to learn about making friends that I haven't chosen for him,

to learn how to negotiate, problem solve and share with children his own age,

to learn about communicating with adults who aren't friends or family.

We decided (I say we, it was more me and my husband simply agreed)

that a preschool setting would be more suited to him

and to our family,

than nursery provision.

We wanted the shorter session times,

the term time only attendance,

and also the structure of the sessions that preschool tends to provide.

With the way that our local authority work their reception school entries

and the knock-on effect that has on early years provision,

we were left with the decision to send him to preschool in September

either 2013 or 2014.

There was no possibility of him starting at the point where his funding kicks in,

because spaces do not become available mid year.

And with him only just two and half in September 2013,

it simply felt too early

for him and for me.

By September 2014 he will be three and a half,

and one year away from starting full time school,

so next September just feels like the right time for us as a family.

We visited four preschools all together

and were pretty amazed at how different the atmosphere was in them all.

The first two we visited on one day

and we visited the two preschools that had come highly recommended 

by local mums and friends I'd asked.

The first one my husband really liked,

but I really did not.

The second one I really liked

and my husband did not.

We started to worry that we weren't going to agree on anywhere.

We visited the third and fourth preschools on another day.

The third one seemed nice,

a sort of midway ground between the first and second ones we had seen.

We probably would have been happy enough to send him there.

But then we visited the fourth one.

And within minutes we just knew.

I couldn't tell you exactly what it was about that one preschool over the others

because it was everything and nothing that swung it for us.

We loved the environment, the staff were so warm and knowledgable,

our little man clearly felt at home as he straight away got involved in the activities going on.

I had decided really quickly that it was the one,

and as a final seal of approval,

our little man had such a lovely time

that he cried when we told him it was time to go.

I can't tell the relief it is to have our decision made

to have handed in our application

and to know that we are sending our precious boy off to a preschool

that we are 100% happy about.

I had been really anxious about him going to preschool,

but I can genuinely say now

that I just excited for him to start,

I just know he is going to love it.

Don't get me wrong,

I will definitely be one of the mummies having a big blub in the car

when I drop him off and leave him on that first morning next year.

But being confident in our decision makes that feel a lot easier.

So until then I'm going to make the most of the eight months I have left

having my little man at home with me, learning with me.

He's so incredibly interested in learning everything

that it would be impossible for me not to support that.

And I am going to relish the eight months I have left

of getting to witness every single first,

every milestone,

every new skill.

Until the day when someone else will get to witness those for me,

and I'll just get to be that ridiculously proud mummy in the playground.

The fantastic art case that the little man is using in some of these photos
was kindly sent to us by Kiddicare.
It is such a fantastic versatile toy
and is brilliant for encouraging his learning.
It comes with a magnetic board on one side
and a peg board on the other;
plus all the coloured pegs and magnetic letters and numbers you need.
I love that it folds away like a laptop
and the little guy feels so grown up when he plays with it.