Can our 2-and-51-week-old get into a 3-year-old preschool in Chicago?
January 15, 2007 12:38 PM   Subscribe

How strict is the "age 3 by September 1st" preschool requirement (in Chicago)?

Our oldest kid turns 3 on September 5. That makes her not yet 2-and-a-half. We are starting to look at preschools (private, on the north side of Chicago).

Everyone thinks their kid is smart, and we are no exception. She is fully potty-trained, she knows all of her letters, her shapes, and her colors, she can identify each of the Beatles, and she can count to 20 (and 10 in spanish). We want to send her to preschool starting in September, but the "3 by September 1" requirement is sincerely limiting our choices.

I intend to call and be nice and see if there is flexibility at the schools we are interested in, but does anyone have firsthand experience getting their almost-3-year-old into preschool?

(Bonus question: can anyone recommend a good, **laid-back**, not obscenely expensive private preschool on the north side?)
posted by AgentRocket to Education (6 answers total)
 
My mother works in a public school in Jersey and generally the deadline is set in stone. You let one person past and the you've got 30 people beating down your door.

If it's a private school and not subject to state law (Are they? IANATeacher), they might wobble a bit. Why not give them a call?
posted by GilloD at 12:52 PM on January 15, 2007


We had a girl in the exact same situation (9/11) and were able to enroll her in a Montessori preschool after the director met her. It was in Highland Park. (Late 1990's) The plan was to do preschool through kindergarten at the Montessori School then switch her to public school (a year ahead of what would have been her class had we adhered to the 9/1 deadline. Alas, we moved to NY where the cutoff is 12/31 so it became a moot point.

Ask and explain your situation to the school's director. They do make exceptions in some cases. Most North SHore public schools won't take a kindergartener born after 9/1, but will take a first grader who has completed kindergarten at a private school. YMMV.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:18 PM on January 15, 2007


I'm in Canada and I have a friend whose son was expelled (!) from preschool after the government found out that he wasn't quite 3.

Why the rush for a standard preschool? You might want to look for a child-centred pre-preschool or some other program designed for kids who are not chronologically old enough for preschool. My son, who is not quite 2, is currently in a pre-preschool program for two-year-olds. However, the same centre also offers a similar program for kids who are "about 3". Because neither program is designated as an official preschool, they get around the legislation requirement.

You might also want to look at play-based programs for kids just under 3. Research shows that learning to read early has no effect on future literacy and that children who learn to read early often lose out on learning other important skills. I don't mean to suggest that you're pushing academics with your child, but taking a look at some of the play-based programs might help you find a program that doesn't have 3 in September as a cut off. My understanding is that there are a few of these pre-preschools out there and that many are still run by well-educated early childhood educators.
posted by acoutu at 2:00 PM on January 15, 2007


If it's a public school - it is almost always set in stone. No common sense or case-by-case logic. It's the government! What do you expect?

-GS-
posted by Gerard Sorme at 5:18 PM on January 15, 2007


Best answer: You know, my first kid was also precociously bright, and several times when he was a toddler, I snuck him into activities that were aimed at slightly older kids--and discovered that smartness is only one factor that influences a kids' readiness to be in an activity. He got a lot more out of activities once he was actually the right age for them.

This was also true when he was 3 and in a co-op preschool two days a week--the kids who were at the young end of the class spectrum weren't as comfortable there as the true 3-year-olds, and the one kid whose mother talked the teacher into letting him in even though he hadn't reached the age cutoff really didn't belong there at all--smart as a whip but not developmentally ready. He suffered.

Where I am (small mid-Michigan city) there are several Montessori schools that have toddler programs. If you really want to put your kid in school so early, I'm sure you can find something that's appropriate.
posted by not that girl at 5:29 PM on January 15, 2007 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. I am an idiot and was thinking that this is her one year to do preschool, and that kindergarten (and then the rest of her life) starts next year. I have since learned that 3-year-old preschool is like a freebie year, where they basically monkey around and learn basic socialization skills.

So I think we will shift our focus to age-appropriate toddler programs.
posted by AgentRocket at 5:51 PM on January 15, 2007


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