my little 2.5yr old has decided today she wants to go to school . her big sister 4.5,started in december and goes mornings and the occasional full day when she wants, like yesterday when they went to the zoo. Today my LO asked if she could go as well today but as it’s a bit last minute for the school we are going to see on monday. just for the morning , i did ask if she could try an hr but was told no, a full morning 8.40 - 12.00, i guess otherwise it can be disruptive for the other kids (they think )
I really don’t want her to go as i feel she’s too little but i firmly believe in letting the kids do things when they are ready, so i have no problem if after the first time she hates it and decides she doesn’t want to go back. (fingers crossed)
i would only ever allow 2/3 mornings and really only because of the language (it would be in her 2nd language) which would be good to get more exposure too.
I really believe that 2.5 is too small for school but possibly a couple of mornings if she wants would be ok.
my big concern is if she gets upset, i’m sure they won’t call me.
the fact that she wants to go, goes against everything i believe. I may just sit outside the school for 1.5 hrs and let them know in case she gets upset.
Any advice please.Is this just a case of me needing to let go to allow my child to grow or do i have to be the adult and say no

id let her try it for a couple of mornings, see how it goes, then limit it to say two mornings a week, im sure she will soon rather stay at home with mama, and leting her see you take her wishes into account will only be a good thing x

This means you have done a wonderful job as a parent, you sound so sad but it shows a great amount of confidence in your little one.  Ds would go to nursery now if he could, he isn’t even 2 yet!  What is it about letting her go?  Let her try and if she loves it let her go and expand herself.

It is great when little ones want to spread their bases but sometimes very hard on the parents, sympathies my lovely but best not to hold her back x

If you are not confident about the school that is a different matter, you need to address that with the school, lay out that you want to stay or at least be called if there is a problem.  Good luck.
sarie

Oh I love your reply Sarie x
So true too about her having the confidence that you have given her, be proud mama. Only way to find out is to give it a try - could you stay for the first session anyway to see how she gets on? Usually they allow something like that - or stay for an hour and see how it goes. She may love it, she may not - I’m guessing she’d let you know if she has asked about going.
I hear you on the age, it is young, but if it’s a really fun and enriching environment and something different to home life, it might fulfil a desire in her. I would probably not put her down for more than a couple of sessions a week, only time will tell what you think she is happy with.

I agree with the above comments entirely but….to throw a spanner in the works….we are home schooling our DS,who is 3 at the mo, if he wanted to go to school I would let him, but I would seriously need to consider his own understanding of what school was. I hate the school system in this country for reasons I wont go into here, but DS is too little to understand a lot of my reasonings. At the moment, he just sees the children all playing in the playground and thinks its like going on a play date….until he is old enough to understand our reasonings for not sending him to school, which will be in a couple of years, then I think I would just be offering other ways for him to satisfy his wish to go to school i.e. for DS that is more play dates. Actually, reading that back, its not so much understanding my reasons but just understanding what school is exactly i.e. its not just playing in the playground all day.

Not sure if this helps, but agree she is very little. I know our situations are very different…if she will be going to school eventually then in your situation I would probably let her go, but make sure the school understand your boundaries, that if she is upset what you want them to do etc. Sorry if this is a ramble! x x

Am I missing something?  It’s not actually school though is it.. you are talking about nursery/preschool?
Which isn’t quite the same as “school”, it is or should be, play based.

I think Sarie has hit it on the head, be proud your little one is so confident, and of course at this age, if your little one does decide it’s not for her just yet, well you can take her out for a little while.

Jx

Thank you all, i will let her go on monday as i’ve asked her several times now and she keeps saying she wants to go ‘‘all by myself’’ so we’ll see how it goes. i’m going to take DH along for added back up when i tell them to call me if she gets upset, i’ll be livid if they don’t.
I always assumed because she is extremely attached to me physically and needs lots of hugs and kisses that she would be a nightmare to get into school. i guess all the co sleeping, carrying, gentle parenting has worked and is producing a confident child.
Sarie the reason i don’t really want her to go is because I’m not that confident in the school, i do like it and we looked at many and i think the teachers (except one) all seem nice, but being abroad and in a different place with people with different ideas (everyone sends there child to school from 2.5yrs fulltime 8.40 am - 3.10pm) everyday (except weds, no one does pm’s weds here) there is not that much info sent out about your individual child, we get a little note at the end of the week telling us the topic they all did that week but no personal stuff. not sure how they would do that, if they would even have enough time. i guess the language also makes me feel a little out of the loop.
Joxy , i suppose it is preschool but it’s part of the main primary, very small school 65 kids but i guess they play mostly, will have to find out.
god i sound like i have no idea where i’m sending my girls, i do but there just isn’t that much info and i guess i’m under the impression of not knowing unless i’m seeing with my own eyes.
my oldest really enjoys it and loves her teacher.
i’ll let you all know how it goes. I have to say this is the most difficult part of parenthood so far for me ,letting my girls go to school, but i guess there will be more difficult times ahead

phew, she decided at the last minute she didn’t really want to go in the end. so i’m very happy about that, think we’ll just wait another 6 mths and see then. My friend was telling me this weekend that her 2.5yr old also asked and she went for a morning was fine then the next day cried the whole time so as a result is not going anymore. maybe it’s the age they see there older siblings going and quite fancy the idea but when it comes down to it prefer to stay home with mummy.
yay