# Morning vs afternoon preschool



## katy1310

Hello

Just after some opinions really. I can't decide whether to put Sophie down for mornings or afternoons when she starts preschool. I have been making some lists of pros/cons for each. 

Mornings - pros:

Gets us up and moving nice and early
Gets us used to the morning routine for school
She'd be home around 12 and we'd have the whole rest of the day to do things together
FIL can help with getting her to and from pre-school 2 mornings out of 3

Mornings - cons:

Sophie can be slow in the mornings, pottering with her toys and doesn't like to be rushed and it's nice to have that time when she doesn't HAVE to be rushing for school
She totally hibernates in the winter and doesn't even get up till 9 sometimes on the cold dark days - I know she'll have to when school time comes but right now it's not compulsory and I feel it's a shame to force it
The session is an hour longer and I'm really dreading her going at all - it's DH who is pushing for her to go

Afternoons - pros:

It's only 2 hours, we'd have till 12.45pm to do things and she'd be home by 3.15 so we could still do things
It might not feel as "school routiney" 
The sessions are quieter and apparently really lovely (according to another mum)


Afternoons - cons:

I might feel like I'm hanging around all morning waiting for pre-school then by the time she's back home again, that's the day gone
We would probably continue to be slow in the mornings so we'd end up just losing our days altogether
Problems with transport - FIL works in the afternoons and there are no buses at the right times, and it's 2 miles so quite far to walk, although do-able.

I think at the moment I'm leaning towards mornings - the big thing that's kind of putting me off though is the thought of the early school-y routine when I feel like she's still little and shouldn't be worrying about things like that till she absolutely has to! But then it would get us moving and as it is, we never do much in the mornings, it's usually lunchtime till we are getting round to doing anything and I guess I could at least use the time in the mornings to clean and get everything organised so I could devote the afternoons entirely to her, rather than trying to fit in cleaning when she's here, and feeling guilty for not playing all the time!

I would appreciate any opinions - thank you :flower:


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## _Vicky_

Mornings for me 100% - but then I and my boys are morning people I used to be out walking the dogs at 6.30am pre children lol so probably not the beat person to ask. 

Are you doing every day? If not then a few mornings would give her slow and fast days? Or if you are going every day then can you mix it up? X


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## seoj

I was pondering the same with my LO starting day care in July. Just two days a week (1/2 days)- but her nap time made that decision easy. LOL. As I can either take her when I leave for work- and MIL will pick her up at 11:30 (right before nap) or drop her off at 12 and pick her up on my way home from work... obviously I don't want to drop her off right at her nap time. So mornings it is! 

Personally, I would pick mornings also- just so the day get's started off with a routine, and isn't broken up so much- if that makes sense. Then you get her and have the rest of the day to do stuff ;) Plus, although I understand your concern about getting ready in the am and what not- I think, for me too, we will get into a good routine and just prepares them earlier on for that change in the future. But it's just a few days to start. Just my two cents though.


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## Natsku

I would pick afternoons because me and Maria are really not morning people but I think mornings are probably the better option when I think about it (laziness wins with me though!)


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## katy1310

Natsku said:


> I would pick afternoons because me and Maria are really not morning people but I think mornings are probably the better option when I think about it (laziness wins with me though!)

We are totally not morning people either - my instinct says pick afternoons but then mornings would give me a kick up the bum to get moving and then we could actually do something constructive in the afternoons! I can just imagine us continuing to be really slow in the mornings, doing nothing much, showers late, lunch, preschool and all of a sudden it's 3.30 and where has the day gone?! I think afternoons would work well for me if we lived really near the school and if I could guarantee myself to get up really early!

DH wants her to eventually go 4 mornings/afternoons a week but we will start off slow and build up to that over quite a while. If I had my way I'd probably leave it at 2-3 just to get her used to being away from me and used to the school atmosphere etc xx


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## louandivy

I def recommend mornings - Ivy goes two afternoons a week and it is kind of a nightmare, its impossible to get her to nap properly before a session but she often gets so tired just after lunch, plus its harder to do activities in the morning!


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## Nats21

We picked mornings for Callums school nursery and luckily got them, hes due to start september. I just thought it'd be easier as we'd have the rest of the day to do what we liked and not have to rush back from something cos nursery was due to start. Also even though he doesn't nap in the day anymore he will occasionally still have one and if hes tired after nursery then the morning session means he can still have a nap if needed. Plus he'd be more alert for the morning session whereas in the afternoon he may be more tired xx


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## Jchihuahua

I chose mornings for Daisy and it works well for us. I didn't want afternoons at all.


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## Jade--x

Me and my LOs are not morning people either so my preference would normally be afternoons, but my LO starts school in September and my other LO starts nursery so I've chose mornings because I'm going to have to be up, ready and out to take my oldest anyway and it saves me having to make 4 trips a day.


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## x Michelle x

I'd pick mornings but we are morning people and do most of our activity in the mornings, it fits in well around her brothers nap. 
Tabitha is starting at play group one morning a week next month, then we will be slowly building up to 5 mornings once her funding kicks in next year. As much as I'm looking forward to it, for her to have some more interaction with others and for me and her brother to get some alone time I'm dreading it at the same time! 
I mean I am more than happy for her granny, auntie, my friend to have her for a morning, afternoon and they even spend a night away a month at my parents but it just seems different going to an actual group on her own lol! 
On a side note, I think you should attach a camera to her when she does go cos I can only imagine the amount of hilarious things she will say to the other kids lol!


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## aimee-lou

Any ability for her to stay all day? Earl hated doing mornings/afternoons as it meant leaving his friends or only getting a short amount of time to play. He'd been used to going to a CM for 8-10 hours a day so going 9-3 with a lunch box suits him brilliantly. He only does 2 days a week too, so we get the rest of the week to be completely lazy lol :thumbup:

If i had to choose though I'd go for mornings but only for 3 days a week. It's not compulsory at the moment, so sending him full time really makes no sense to me as he's not even 4 yet and has a whole year until he starts school...may as well make the most of it! :shrug:


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## babydevil1989

We are really not morning people but chose mornings for toby as it means he finishes at 12 twice a week so we have the whole afternoon together.
Xx


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## RedRose

We chose mornings because Lily gets tired in the afternoon. I think that you should go for afternoons to start with as it sounds like it would suit Sophie better. If you find it's not working as well as you'd like then I'm sure you can switch it to mornings or a couple of full days in the next term :)


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## katy1310

Thank you for all the replies. 

Aimee-Lou - I'm not really keen to send her for full days at all, because she's never been away from me at all really, apart from an afternoon with her grandparents here and there (which feels so different from sending her away to preschool :haha:) I don't want to send her at all, it's DH who is insisting. I want to enjoy our time together before education is compulsory! I do take her to groups and she does ballet, so she has interaction with other children. 

I know pre school will be good for both of us, to get us used to being apart before proper school starts, and not be straight in at the deep end, but I would much rather she just did a couple of afternoons I think. DH is saying that "four days is what we agreed" but I don't remember agreeing to that! I wish I could convince him that a couple of afternoon sessions would be fine and that plenty other people do that....

DH doesn't work Mondays so I'd be happy for her to do Monday afternoon so we could do the food shop without her getting bored, then Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons and that would feel enough. 

I don't honestly think I'm ready to do mornings and the whole schooly routine before we have to but I know that would get it out of the way and give us the afternoons free...I really just don't know. 

I definitely like the idea of attaching a video camera to her so I can see what Sophie-isms she comes out with! 

I'm just not ready for her to go at all :( 

I'm also stressing about how to get her there if we did the afternoons (FIL can only help in the mornings) because there's no way she could walk two miles each way without being carried half the time - would the buggy still be acceptable for taking her to preschool even at 3.5? If it was only a couple of afternoons, my parents would help but I don't want to tie them down to every day when they're retired and meant to be doing things for themselves by this point! 

I think if I had a car, the afternoon sessions would be the obvious choice for us but it's the thought of how to get there and back without taking up half the day!

She already goes to playgroup there on Friday afternoons 1-3 but I'm with her for that.

x


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## katy1310

RedRose said:


> We chose mornings because Lily gets tired in the afternoon. I think that you should go for afternoons to start with as it sounds like it would suit Sophie better. If you find it's not working as well as you'd like then I'm sure you can switch it to mornings or a couple of full days in the next term :)

Ooh are you allowed to switch if you find it's not working? 

I do think afternoons would suit Sophie a lot better. I just wish I had a way of getting her quickly there and back so it didn't take up the entire day. x


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## katy1310

Oh and the other thing is, I am wanting to try to train to be a primary school teacher (even though I'm 37 - hope it's not too late!) and the head teacher has said I can go and help in some of the classrooms to get some experience, so perhaps if I put Sophie in the afternoon sessions, I could spend the time in a class in the big school rather than trailing back home in between and that would work in nicely? I really would love her just to do 3 afternoons, it's just getting DH to see that it would be ok that's the issue! He already wanted her to start after Easter as soon as she turned 3 (she was 3 in March) but I managed to talk him out of that because I felt it was far too soon - she was 13 weeks premature and I already had to hand her over to other people to look after her for the first 3 months of her life, and I just wasn't ready to hand her over again when she wasn't even meant to be 3 till the middle of June!


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## AP

We picked afternoons for the first year and moving to mornings for the second. It's only because her support worker is moving to mornings but the pro is that she might be ready from school. (we will probably defer her for a year though )


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## Rachel_C

We're not morning people at all but LO goes to the morning sessions at nursery, 5 days a week (no option to do fewer days). It has worked out really well - it is sometimes a pain to get up early enough but I make sure we all wake up around 7am and we only have to leave at 8.40am so it gives the kids (and me!) plenty of time to be sleepily stumbling around. When LO gets home at 12, we have lunch and then we have the rest of the day free which is lovely. At the weekend, we do so much less because we laze around all morning, then start getting up and by the time we're actually ready to go anywhere it's nap time for my youngest! We used to be like that every day so nursery has really helped energise us.

I was worried about how LO would cope with suddenly having to wake up early as both of the kids used to sleep till 9-10am every day. I planned to slowly start getting her up earlier but she was ill so spent a lot of time in bed the week before she started, but she was still fine when we suddenly started 7am wake ups.


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## special_kala

We do mornings.

I think its all good practice for school which will come around very quickly and i would feel really limited in what we could do in the day if i had to think River starts preschool later today iykwim.


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## special_kala

River only does 3 days a week 9-1. She will only start doing 5 days when she has to start school next september.

The pushchair thing is completely up to you, dont worry about people judging you for using a buggy, thats a long walk for a little person especially as pre school will knacker her out too.


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## dani_tinks

We picked mornings for Jake. He goes 3 mornings a week (Mon, Tues & Weds)


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## hattiehippo

I personally would do mornings because its a good routine to get into for school and you then have the rest of the day free still. But Tom does 3 full days at nursery as I work so he's used to being up and out by 8.15am. He does love the other 2 lazier mornings though!

I still take Tom's buggy if its more than a 20 min walk cos he Will moan to be carried and he's just too heavy now. I would def use the buggy in your situation especially as she's going to be tired at the end of a session.


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## hellohefalump

I would have done mornings but we ended up with afternoons because there weren't any places! He was extremely tired for the first few weeks but he's got used to it now and afternoons is working well for us now


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## Mum2b_Claire

Ruby does 3 afternoons. Works well, if she did mornings I'd find it tough to fill every afternoon with stuff, whereas doing nothing much or a toddler group works well for us in the morning.


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## ellismum

Mornings here too! 5 mornings a week.

Never considered afternoons, we need to get into a routine for school so noes was a good a time as any to start :)


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## amym

I wanted afternoons (1-5) so we could go to toddler groups (which tend to be morning based) but nursery have said that afternoons tend to be v quiet... all their creative activities etc are done by about 2pm and then it is much more free play etc. We have compromised with 11-3 so we can do most of the toddler group if we want to go.


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## louandivy

Also 37 def isn't too late to go into teaching - my OH is a Maths teacher and quite a few of his colleagues only retrained as teachers in their mid-thirties :) afternoons are definitely doable, I would just prefer mornings as ivy is still a bit funny with naps, and I like to be out and about as early as possible. It is nice to be able to toddler groups in the morning though!


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## _Vicky_

My boys only do two mornings ATM - they started after Easter like your LO they have never been away from me and I was sick to my stomach at the thought of it!!! I think the time was right for them - not me i wanted them to myself forever! 

They start five mornings in September which I feel is the perfect build up to school a year later. I think going from nothing to
School all day every day would be too much.

Xxxx


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## PitBullMommy

Mine both do afternoon and I love it. They don't have to wake up early, and neither do I. Charlotte likes to sleep in, so that was a very big thing for us picking PM.


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## katy1310

Thank you so much for all your replies - and I'm very glad to know I'm not the only one who feels sick at the thought of her going! 

I think afternoons would work best for us, but it's just how to get there that's the issue. I wouldn't mind walking if it wasn't every time but it would take an extra hour and a half out of our day. If only I could drive and had a car, it wouldn't be an issue in the slightest! 

Can I just ask those of you whose children are already in preschool - what hours/how many sessions did you start with and how did you build up? I would love just to send her maybe Mon Tues Wed and have her at home Thurs Fri but DH is insisting on 4 sessions for some reason. Is it quite normal to just send them for say 3? All I want out of it is to give her a chance to mix with others/do some activities we don't do already/get used to being away from me. I don't feel that she needs almost a whole week at it but I need to convince DH that people don't always send them to so many sessions!!!!! 

LouandIvy - thank you for your reassurance re teacher training - I always regretted not doing a PGCE straight after Uni. xx


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## JakesMummy

Our preschool has set afternoons for the first year (2.5 year olds to 3) then the second year they do mornings. Worked out well for us, as this year he has to get into a routine of mornings as he starts reception come september. My youngest was 2 in April. She will do two afternoons come September at preschool, and ill add another day in the spring. By next September she will do mornings and 4/5 days a week. Hope this helps somewhat!

I would do afternoons if you have a choice. But like a PP said, the only thing that can be a nuisance is if your LO is used to having a nap.


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## hellohefalump

Mojo used to go to childminder once a week then when he got his funding we went straight in to the 15hrs that are funded that's 3 hrs a day all week. As I said he was really tired the first few weeks but now he's used to it and he's fine


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## beth_terri

Definitely mornings. Children and more awake/alive and ready to learn in the mornings. I'd also feel like his day has been wasted if we waited all morning then took him to afternoon school.

(My mums a teacher and she said in her experience working with the nursery class the morning children definitely do better than the afternoon children) 

:)


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## katy1310

I think I'm getting towards thinking afternoons...she doesn't nap any more and hasn't for a few months now, so the nap won't interfere with anything. It's nice not to have to rush in the mornings and we can still get plenty of hours to do something and still be there for 1pm. x


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## mummy_ellie09

I didn't get to choose between mornings and afternoons. Josh goes 5 mornings a week 9-12. It was easier than I expected cause the toddler group he goes to on a Tuesday afternoon is in the same place. So that day he does pre-school and lunch club, half an hour doing nothing (just so they can set up lol) and then back for toddlers in the afternoon. I take the puschair that day seeing as he's out the house from 8.45 til at least 3.15/3.30 so I don't see why they'd have a problem you taking Sophie in hers :)


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## ay2808

My LO is younger than yours (20 months) but she does 2 afternoons at nursery. We are not morning people (DH doesn't get up for work til 8 so there is no point anyone being up any earlier!) and I am freelance and most of my work is afternoon/evening. We have a nice leisurely morning playing together and sometimes go to the swings on the way. I don't feel it is a wasted day as we spend quality time together. When LO gets her funded hours we might look at one or two morning sessions as well but I think you have to work out what's best for you as a family. I know ours has a 1 month notice policy for any changes (subject to availability). It might be worth having a chat with them to see what the options might be.


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## katy1310

ay2808 said:


> My LO is younger than yours (20 months) but she does 2 afternoons at nursery. We are not morning people (DH doesn't get up for work til 8 so there is no point anyone being up any earlier!) and I am freelance and most of my work is afternoon/evening. We have a nice leisurely morning playing together and sometimes go to the swings on the way. I don't feel it is a wasted day as we spend quality time together. When LO gets her funded hours we might look at one or two morning sessions as well but I think you have to work out what's best for you as a family. I know ours has a 1 month notice policy for any changes (subject to availability). It might be worth having a chat with them to see what the options might be.

I was thinking this morning about having a chat with them to see what the options are. Sophie goes to playgroup there on Friday afternoons (which is really good as it's held in the preschool room - preschool isn't on on Friday afternoons so the room is free for playgroup) and the head teacher normally pops in at some point during playgroup and goes round having a little chat with each of the mums individually so I'll maybe have a word with her tomorrow. x


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## PitBullMommy

Charlotte goes 5 days a week. She started at age 4, and since their preschool is in the actual school system, she had to go every day. She is there from 1225-1515. Not bad, it's actually pretty perfect. Any longer and she would be exhausted when she got home. As it is, some days she is pretty grumpy and worn out. 
Austin only goes 2 days a week, Mon/Wed, same hours, but he went in at age 3 because he is autistic and only got approved for those days. This coming fall he will be exiting the special education program (yay! he met all his goals!) and will be going 5 days a week, afternoon, same hours as Charlye goes now.


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## DaisyBee

Megan starts preschool in September. Ours works differently here as we can't add additional days. Our options were tues, thurs either 8:30-11, tues, thurs 12:30-3, or mon, wed fri from 8:30-11. 

We chose tues thurs am. I know Megan loves "school" as we go to some early childhood classes with the preschool teachers and 1/2 the time I am in another classroom with the other parents while she is with the teachers and kids. I worried about too many days being too much for her. I know she could handle it for a week or 2, but there is no break til next summer. The year after she will have the option for same hours but 3-4 days a week with only 4 year olds.

The other kids in her class will all be there the same hours, so it's not like she will be missing out.

We picked morning just because I thought maybe if she is worn out she could rest/ nap a bit afterwards. But I've just spoken to a few mothers that we do playdates with, and they all chose afternoons. One friend - her daughter doesn't even wake til 9-10 am so if she would nap it is late afternoon, she goes to bed late as well.

And there is no way Megan would walk 2 miles after preschool! That's a meltdown waiting to happen for us.


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## bubbles123

I chose afternoons, he goes everyday 1-4. It was for loads of reasons: It takes ages to get ready in the morning so didn't want to rush (this is mainly because of the baby who will be oldet by the time my son goes to school and quicker to get ready), he goes to several morning toddler groups he loves and I wanted him to still be able to go to those, I always go out in the mornings rather than the afternoons so it means he goes out with me in the morning and pre school in the afternoons and finally afternoons are less popular so we got a bigger choice of pre school so he could go to our favourite.


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## tommyg

Mornings, if you go for afternoons yoir days will disappear on.you.


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## ay2808

In regards to number of days. As LO already goes to play group on Friday could you suggest this counts towards a 'school day'. So 3 pre school days, a play group day and a full day with mummy!


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## RachA

For us mornings work out best. My two both had/have their naps in the afternoon and they are late enough that we could never move them to before lunch. 
I also liked the fact that we get the session done and then we have the rest of the day to do stuff. So at the moment DD finishes at 12 and we can go down to the beach for a few hours. I'd never be able to take her to the beach in the morning and get her to Playschool for 12/13.


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## katy1310

Thanks everyone for all your replies :) Sophie and I were at playgroup in the preschool building this afternoon from 1-3 so I was trying to imagine what it would be like if that was our routine every day and I actually think I'd prefer mornings. I know that when you HAVE to get up and out, you can do it! My mum gave us a lift there today, and I walked back, with her in the buggy. It took us 45 minutes so finishing at 11.45, we'd be home for 12.30. As it is just now, with our slow lazy mornings, we are never doing anything before 12.30 anyway. Also, her little friend is probably going to be going mornings so that's something to consider too. xx


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