Moms of kids in pre-school

[Sloane]

My DD is three and begins pre-school this year, through a bunch of different circumstances, both DH and I have the opportunity to take over a month vacation this fall and I'm wondering how this will affect DD and her school if she misses that much and DH thinks I'm over-reacting. I don't care so much about any learning - it's preschool after all, but I am worried about her potentially feeling left out socially if she comes back and her friends have all formed new bonds without her.  I was a super shy kid and this happened to me (when I was much older), so I'm completely incapable of being unbiased. Team me or Team DH?

[madringal]

At three they make new friends everyday. She will be fine, I'd take the vacation.

[Kristinmo]

She will be fine. At 3 friendships change by the day.

[1confused1]

As my kid's daycare teachers told me, go on vacation, they will still get into college.

[thatgirl2478]

nah, you'll be fine.  my DD1 loves pre school, but she wouldn't have even noticed that she was gone for a month!

[Gato]

It really won't matter.  DD1 was just starting to interact with other kids at 3 but they are still so fluid at that age.  They basically seemed like they were figuring out how to play with each other day-to-day, but had no concept of long term friendships yet.  Kids came and went from her school all the time with hardly a ripple of concern from the other kids. 

[Sloane]

Aug 29, 2015 20:32:12 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

Where would you be going?

We have a vacation home in AZ - easy for us to manage two kids and grandparents are close for babysitting so we can do some adult getaways. 

[themoneytree]

Is the opportunity to take so much vacation at one time something that could happen every year or is this an unusual opportunity? If it's a rare opportunity I would grab it with both hands.

[Sloane]

Aug 29, 2015 20:39:38 GMT -5 themoneytree said:

Is the opportunity to take so much vacation at one time something that could happen every year or is this an unusual opportunity? If it's a rare opportunity I would grab it with both hands.

Pretty rare, I can work remotely but for DH to actually commit to this much time off has pretty much never happened. 

[Sloane]

Aug 29, 2015 20:45:11 GMT -5 @booby said:

Aug 29, 2015 20:36:31 GMT -5 amber said:

Lol omg

I'm here.

She'll be FINE. Your DH is a saint to even be entertaining your weirdness on this. Where are you guys going??

HAHAA, fine! I admit it's a weird hang up I have. I will tell him he's won, but not that he's being nominated for sainthood. 

[TrudyCampbell]

I just got all of the information regarding my daughter's preschool (she's attending for the first time this September) and I was really surprised to see their super strict absentee policy. She would lose her spot in the preschool if we took time off for a vacation. I live in a really competitive area for preschools, so this may not be the case everywhere, but I'd call and check their policies.

[Sloane]

Aug 29, 2015 20:51:49 GMT -5 TrudyCampbell said:

I just got all of the information regarding my daughter's preschool (she's attending for the first time this September) and I was really surprised to see their super strict absentee policy. She would lose her spot in the preschool if we took time off for a vacation. I live in a really competitive area for preschools, so this may not be the case everywhere, but I'd call and check their policies.

This didn't even occur to me - thanks, I'll ask at orientation next week. 

[bab]

She will be fine. Don't think twice about this

[bab]

Aug 29, 2015 20:51:49 GMT -5 TrudyCampbell said:

I just got all of the information regarding my daughter's preschool (she's attending for the first time this September) and I was really surprised to see their super strict absentee policy. She would lose her spot in the preschool if we took time off for a vacation. I live in a really competitive area for preschools, so this may not be the case everywhere, but I'd call and check their policies.

This is unusual. Are you in NYC?

[speckledfrog]

Aug 29, 2015 20:53:21 GMT -5 Sloane said:

Aug 29, 2015 20:51:49 GMT -5 TrudyCampbell said:

I just got all of the information regarding my daughter's preschool (she's attending for the first time this September) and I was really surprised to see their super strict absentee policy. She would lose her spot in the preschool if we took time off for a vacation. I live in a really competitive area for preschools, so this may not be the case everywhere, but I'd call and check their policies.

This didn't even occur to me - thanks, I'll ask at orientation next week. 

I don't think it's common in typical preschools.  As long as you pay for the spot, you should be able to keep it.  I agree with the others that at this age friendships are so fluid and she'll have no problem with that when she gets back.   

[snipsnsnails]

One of DS's classmates last year in his preschool class, went to Hawaii for 4 weeks, and she was fine. It's a crunchy preschool, so they all did a bunch of Hawaiian - based projects and ate pineapple when she got back. Heh.

Really, though, it wasn't an issue and the teachers were great at reacclimating everyone.

[DotAndBuzz]

Go. Don't give it another thought.

 There are a number of families who are first or second generation immigrants at E's school, and they go visit their families back home. Last year kids left for 3-4 weeks to go to New Zealand, Mexico, Germany, and Greece, and Samoa. The kids (both those who traveled, and those who didn't) all thought it was great, because when they came back, they got to tell everyone else about their cool adventures. I'm sure yours could do the same - it doesn't have to be an international trip for it to be super cool to a 3 year old.

[TrudyCampbell]

Aug 29, 2015 20:55:38 GMT -5 bab said:

Aug 29, 2015 20:51:49 GMT -5 TrudyCampbell said:

I just got all of the information regarding my daughter's preschool (she's attending for the first time this September) and I was really surprised to see their super strict absentee policy. She would lose her spot in the preschool if we took time off for a vacation. I live in a really competitive area for preschools, so this may not be the case everywhere, but I'd call and check their policies.

This is unusual. Are you in NYC?

Yes. I guess that explains it!

[Jalapeñomel]

Aug 29, 2015 21:11:26 GMT -5 TrudyCampbell said:

Aug 29, 2015 20:55:38 GMT -5 bab said:

This is unusual. Are you in NYC?

Yes. I guess that explains it!

Ugh.

[keyslover]

Go. We even get one week "vacation" if we give notice. Meaning we do no need to pay for a week if we are gone. Is we took a month, we would just have to pay for 3 weeks.

[hymen]

She will be fine. I'm a teacher and keep my boys home with me in the summer. DS1 has returned every fall with no problems; he picks right back up where he left off with his friends, especially at the ages of 3-4.

[JayhawkGirl]

Travel!!! Take advantage of the flexibility you have now. Three year old social connections are very in the moment. This ability to go on long trips when most families are in school is short lived.

Signed, my husband has two awesome work trips we would've piggybacked onto if not for kindergarten.

[livinitup]

So, you might not go ... so she can maintain her preschool relationships ?


Yeah, it sounds weird when I say it that way, right?

[Sloane]

Aug 29, 2015 22:07:10 GMT -5 livinitup said:

So, you might not go ... so she can maintain her preschool relationships ?


Yeah, it sounds weird when I say it that way, right?

It does now that I've heard from everyone! DD has never been to a daycare and the only programs we do are all parented ones so I'm kind of clueless as to how 3 year olds socialize (clearly). 

[sawyerthedestroyer]

Take the vacation.

[bab]

Aug 29, 2015 21:11:26 GMT -5 TrudyCampbell said:

Aug 29, 2015 20:55:38 GMT -5 bab said:

This is unusual. Are you in NYC?

Yes. I guess that explains it!

I'm out on the island but I hear stories from friends about the preschool rat race. NYC is no joke!!

[ninjabridemom]

Aug 29, 2015 20:55:38 GMT -5 bab said:

Aug 29, 2015 20:51:49 GMT -5 TrudyCampbell said:

I just got all of the information regarding my daughter's preschool (she's attending for the first time this September) and I was really surprised to see their super strict absentee policy. She would lose her spot in the preschool if we took time off for a vacation. I live in a really competitive area for preschools, so this may not be the case everywhere, but I'd call and check their policies.

This is unusual. Are you in NYC?

Our school is not very competitive but does have a wait list b/c of vouchers. Their policy i think is no more than 30 days in a 6m period or you risk losing your spot.

Trudy is yours any vacation at all?? That's bananas.

[cinco]

Definitely take the vacation! It gets so much harder to vacation during the school year when they are older. Missing preschool is NBD.

[poprocks]

My daughter was in a 4's program last year and two different kids left for a month, they both went back to India. The teachers explained where they were and that they would be back, and they picked right up again when they came back. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

[karinothing]

I mean DS has good friends in preschool, but taking a month off would be fine. They have no concept of time and would be happy to see each other when he got back