Is there any need to send babies to Play school ??

Singapore
October 14, 2009 9:53pm CST
Me and my wife usually fight on this topic , she says that we should send our baby to play school to learn new things. While I think that there is no need to send babies to play school to learn , parents itself can devote some time and can give better. We are totally confused on this . What do you suggest?
4 responses
• United States
15 Oct 09
What age is your "baby"? literally a baby or a toddler? if I knew the age I could give a better opinion on this topic.
• Singapore
16 Oct 09
He is 10 months old.
@Raven7317 (691)
• United States
15 Oct 09
Hello! As others have mentioned, it depends on the age of your child and whether there are siblings...BUT, I can tell you about our decision on this matter... We were concerned about 2 things with our son, who's an only child. We were worried about socialization and learning. As a SAHM, we knew he would need to spend time with other children and he would need to adapt to direction/instruction from other adults (for when school started.) At 7 months old, I started taking him to Mommy & Me types of classes. We did many things to socialize him; AquaBabies, Tumblebugs, Mother Goose Mondays (at the library), Nature Drop In Days (at a local Children's museum), not to mention the Community Playgrounds, and there are always free festivals, fairs, and events thrown at library's, museums, and zoos. He also was in a group speech therapy session with other children his age from about age 2... So, by the time he was 3, he was very social! We put him in preschool at 3 YO, 2 days/week, for 3 hours. Now, he's 4 YO, in preschool 3 days/week for 5 hours. He's very social, he listens to and respects other adults, he has structure and variety, and he's active and always stimulated... At his age, this is exactly what he needs... I wouldn't say that a parent can teach a child BETTER than anyone else, just differently - remember, teachers and care providers are specially trained to teach and expand little minds.... I think when the child is an infant/toddler, the parent is the best teacher, but as they grow/age, they need to be taught by different people, in different settings, and in different ways than the parent/home environment... IMHO... I hope I've helped.
@leahsmom (337)
• United States
15 Oct 09
I personally perfer home you know your child better then anyone else.
@malamar (779)
• Canada
15 Oct 09
I think that would depend on a couple of things. How old is your baby? Is he/she an only child? Sometimes, especially for an only child, a day or two a week a play school can help the child socialize and get used to being around and playing with other children. This will help the child adapt to school when the time comes. If you can find a play school you trust, maybe try it one day a week and see how it goes from there.