Health visitor or doctor?

Here here Weby!  Completely agreeing with you there. Let them enjoy being children and learning through play!  This girl who counts to 50, reads a bit and spells at aged 3 is probably going to bored out of her mind in Reception and year 1.  This age is for instilling a wanting to learn, a curiosity, an inquisitive mind, set the foundation to build formal learning on.

Sorry to have sidetracked the thread a bit!

Just thought I'd give an update and put a bit of closure to the issue that sent me to the health visitor clinic in the first place---
My child finally used the potty last night for the 1st time. We've been encouraging him for about 2 months now. I'm such a proud Mama! I swear, this is more exciting to me than his 1st steps...LOL!

And I totally agree with the advice about letting kids be kids, for sure! I'm still a bit on the fence about even sending him to preschool, to be honest. I'm a (former) primary teacher myself and it seems like they start school as early enough as it is here in the U.K.. So there's a part of me that thinks that since he'll be expected to be in reception fulltime starting when he's 4 and a half, there's not much time left for him to just have fun.

If we did send him, it would strictly be for the social opportunities. But I think I'd still like to have the flexibility to get up and "go" while he's still young and excited about everything and not really needing to go to school, at least by any sort of legal requirements. So we can do fun things like fly to the States for a month (like we're doing in a week's time) or take the train to London for the day, etc.

Oonablah,

I can understand your reluctance but trust me as an Early Years Practitioner when I say that preschool/playgroup/nursery in the UK is not "school".  I'd be more than happy to explain all about the Early Years Foundation Stage and how kids through reception (and into year one in some areas) are learning through play not through formal instruction. 

At the very least I'd send him 1-2 sessions a week purely for the social development.  It's so crucial that they learn how to interact with their peers, how to listen (to stories etc.), and just generally mix with others outside their own family before starting reception.  That still gives you lots of flexibility for day trips etc.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info.

Thanks again for the info, Slices

I'm definitely more on the "yes" side of the fence than "no" when it comes to preschool/playgroup since I know it has extraordinary social benefits. I'm just hoping to make some progress on those pesky waiting lists.