An Idiot's Guide to Starting School?

My son will be 3 in July and I'd definitely like to enroll him in whatever kind of nursery or preschool that's available. We're low-income and my brother-in-law keeps insisting that I can enroll him in preschool right now at no cost, but doesn't say who to contact or even what I should be looking for. I'd love to get him enrolled somewhere straight away so he can have some social interaction with someone other than just me, but I have no idea where to even start.  We live literally across the street from a "Junior Infant and Nursery School," but I don't know if this is what I need. I exchanged emails with someone from my local children's center a few months ago, but they were entirely unhelpful.

Can anyone point me in the right direction as far as what I need to do to get him enrolled somewhere? Does anyone know if I can get him involved in something right now that's free, or do we have to wait until he's 3? Thanks for any info!

I would look at this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/parenting/childcare/ maybe especially this one:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/parenting/childcare/available_playgroups.shtml
Here is more about what you're entitled to with a 3 or 4 year old:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/parenting/childcare/paying_help34.shtml
I think its a good primer.

Thanks. I think I'd seen that link before, but I still can't find anything specific about enrolling under 3's anywhere.

make some calls to local daycares/playgroups or call the council. I *think* you have to wait until he's 3 for free placement under that programme but you may qualify under the other "paying help" links in that BBC parenting site before he's 3. Read through all the navigation links on the side. There is help for working parents, lone parents, students, etc. However, if you are a SAHM there is likely not any assistance until the one he can get at 3. I'm not an expert though so take this with a grain of salt.

I've called and emailed the children's center here but they never respond or call back. All I can find on the council web site is this (http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/community/education-learning/child/childcare.shtml) which appears to focus on childcare rather than education. Is it referring to preschool? I don't want to waste an expensive phone call and being on hold forever to find I've called the wrong department, haha.

well i *think* that unless you fall into one of these categories:
http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/community/education-learning/child/parents/fundingparents.shtml
then you won't get any help unless you have a 3 or 4 year old and can take advantage of the free part time place.

I know daycare is expensive. I had an infant and a 2 year old when I moved there and was paying as much for childcare as my rent and that wasn't even full time! I feel your pain. We would have got the 3 year old funding if we had stayed in the UK but I think it starts at the 1st term starting AFTER they turn 3. So, we left in August 2008 and we would have got the funding that fall.

According to http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/community/education-learning/child/parents/nef.shtml:
you'll get the funding in 1st September (or the start of the autumn term) for birthdays in this range:1st April and 31st August   

That's one of the things I was confused about-- we receive working and child tax credits, but I'm a stay-at-home mom, so it's not like we need childcare out of necessity for him. I just want him to be able to interact with other children his age and be able to develop his social skills more. I wish my brother-in-law would have been more specific! But I think his wife was working when their youngest who was under 3 started some sort of school, so that may be why they qualified. I'd find it hard to believe that nursery would be free if there was a non-working parent.

you'll get the 3-4 year old stuff regardless of working or not but yeah i would ask them more about the stuff they think you're entitled to now. If you find something please post it! I'm sure others can benefit from it! Good luck!

hey how about seeing if you have playgroups made up of other moms around rather than in a childcare setting. Those might be free or a nominal fee. It might take more effort and creative thinking but you can get exposure for your LO without daycares. Hopefully others will pop in with ideas.

If he was an only child, that'd be ideal, but I also now have a very grouchy 9-month-old and no car or double stroller, so the only thing that would really work is something that he'd be going to and staying on his own for a couple hours (I think it's 15 hours a week for the 3-4 year old thing).

Here's a bit more info about early learning and playgroups:  http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Preschooldevelopmentandlearning/NurseriesPlaygroupsReceptionClasses/DG_10016103 and offsetting the cost.

If you're looking for something for both of your children to be involved in, but don't want to pay a mint you may want to have a look at NetMums to see what playgroups, nurseries and preschools are in your area, even if it's just a group that meets once or twice a week, most playgroups only cost about a £1-2 either per child or for both together (usually most have a set fee for one child, with a reduced rate for additional children), this way you get some adult interaction as well.     http://www.netmums.com/home/home/ - One thing to be wary of with NetMums is that if you live in a strange area (like I do, postally we're under Sheffield, Council-wise under Rotherham (so's our village listing  )...) you'll have to manually get yourself to your local page to find what's really on in your area.   

Is there a SureStart in your area?  In my area, they run a playgroup for 2-3 yr olds.  When my daughter was in it, it was 3 afternoons a week, from 1-3.  Maybe they have something like that in your area?

You can get a certain amount of free hours per school term at a local nursery (private) the amount is something like £500 a term, that covers (I can't exactly remember) something like 15 hours a week. But I was a playgroup junkie when my son was really little. Also, my son is a January baby, but he started school this past September at our locatl CofE School, its a half day, but he loves it.

DirectGov's website on childcare assistance for 0-5 year olds: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Childcare/DG_181206

Free early learning for three and four year olds
Three and four year olds in England are entitled to a minimum 12.5 hours of free learning per week for 38 weeks of the year. This can take place in nurseries, playgroups, preschools or at their childminders.

This will rise to 15 hours a week from 2010, delivered flexibly over a minimum of three days.

I know about the 3-year-old thing, I'm just trying to find out if there's anything like what my brother-in-law said, which was for under-3's.