When To Send Toddler To Preschool?

Frappy is turning 2 soon, and that means it’s time for us to work out the whole education thing and start making decisions. And let me tell you, it’s painful! Painful because we have no clue whatsoever on where to start researching (ignorance! Tsk.); and then there seems to be endless choices out there – preschools, playgroups, nurseries, kindergartens, all kinds of development programs! And then there’s the question of when is the right time to send her to school/centers? Argh! My hair is turning white just thinking about this!

Here’s a little background.

Laikka boss cos I'm bored.

See, right after Frappy turned 1 month old, we started bringing her out with friends, attending church services and activities, and traveling regularly. She is excellent in the socializing department and is not shy with strangers. She loves hanging out with people – girls especially – older than her; and even though she loves playing and talking to children her age or younger, she is not good in being polite as she tends to get rough and would shove the other kid, she means no ill feelings of course, it’s just really embarrassing for us parents when her “please come with me” or “let’s be friends and go play together” is translated into action as grabbing or pushing.

She loves dancing and enjoys action songs. She can imitate the actions pretty well and I find her, erm, sense of tempo (?) is quite good as she can clap her hands according to the beat of any given songs. She is quite the drama princess too with all kinds of impromptu expressions.

She understands and is good with following instructions (only if she wants to. Pfft). She also enjoys “reading” by flipping the pages of books and magazines, and can get very engrossed, if not distracted. When asked to point out a certain object from a pile of flash cards or on a book, she can do so very well too, sometimes she would even pick the wrong object on purpose and then grin cheekily. Oh, and she lurves talking. For example, in the absence of a phone, she would just cup her ear with her hand and goes “huh? HUH? Bah day bah duh gabi orhk? Noh, NOH! Bah dah gah bi ka bir ka bir! Hahahaha!” And no, I kid you not. -.-

Making herself useful. And her mama proud

So anyway, that’s a general picture of who Frappy is at the moment – one pint size dramatic, super friendly, affectionate, talkative, crazily fun and LOUD kid. After some uh, deep soul searching, we are more keen on development programs (and then there’s the decision of what kind of programs to be made. Zzz) so that she will learn some specific skills and also how to interact with kids her age, instead of just chuck her in a preschool for the sake of joining the crowd, you know?

I don’t know! Are we even on the right direction? On one hand I do believe no place can give her the best attention compare with when she’s at home, obviously. All these schools and edu centers are after all, a business. Plus I won’t have her being a toddler for long before having to send her to kindie for good, so why rush it, right? But on the other hand there seems to be nothing exciting at home to occupy her anymore and I feel bad for her. On another hand still, we don’t want her to miss out on joining certain school stuff and do cool kiddie stuff due to parental ignorance. =.=. So. Yeah. Are you still with me? Cos I think I've lost myself somewhere! T___T

Parents out there! What are you guys doing with your toddlers? Clue this clueless momma please!