Alternatives to Preschool

I have the same problem as you- we live in the city too! There is no way my son will be ready at 3 for 5 day preschool! I think that is a lot to throw on a kid all at once.

Wright College has a wonderful early childhood program and the instructor has been working there for 25 years! She has a preschool program. It is very affordable...

I don't know where you live but a few of the other Chicago City Colleges have early childhood programs-

I am planning on doing St. Robert Bellarmine 2 days a week for 2 1/2 hours and Wright 1 day a week for 1 hour.

I have another idea if it makes sense. If you have an idea of where you are going to be living when you move to the suburbs, why not check out pre-schools there? It would be a bit of a drive, but many suburbs have pre-schools with two or three day 3yo programs; and this will give you a chance to meet people there, become familiar with neighborhoods and resources etc. If you think you might want to do this, place a new post asking about pre-school(s) in the suburb you are considering. I know that Evanston, Wilmette, Skokie, Northbrook all have 2 or 3 day programs.

My son started 5 day a week 1/2 days of preschool when he turned 3, and he loves it! I was weary about it being too much for him, but the routine is great! He was diagnosed, in August, with high functioning autism, and he has made great progress since September. I do sometimes wish that he wasn't doing school 5 days a week because it would be nice to do classes with him, but I think it is the best thing we could have done for him.

My 3 year old goes to the park district 2 days per week, 90 minutes per day and she loves it. It costs about $80 for a 10 week session. I also signed her up for arts and crafts and tumbling (those run about $10 for a 10 week session) and the class lasts one hour. So, I spend about $100 in total every 10 weeks. All 3 year old classes are the ones where you leave the child there for the length of the class and they must be potty trained.

My kids were 3.5 and almost-4 when they started preschool. One full year seemed to be fine.

Check with park districts and churches for inexpensive, 2-day programs, though. Here in Oak Park (if you're on the west side of the city) our park district has a 2 half-days program for $114/month out-of-district tuition.

Make sure you check out the Chicago park districts. Many have preschool programs that are only 2 days a week. Also, they are very affordable!