I just read an Opinion in the Wall Street Journal titled "Protect Our Kids from Preschool,"by Shikha Dalmia and Lisa Snell. I have two boys, one six and one three and neither are going or went to preschool. I have been lucky enough to be a stay at home Mom for which I am very grateful. I understand not everyone is able to do that. Since I have been able to do that I wanted to spend and enjoy the most time possible with my kids. With my first one I was not sure I made the right decision to not put him in preschool. I made the decision for many reasons, first I was not ready to have him away from me, which I know is purely selfish. Second I thought I would be able to give him the academic portion he would need before starting kindergarten. Third for socialization I took him to Sunday School, and placed him in some playgroups to be around kids his age. The last reason was financial, I just could not see spending hundreds of dollars a month to have my child away from me at such a small age. I myself never went to preschool and I graduated college and am a functioning member of society. I was lucky as well to have had my Mom be at home with me. I am mentioning the stay at home aspect because of course this does not apply to those who have to place their kids in day care, that is completely different. However I do not think if you are a stay at home parent you should feel obligated to place your child in preschool. What makes you think separating your child from you at an earlier age is beneficial. I hear mothers talking about all that is expected from your child in kindergarten now, well that is true but how hard is it to go over those things with your child? Preschool is hardly any instruction, maybe one-third. I am just tired of the government telling us they need more control over our children's' upbringing and want to force us to pay for it. There have been various studies showing separating children from their parents has a negative impact. I would guess there are no studies showing more time away from your kids is beneficial. I know I may be offering mostly anecdotal evidence but there are kids that did not do well academically or socially and were in preschool, I have seen no affect, except maybe preschool having a negative impact on behavior. My oldest started kindergarten last year and did very well despite not going to preschool. His teachers said at both parent teacher conferences how they wish they had more students like him in their class. He did very well socially and academically so all he would have got from preschool is less money for his family. If you make the decision to place your child in preschool do it for the right reasons. The more I see I am very glad I made the decision to protect my child from preschool. If interested you can view the above mentioned opinion at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121936615766562189.html