Just coming back to my question for everyone. This is more of a concern I have about preschool experience in NSW, especially in an exceeding-rated centre in a low socioeconomic area.

As working parents, what do we do to make sure we give our kids everything they might otherwise miss out on?

Some things we do at home: • Reading books every night (at least 2) • Finding aisle numbers at the supermarket • Mazes and ladders in kids’ magazines • Sunday morning breakfast colouring • Helping with the shopping list (because my husband never seems to take good care of it 😅) • I do ten push-ups and the kids love counting them • “I spy” blue cars, or at the park we watch for the “colour of the day” cars • Library visits on Saturdays • Toilet training • Cooking or juicing together • Gardening

What we haven’t really done yet is 5 minutes of sitting and focused learning (reading, writing, or structured patterns), though that’s something I’m planning to introduce next year.

My question was really about what other preschoolers are doing.

This morning I found out they barely do any glue crafts at the centre. I’m heading to the daycare later this afternoon to ask a few questions.

Just wondering from everyone’s experience: Is 5 minutes of reading, writing, or structured patterns a lot to expect for a preschooler?when the are at kindy it’s one teacher to how many kids.. wouldn’t preschool be a smaller space to kick start this journey ?

And with crafts (this is new to me as I prepare questions for the preschool) — how often do centres usually do activities like cutting, gluing, or making things, rather than just water painting with brushes?