In my opinion, a good preschool for a 3 year old will not be requiring the kids to sit still for the entire day and learn academics. It should be providing a number of different enrichment activities designed to encourage development of gross motor, fine motor, Cognitive and social skills at a level appropriate to their age and no activity should last longer than the the expected attention span of a toddler. Ideally, the class size should be small enough to not overwhelm the kids.
I have a friend who 'teaches' in the pre-k room at a school in Charles county, and while I've never spoken to her specifically about what she does with the kids, I gather her 'lesson plan' consists of arts and crafts, blocks, and play dough. And that program is for 4 year olds.
To me, red shirting seems more like a last resort when something like preschool hasn't helped rather than something to do instead of preschool.
All that said, my son is still only 2.5 years old and I clearly have no authority other than my own opinion. As a parent, you're the only person qualified to decide what's best for your child.
