Preschool for a one year old?

Via our neighborhood email group and also a Mom group I belong too, I've learned about 2 preschools in the area accepting new kiddos for their 2010-2011 school year. At first, my inclination was to delete both messages because she's not even one year old and from my limited knowledge, I thought kiddos went to preschool maybe at 2, but definitely at 3. But since I clearly have so much to learn, I went to both web sites to see what they were all about - 1) St. Martin's Episcopal Preschool and 2) Plaza Presbyterian Weekday School.

The first one has an open house for new "students" on February 9 and I'm considering going just to see what it's like and what the teachers are like. Eloise would need to be 1 by August 31 so clearly she'll make the cut.  There are options at both schools for 1 day a week, 2 days a week and I believe 3 days a week. If at all, I'd consider the 1 day a week program, which costs around $100/month - so $25/week and she'd be at school for 3-4 hours a pop. 

But seriously, is this crazy?  A one year old in preschool?? Isn't that basically called daycare?  (which there is obviously nothing wrong with daycare but I'm home with her so should I be considering sending her out to preschool?) I could get more work done if she were gone but I could also get the baby whisperer for more hours per week if that's what I was after. And I'm not just trying to "send her away". I only want to consider this if it's something that she'd enjoy, and something that will continue helping her learn and grow and explore.

One main reason I'm now comtemplating this idea is I really like to socialization part of preschool (which is why I'm a daycare fan). I want her to be around other kids and this would give her the opportunity - clearly more than she has right now. She can play and share and just plain have fun staring at and interacting with other babies - what babies seem to love! Then the other side of me is saying, I also enjoy the fact that other than one brief skin/viral thing, she's had a clean bill of health for 7 1/2 months. But with that item on the "pros list", I do realize I can't keep her in a bubble forever. She needs to get out and get around other germs/infections, etc. to build up her immune system, right? Isn't that how it works?

I'll post a bigger "Fridays update" later with pics included but for now, this is what's on my mind. Preschool for a one year old? Yeah or neah? I don't know. I'm just not sure.