When are kids "supposed" to start preschool? I never went, but my brothers did... I think they went the year before preschool. But now, it seems like everybody has their kids in preschool starting at like age 2. N is going to be 3 in June, so I guess it goes to follow that I enroll in her preschool this fall?
I keep reading/hearing about how much kids are pushed in school these days. How early it starts, and how stressful it is from a young age. My daughter is self-motivated and pretty bright (of course I'm not biased AT ALL!), so I am not worried about her doing well at school. I don't think she needs two whole years of preschool to help her adjust to being in kindergarten. Kindergarten, which is now a full day of school. And I guess they have to know how to write their names before kindergarten, and a bunch of other things they are teaching in preschool?? I remember kindergarten - and I think the kindergarten we had was more like the preschools today. I remember the different areas where we could play house, build things, do arts/crafts, etc. I do also remember doing dittos (and copying off my friend's page - maybe that's because I didn't go to preschool!), so there was some work involved, learning the letters and whatnot, but I don't believe we had to know what kids have to know now. (did you follow that?)
I just don't believe that my daughter needs 2 years of preschool. Does that make me odd? I think I'm going to get a book of preschooler activities and do stuff at home with her for the next year and a half and then send her to preschool when she is 4. Maybe we'll do a gymnastics class or something like that instead.
I think this is one of those things where every kid is different and a situation where moms should go with their guts on when to send their child to preschool. It's also partly something that stuck with me from looking into Waldorf last year. I didn't feel like that was the right place for us, but I do like some of their beliefs - the main one being that kids should PLAY. They need to use their imaginations and learn through play until they are 6 or 7. I like that mentality.
Or maybe I'm just crazy and I should have had her in preschool since last fall.
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I'm just as crazy as you are! I only want to put Riley in preschool for the socialization and because he hopefully will find it fun. My husband made an excellent point, there are so many children in child care these days and preschool sounds a lot better than daycare for those parents. Last summer I got a great preschool book at Costco for $12. It has alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes and other activities on tear out pages. The kids really enjoy their "school book". I am actually considering putting Riley in a homebased preschool program with other moms in my neighborhood. It's called Joy School (http://www.valuesparenting.com/joyschool) and it's Christian based. It comes with a curriculum and I think you need at least 4 moms for it to work. Might be something for you to consider with all your options.
We have been having the same discussion at our house and you and I seem to think a lot alike. I'm thinking that I can get some preschool teaching materials and teach a lot of that stuff at home. The socialization stuff is what I can't really do myself, but I think that we can wait until age 4 and one year should be good. We do playgroups and storytime and stuff like that, but the classroom setting will be good to teach A how to listen and follow directions from someone else. Natalie and Allyson are smart girls, they can master that in one year!
Oh I'm happy to hear I'm not alone in my thinking. Lynette, I think your hubby hit the nail on the head. That makes a lot of sense.
That preschool program looks very interesting - I'm reading the website right now.
Brandy - we'll just have to get together more often so our girls can learn socialization! :)
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