It seems crazy, since I'm pretty sure Annie was just born like yesterday, but I've been obsessing about the idea of preschools. When do you start a kid in preschool? Do you do one year or two? Do kids really need it? Do some kids need it more than others? And for educational or social reasons? Big, established preschool with a set curriculum, or a cute little at home deal where they spend all day gluing pom poms onto popsicle sticks? Co-op preschool? How do you get in on one of those?!
I feel a little like a slacker, since the one person I really talked a ton about preschool with had a two year old son that they felt was speech delayed, so he was in a head start kinda preschool from 22 months on. But, if I understand it right, Annie at two and a half is probably too young to even attend most preschools (so why is it I'm already stressing about this?! Do you have to sign up ahead of time? Can you join in anytime, or is it 'term' or 'semester' based at all?! How is it I know NOTHING about preschools . . . were they supposed to give me a pamphlet about it or something when I left the hospital with my first born, 'cause I don't know how I'm just supposed to know all this on my own otherwise?!)
Where I'm at on this:
• Socially, especially, I think Annie would greatly benefit from a preschool of some sort. So far she mainly hangs out with me, or her aunts and uncles, and although she may be more mature than some, she's by far the youngest. But the most dominant. Annie could use a little three year old bully in her life, teach her life isn't always fair (or at the least, not incredibly Annie-leaning in it's fairness).
• But, if I just got in on some nice little play groups, that's a heck of a lot cheaper than preschool.
• Educationally, I think Annie would love mini-school. She's bright, inquisitive and loves to learn things, and I'm pretty sure she's convinced she's learned everything of use from me, and is ready to move onto some new and better teachers. I'm amazed at what kids can learn . . . pretty much anything you take the time to teach them and they have an interest in. I feel like at this particular time, I'm running outta ideas on stuff to teach her . . . what if there's whole areas of knowledge she could be amassing, that I'm just not thinking to teach her!?
• On the flipside, she's two and a half, she doesn't have to know everything right now . . . the kid already knows her shapes, dozens and dozens of animals, numbers, colors, letters and the sounds they make -- we could pretty much stop teaching her anything between now and kindergarten and she wouldn't be behind.
• I'm not exactly anxious to rework our new budget to fit preschool in, but what if it's worth it to Annie?
• She probably has to be potty trained first, huh? That terrifies me . . .
Anyway, random, I know, but it's just what's been on my mind lately . . . especially when I noticed signs up in not one, but TWO, neighbors yards calling for "Tuition Due" for their home ran schools.
Completely unrelated . . . it never ceases to amaze me how quickly babies heal. Ellie could have bonked her head into something leaving a nice red welt, and scratched at her eyelid with a too-long fingernail, making her look horrifically maimed, and by the time Greg comes home, all her battle scars are gone. But, why is it their little wounds have to look so exaggerated in the first place? Ellie just dropped a remote control on her own head (she's actually more coordinated and smarter than she sounds), and there's this nice big red mark across half her forehead making it look like a brick was dropped on her head. But it won't be there an hour from now. It's just weird to me. I hit my head on something a few weeks ago and it was tender and red (hidden under my hair though, fortunately) for like a week!
9 comments:
Well, Dalan's first response was, "What in the world will Annie do in pre-school?" Referring to the genius that is your child.
However, I think Annie would have a good time in pre-school and it would not hurt her in anyway. But if it is not in the budget, it would not be the end of the world for her to miss out on pre-school, and she will probably still be the most ready kid on the block for kindergarten.
I will probably enroll my kiddos in pre-school one day, possibly a co-op of sorts or one through a public school which I believe are free or close to free. Most kindergartens are now full day and I think pre-school will be good to prepare them to be ready for all day school, and be lots of fun, with lots of fun projects and cute songs!
I think most of preschool for me comes down to wanting to Annie to get the social experience, the structured environment. I genuinely think she'd have fun and really, really enjoy it. Plus, it'd give me a few hours a week just with Ellie.
I think I want to figure out if there is a co-op one around here, and if I can get in on that action . . . or start one!
Hmm . . . well I think Weston would LOVE preschool. I wouldn't mind him being gone a few hours a day either. I am planning on starting him this Fall. He will be 3 and a half, almost 4. Even at that age though he will still do 2 years of preschool before Kindergarten because his b-day is in January.
I'm pretty positive any organized preschool (that's not just a daycare) is going to require Annie to be potty trained. However, I too have very little knowledge about how to go about this whole preschool thing. I think there are government subsidized preschools at local elementary schools where you pay on a scale of how much you make, etc. Then there are private preschools which charge whatever they think is fair. My sister has her daughter in a Lutheran preschool where she has to pay tuition. Anyway, I don't really know. I'm just rambling. Please do another post when you have gathered info. I will definitely be interested in it!
No. Annie definitely does not NEED preschool. I have never met her, but from what I've read in your posts, I can tell that the girl is extremely bright, and would probably benefit more academically from staying home with you where she can ask questions and you can give answers one-on-one. I don't think there's any preschool out there that will be able to teach her anything she doesn't already know academically. Like you said, however, the social aspect is THE MAIN reason to send kids like Annie to preschool. Besides learning to get along with others, kids need to learn the logistics of the classroom: how to raise their hand before talking, how to stay in a line, how to manage their time, etc. Another reason that I like to send my kids to preschool is so that I can have a few hours of "mommy time" a week...which may or may not be attainable in other, less expensive ways. I LOVE the home preschool groups, where moms rotate teaching assignments each week. There are some great preschool curriculum available for FREE online that you can get some great ideas from. The problem is finding time to actually sit down and research and plan out your lessons.
I didn't even think about enrolling my kids in preschool until they were four, and just a year away from starting all-day kindergarten. There was no way I was going to send my kids away to school all day "cold turkey". I saw preschool as a way of easing them in to the whole school experience. Brock (my oldest) had the hardest time adjusting. He would have much rather stayed home with his brothers and played all day. The twins, however, COULDN'T WAIT to start preschool, and I'm sure would have loved going at age 3. Miraculously, I've been fortunate enough to quality for free preschool programs with all three of my boys, so I still haven't had to figure out how to pay for preschool, which can be expensive. I'd say, if you can get a good group of moms together and do a quality at-home preschool rotation, that is the way to go!!! (Of course, you might just train Annie to pretend like she doesn't know anything at a Title-1/Head Start screening and get her right in!) Good luck!!!
P.S. For the record...NO, I DID NOT train my kids to act dumb so that they could get into free preschools...just thought I'd clear that up lest anyone think that I'm really that evil and conniving...
Here's what I know about free (or close to free) preschools: Every state is different, and my experience has been in Texas and Missouri, so it's probably best to talk to someone at the elementary school you live closest to, but in Texas, families in the military and families with low incomes qualify for the school's preschool program. In Missouri, they have a program called "Title 1" where you can bring your child to the school for "screening", where they are tested on their academic knowledge and social behavior. They are scored based on their performance and family background (ie: my kids had an advantage simply because they're twins...not sure what exactly that has to do with anything, but hey, whatever gets me into free preschool, right?) Then they accept as many of the lowest-scoring kids that they have room for in the program. Now, if your child is especially bright, and not a twin (like Annie), you still might have a chance of getting into a school program because each Title 1 class has a certain number of "typical peers" that are chosen as "role models" for the kids who are struggling with behavioral issues. The school will invite a group of kids to a play date where they will be observed, and whoever they think will be the best "role models" for the class will be accepted into the Title 1 program. The trick with this is to get involved with the schools early, through Parents As Teachers programs, etc. so that you will get invited to the "play date" screening event. Like I said, however, this is all coming from a Missouri standpoint, and I don't know if they even have "parents as teachers" or similar programs in Utah, but it doesn't hurt to ask!!!
I teach at a Title I school here in Utah, and that label means that more than half of our students live below the poverty line. However, my school does have a special ed preschool which takes both disabled students and "regular" students, however, it is ran separate from the rest of the school, therefore, I know very little about it.
I put Kaka in a preschool my friend did at her home last year (she was almost 4 years old when she started). This year we're doing a co-op with some other people in our ward. We each teach one week of the month in our homes on Mon and Wed. I'd totally recommend putting together some kind of playgroup or co-op... even if it's not really an academic thing. I've loved doing ours and my kids love it too.
That is one nice thing about New Zealand. They have Kindergarten that your child starts when they are 3, or if they need more kids you can start at 2. And the government pays for it. It is great. But they don't really learn that much, it is more for the social aspect. They have done studies here and found the kids learn more playing.
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