Right now my dd (5 y.o.) is in a daycare/preschool that she's been at since she was 2 (I WOH full time). She's still there because her birthday is in late November, so she didn't meet the cut off date for kindergarten.
For the first 2 years that she was at this current school, I liked it a lot. I liked the site director, who was also my dd's head teacher and I liked the rest of the staff. I liked the curriculum a lot as well. They did a really fun fitness program with lots of singing and dancing a few times a week and they also had teachers from the Language Institute come in a couple times of week teaching Spanish and Japanese. And then there was all the basic learning, which I felt they approached well and in a fun positive way. They also have great toys and supplies... lots of instruments, lots of wooden toys and puzzles, a great wooden kitchen set, dress up clothes, etc... So I was pretty pleased for quite a while.
At some point pretty early on I met the owner/regional director (there are four sister schools) and she and I just clash in the worst way, but I pretty much just blew it off because she only came to the school for a few hours a few times a month as far as I could tell. But anytime I had to deal with her I found her to be rude, condescending, patronizing as hell and extremely defensive and argumentative about EVERYTHING. She talks down to me. She dismisses my concerns. She has implied and/or stated everything from that I am a lazy parent to a difficult parent to an over involved parent to an under involved parent depending on what my concern or complaint has been.
So, sometimes towards the end of 2003, so a little over a year ago, the site director, who dd and I loved, quit and I knew it was because of issues she had with the owner. A new teacher/director is hired. It takes me a bit to get used to her and build up a repoire with her, but once I do I like her a lot. A couple of short months later, a director unexpectedly ups and quits at one of the sister schools. The owner decides to take our new director and put her there and hires yet another director for dd's school, so this is now her 3rd teacher in less than a year. I liked this teacher to, but I really did not like the assistant teacher (also the 3rd of 4th one since the original director quit). Well, on Monday I drop dd off and there's a note to the parents in her cubby stating that her teacher was no longer teaching there effective the previous Friday. I find out that again, this was due to complications with the owner.
So the owner was there, filling in. She and I exchange some words regarding the revolving door that this school has been since the original director quit. She immediately starts arguing with me that it hasn't been that many, that I'm over exaggerating and that there's no need for me to be unfriendly, etc... I tell her I'm not being unfriendly or argumentative but that she should expect that parents are not going to be pleased with their kids getting a new teacher every few months and she basically replies that its not her fault (uhm, yeah, well actually, it seems like it is) and that she has worked in the past and will continue to work to make sure its a smooth transition for the kids (yeah... its real smooth when your teacher is there Friday and gone Monday and you don't even get to say a farewell). Then I hear another parent ask if they have a replacement and I hear her say that she will be spending the next few weeks at the school "training" the assistant teacher to become the head teacher/director and that she will be around a lot more for the rest of the school year. Okay, first of all... aren't there some basic educational or experience requirements necessary to direct and preschool? Second, the assistant teacher is nice enough but she's... how can I describe her.... she's not terribly bright from what I can see. I mean she uses TERRIBLE grammar. I constantly have to gently re-teach my dd to stop bad grammar habits that she's picked up from this “teacher”. That in and of itself is really reason alone that I don't want her teaching my dd. I also don't like her approach with the kids. She's very much in the school of thought of "You're a big girl. Big girls don't cry. Dry those tears up." I really, really hate that type of crap. I also think she's lazy. I rarely see her out of her chair and I often see her making the kids fetch things for her because she doesn't want to get up. I just don't think she has the energy for four and five year olds. She’s really into empty threats and time outs, etc….
I do not want my dd at the school. I do not want her around the owner on any kind of a regular basis. As patronizing and condescending as she is to adults, I shudder to think how she is with the children. But, this fall (in nine months) she will be going to kindergarten. So I really think it would be kind of awful for her to leave the school she’s been at for all these years, stick her somewhere new and foreign for nine months and then turn around and put her in kindergarten. She likes her school a lot. She has about 3-4 friends that she’s been with since she was two. And she likes the assistant and she likes the owner (which is so unsettling to me, but okay). But the thought of me having to deal with the owner on a regular basis literally makes my stomach hurt and makes me queasy. And the thought of this woman having regular daily influence on my dd makes me feel worse. Arg! I feel so frustrated. Should we just tough it out for nine months or should I uproot her, ultimately two times, in nine months? Which is less damaging? And if I leave her at the school, how do I deal with this woman? I am not over exaggerating to say that every single time she and I talk it is full of tension, arguments, rude comments (on her part), etc. We have very, very different ideas about children and how they learn and how they should be disciplined, etc… So different that I sorely believe she should have sought a different profession altogether. I feel so stuck right now. Help! Do we stay or do we go?
For the first 2 years that she was at this current school, I liked it a lot. I liked the site director, who was also my dd's head teacher and I liked the rest of the staff. I liked the curriculum a lot as well. They did a really fun fitness program with lots of singing and dancing a few times a week and they also had teachers from the Language Institute come in a couple times of week teaching Spanish and Japanese. And then there was all the basic learning, which I felt they approached well and in a fun positive way. They also have great toys and supplies... lots of instruments, lots of wooden toys and puzzles, a great wooden kitchen set, dress up clothes, etc... So I was pretty pleased for quite a while.
At some point pretty early on I met the owner/regional director (there are four sister schools) and she and I just clash in the worst way, but I pretty much just blew it off because she only came to the school for a few hours a few times a month as far as I could tell. But anytime I had to deal with her I found her to be rude, condescending, patronizing as hell and extremely defensive and argumentative about EVERYTHING. She talks down to me. She dismisses my concerns. She has implied and/or stated everything from that I am a lazy parent to a difficult parent to an over involved parent to an under involved parent depending on what my concern or complaint has been.
So, sometimes towards the end of 2003, so a little over a year ago, the site director, who dd and I loved, quit and I knew it was because of issues she had with the owner. A new teacher/director is hired. It takes me a bit to get used to her and build up a repoire with her, but once I do I like her a lot. A couple of short months later, a director unexpectedly ups and quits at one of the sister schools. The owner decides to take our new director and put her there and hires yet another director for dd's school, so this is now her 3rd teacher in less than a year. I liked this teacher to, but I really did not like the assistant teacher (also the 3rd of 4th one since the original director quit). Well, on Monday I drop dd off and there's a note to the parents in her cubby stating that her teacher was no longer teaching there effective the previous Friday. I find out that again, this was due to complications with the owner.
So the owner was there, filling in. She and I exchange some words regarding the revolving door that this school has been since the original director quit. She immediately starts arguing with me that it hasn't been that many, that I'm over exaggerating and that there's no need for me to be unfriendly, etc... I tell her I'm not being unfriendly or argumentative but that she should expect that parents are not going to be pleased with their kids getting a new teacher every few months and she basically replies that its not her fault (uhm, yeah, well actually, it seems like it is) and that she has worked in the past and will continue to work to make sure its a smooth transition for the kids (yeah... its real smooth when your teacher is there Friday and gone Monday and you don't even get to say a farewell). Then I hear another parent ask if they have a replacement and I hear her say that she will be spending the next few weeks at the school "training" the assistant teacher to become the head teacher/director and that she will be around a lot more for the rest of the school year. Okay, first of all... aren't there some basic educational or experience requirements necessary to direct and preschool? Second, the assistant teacher is nice enough but she's... how can I describe her.... she's not terribly bright from what I can see. I mean she uses TERRIBLE grammar. I constantly have to gently re-teach my dd to stop bad grammar habits that she's picked up from this “teacher”. That in and of itself is really reason alone that I don't want her teaching my dd. I also don't like her approach with the kids. She's very much in the school of thought of "You're a big girl. Big girls don't cry. Dry those tears up." I really, really hate that type of crap. I also think she's lazy. I rarely see her out of her chair and I often see her making the kids fetch things for her because she doesn't want to get up. I just don't think she has the energy for four and five year olds. She’s really into empty threats and time outs, etc….
I do not want my dd at the school. I do not want her around the owner on any kind of a regular basis. As patronizing and condescending as she is to adults, I shudder to think how she is with the children. But, this fall (in nine months) she will be going to kindergarten. So I really think it would be kind of awful for her to leave the school she’s been at for all these years, stick her somewhere new and foreign for nine months and then turn around and put her in kindergarten. She likes her school a lot. She has about 3-4 friends that she’s been with since she was two. And she likes the assistant and she likes the owner (which is so unsettling to me, but okay). But the thought of me having to deal with the owner on a regular basis literally makes my stomach hurt and makes me queasy. And the thought of this woman having regular daily influence on my dd makes me feel worse. Arg! I feel so frustrated. Should we just tough it out for nine months or should I uproot her, ultimately two times, in nine months? Which is less damaging? And if I leave her at the school, how do I deal with this woman? I am not over exaggerating to say that every single time she and I talk it is full of tension, arguments, rude comments (on her part), etc. We have very, very different ideas about children and how they learn and how they should be disciplined, etc… So different that I sorely believe she should have sought a different profession altogether. I feel so stuck right now. Help! Do we stay or do we go?
