Why preschools?

[LaLa]

This could go in the Alt Ed forum, but I am primarily concerned with early / begining childhood eduation

Are there any literary resources out there for moms who are venturing into education (formal) with their children?

A magazine? A website? A great book?

I have so many questions and there is so much contradictory info out there! My dd is only 16 months, but the preschool question is coming up soon...

do we send her? do we keep her home?

We like Montessori schools the best so far, but what about the money?

I want to hear why we send our kids to preschool mamas! Enlighten a new mom

[SoHappy]

My son's almost three and just started preschool (three mornings for 2.5 hours each) at our local college. We enrolled him because there aren't many kids in our neighborhood, and he loves to be with other children. He learns in new ways and I get a little time to workout or get things done. We chose this program because it has one teacher for every two children, and lots of available activities (indoors and out, including computers, reading corner, art corner with an instructor, Montessori section, blocks, a real dog, rats, sandbox, swings, climbing structures, riding toys, gardening area with activities, etc.) without the pressure of a strict schedule. They have playtime, circle time, and self-serve snack time with healthy snacks. Other than that, they just get surrounded by enthusiastic people who are learning to be early childhood educators. Parents are welcomed to observe or participate, and each child is assigned a "special friend" teacher who greets, keeps an eye on, makes a daily journal entry about your child's activities and progress, and walks your child to the door at the end of the day. Journals are sent home each week, and the parents are encouraged to make entries of their own over the weekends to share with the child's special friend and other teachers. It's pretty cool, and he absolutely LOVES it. "But I don't want to go home. I want to stay here, Mama!"


My son's a good reporter about the day's events, too. "Alex isn't a very good sharer" etc. It lets me know what to monitor/explore. So far, so good. If he ever changes his mind, though, I'd bring him home, since I love the time with him. But we feel he's really seeing benefits from this program, and it makes him very happy, which makes us happy.

[rsps]

Two books to look into are
"Better Late than Early" and
"Playful Learning: and alternate approach to preschool"

[yogamama]

Lala -

I'm slightly obsessed with the idea of preschools! I've called so many and times and costs and philosphies really vary. The Montessori school near us is over $10,000 a year. Yikes!

I went to two Catholic school open houses today. I really liked the teacher and atmosphere at our church preschool - it's 2 1/2 hours on 2 or 3 days a week (and less than $1000 for the year). I think I'm going to pay the $50 registration fee and give myself the months til next fall to decide if I really want to send him.

I don't think that preschool is NECESSARY, but I like the idea of a positive introduction to playful learning. I've also been looking at the Playful Learning book and thinking about doing an at-home preschool with some friends if I decide NOT to do the Catholic school route.

Also, Lala, I've been thinking about you, because my friend who has been working at the Montessori school near her while her youngest is home with a babysitter just fired her nanny and is in a state of angst because she really wants to be home more!

[LaLa]

thanks mamas! Wow that preschool sound amazing!

I will look into those books too

and thak you for thinking of me yogamama
I'm off to bed now, but i"ll come back to check this thread tomorrow!

[Tigerchild]

ECE Teacher here...

I'd like to throw in the suggestion to *not* limit yourself right off the bat to a particular philosophy or name.

You, for example, know why you like the Montessori programs you've seen, or what components of Maria Montessori's educational philosophy you like. This will allow you to observe programs looking for those things, even if they haven't paid for the name (and aren't charging you a premium for it). And believe it or not, there can be quite a few differences between Montessori schools as well--higher price doesn't always have to mean higher quality!

Visit (and have your child visit) any program that you've screened and decided that you'd like to explore further. You can find great preschools through your local schools, non-profit centers, in-home preschools and even (a very few) corporate child care programs. It all depends on the teachers and director of the program.

What are the things you're looking for in a program, and what do you and your family want to get out of it? Start with that list, and then evaluate ANY program very carefully based on that. There's no such thing as a too-invasive question to ask a program, and keep your eyes and ears open when you visit, don't get bogged down in educational lingo. And most importantly, trust your child's instinct. Straight Montessori isn't for every child. And almost every good program will include some concepts of it in their program.

My own personal preference is a mix of Montessori/Vygotsky/Reggio Emilia as a teacher, and it took me a long time to find a place that fit it (and was a non-profit center, too!), and when Fiona gets older, I may run my own preschool out of my home, since I love that age group (as well as all the neat activities you can do) so much. If I don't, then I will probably enroll Fiona in a part-time preschool program at the school I used to teach at (since I still maintain close contact with the teachers and director there).

It's important to me that she get some 'classroom experience' before she goes to kindergarten, so she's not weirded out from going from just me and her to 20 kids and a teacher. I plan on teaching her basic literacy and math at home, at her own pace, so my interest in preschool is less school-readiness and more social interaction and the opportunity to do REALLY cool art and science projects we don't have the equipment for at home, and a chance for her to make more buddies. And if it turns out she's just not ready for that until kindergarten, so be it--but I do want to give her the chance.

I hope that makes sense.

[Britishmum]

I agree with Tigerchild that it's a good idea to look around preschools without preconceived ideas about a method that you want. There are many schools that call themselves Montessori, for example, but there are enormous differences between them.

I would visit lots of schools to see what you like and don't like, and also what your child likes! If she ventures off to investigate what is going on, it's a good indicator as to how she'd feel in that environment. Look at the children and watch how they are interacting, with each other and with staff. Get a feel for how well organised it seems.

Dont' be afraid to ask questions, take a list, and ask away! A good principal/director will be happy to answer any number of questions, and it will give you a feel for how committed he/she is to her school and the children in it.

Personally, I would look for somewhere where play is the central focus, but with some structure to the play and plenty of interaction (but not overdirection) with adults. Repetitive play with boring materials is not the same as exciting creative play.

A bit of structure in the day is a good thing - eg a circle time, a story time, a music session. But a timetabled regimented day is not desirable. Ask what the timetable involves, there should be some sort of structure and pattern to a day/week but it should not be rigid.

Most importantly, see how happy and motivated the children seem, and judge by your gut reaction to how you'd feel leaving your child there. Your instincts will probably be very accurate.

Hope this helps.

[merpk]

We're planning to homeschool but send DS (4) to preschool and next year will send DD (2) to the same one. Why? Simply put, once the point of education is actually education, we can do that ourselves perhaps better than the schools. But in preschool the only real curriculum is social. Learning to deal with others of one's own age.

I find it ironic that the socialization argument that everybody throws out against homeschooling is the one I'm using for preschool, but really, kids eventually get the alphabet down whether or not they were in a preschool, but for the first time they're really interacting with others instead of side-by-side-but-separate playing that they've done up to this point, and the preschool setting really gets them to mix it up, with some neutral referees to oversee the chaos.

- Amy

[sleepies]

I hope I understood your question.....



i am going to send my baby to preschool because:

i think it will help him to learn to:

1. take turns
2. share
3. raise his hand with questions for teachers
4. sit still and listen to teachers
5. co-operation
6. facts (abc, 123, writing, sissor usage) --I DO plan to work on these things at home, but I think they can be devloped at preschool as well.
7. because preK teachers have been educated in teaching young children---thus---they have good ideas and processes for teaching.
8. to prepare him for "real school"....he'll know what school is like.
9. to prepare him for "real school...so he'll know that it is FUN to go to school and ok to leave his mommy's side from time to time.
10. exposure to new ideas

I guess that is all.


oh
PS

I am new to my area, and I do not know much about preschool selection. I really hope and pray they are good. I guess I need to research this. If there aren't any good ones nearby, I might even move. I think preschool is important these days...

[GruppieGirl]

The Hurried Child by David Elkind is WONDERFUL! It really explores what we do to children by pushing them academically before they are ready.

[prairiemama]

I wanted to add that I *never* thought I would be sending my young child to preschool -- I felt that would be rushing him and that he should be home with mom (me). However, he is turning 3 next week and it has become glaringly clear that he *needs* more interaction and stimulation than I am providing.

We have chosen a Montessori preschool that is Excellent and I am very comfortable sending him to this preschool (except for the fact that I am not ready for him to be gone every morning for 2.5 hours!).

We have one month left for just us to be footloose and fancyfree, but I know that he is ready for a change and will benefit greatly from it. It just happens, they grow up. It is bittersweet, but it is life.

Hope this helps. Peace

Jen

[realramona]

Sleepies, I know we are in the same area and I just wanted to say that my ds goes to a local Montessori School ....it is a wonderful place and we all love it very much....he goes 3.5 hrs a day. This is nearing the end of his second year there and I can't imagine hime ever going to any other school...it is from age 2.5 thru 6th grade and I hope we can keep him there that long....anyway it's about $2,900 a year and when we compared that to daycare or other preschools it comes out the same....the difference is that it is only half day(they have daycare for parents who work) and it goes form September-May...another tip...stay away from the SIUE Childcare Center...i've heard bad things and had a good friend who worked there and she would not even let her daughter stay there......
To answer LaLa's question my dh and I are both in school, it was getting difficult to work our schedules around each other so we needed a place for ds to go a few hours a day....we chose montessori because it is so child-cenetered and we love the philosophy it works really well for my ds...we never thought we would put our children in preschool but now we see how important it is to our ds...we will start our dd in montessori when she is old enough and we practice some of the philosophy at home with her already....