Hello. I wanted to ask all you mama's about my ds's preschool. We have tried 2 so far, and he is not getting along well in either. The one he keeps asking to go to is one we toured, but rejected as too structured. Their circle time is 45 minutes long, with sitting still interspersed with things like "the Hokey Pokey" to "get the wiggles out", but still seems too long to me. Then they go straight to 3 stations, 20 minutes each, where one is handwriting practice, one is a craft, and one is play. They are made to sit at the table until the buzzer goes off and its time to move to the next station, about 15 minutes at each- again, doesn't seem right to me. Then they have snack, story time, and outside play, if there is time.
Doesn't seem like kid heaven, does it?
Oh, and there are breakable decorations both in the lobby and the classroom, and the kids are simply told, when they try to touch it, that we "look with our eyes, not with our hands".
Like I said, I rejected this, but, when we had trouble at other schools, and ds still asked to go back to this school, we toured it again, and I noticed that ds responds really well to this teacher. He actually does what she says, without argument- something he doesn't even do for me.
She seems strict, but not mean, yk? She insists on rules, but not in a bad way. When ds yelled about something he did not want to do, she did not punish/threaten, etc. She simply covered his hands with hers, looked at him, and insisited until he stopped yelling.
Is this good? I would normally not even think about it, because it just seems like he would be constantly frustrated there, but he seems to really want this school.
WWYD?
TIA,
Brandi
Doesn't seem like kid heaven, does it?
Oh, and there are breakable decorations both in the lobby and the classroom, and the kids are simply told, when they try to touch it, that we "look with our eyes, not with our hands".
Like I said, I rejected this, but, when we had trouble at other schools, and ds still asked to go back to this school, we toured it again, and I noticed that ds responds really well to this teacher. He actually does what she says, without argument- something he doesn't even do for me.
She seems strict, but not mean, yk? She insists on rules, but not in a bad way. When ds yelled about something he did not want to do, she did not punish/threaten, etc. She simply covered his hands with hers, looked at him, and insisited until he stopped yelling.Is this good? I would normally not even think about it, because it just seems like he would be constantly frustrated there, but he seems to really want this school.
WWYD?
TIA,
Brandi
: Maybe this teacher's way of simply insisting that he be doing what he is "supposed to do" instead of letting him do whatever he wants and telling him he's bad for not wanting to do his work is more what he needs?
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:
My son is now in his local 1st grade elementary school. He is thriving. There is a LOT of structure 
and he hated it at first (he had no friends) but he loves to go now. He misses it when we are on vacation.
I know she needs a more structured classroom (not the 50+ kid play area that my son had.) I really can't believe it. I had a psychic tell me a year ago that she would do best in Montessori. 
