This preschool race is making me so sad - Page 2

[Nani]

I just wanted to say I too feel pressure for "the best," and dismay that we can't afford it. I think the blame properly belongs on the paucity of quality choices out there. We need to demand more, even at public expense. If well-researched MDC moms can't "win the race," what about the fate of children born to less engaged parents? This is just wrong.

I have an update!
A friend of mine who I met in a bf group more than 2 years ago took it upon herself to start a high-quality preschool and I recently, after helping her for a while, became a board member and we're actually building a new place as a preschool. It will be a Mandarin-Immersion program, based on Reggio principles. We are finding many obstacles and many great new challenges, but it's happening!
In the mean time my dd was on the waiting list for a German Preschool and we got a spot. It seems worth the 15-20 min drive, so we said yes for the fall. It's just 2x a week (and neither elitist nor expensive!!!) and the rest of the time she will be with me and her new little sister. My dh is very much against sending our dd to a public school, and optimally prefers a homeschool idea, so we'll see how things develop in the future. In the meantime I'm excited for her to have gotten into the German preschool, since she already speaks German fluently and it will help her to solidify her language and make new friends. I just can barely wait for her to choose her first real friend (on her own without me saying "Let's go over to soandso's house") and have him/her over for a playdate!
Oh, btw, Mothering is publishing my birth story as a web exclusive! It will be out probably early next year on the online subscription. I'm so excited. I didn't even write the story for publication, mostly just for myself and my friends.

[quakerlady]

I feel your pain...

I'm on the Board of a lovely co-op preschool. We struggle with how to be fair to prospective new families. We don't do any kind of "selective admissions" process - we just take applications in the order they come in and if the kid is the right age, they're in. Returning families get to register first and take up most of the spots for 3 and 4 year olds, so you kinda have to join the school when your kid is 2. We used to take applications during open house (held in Feb of the year before) but we noticed some people were kind of cheating and turning in their applications before taking a tour, just to be higher on the list, instead of doing what we asked and taking the tour first.
So now we register everyone on a Saturday, AFTER open house is over, but it's still first-come-first-served, and people line up earlier and earlier. We're not TRYING to make it crazy like that. We'd love to take them all, but space restraints limit us. Maybe we should do a lottery? But that's crazy-making too....

[straighthaircurly]

Wow, all I can say is I'm glad I live in the Midwest. The preschools here don't take applications until the January before the child will be attending. What is the point in applying so early? How does a parent know that will be the right school for their kid when the kid is just born? I guess all they care about is the name! Ridiculous and if I lived where you do I would have absolutely nothing to do with that madness.

That being said, I can understand your sadness at not getting into the Reggio-inspired school. My son just started attending one and it is wonderful for him...no "letter of the day" or scripted art projects. Just tons of outdoor adventures, farm animals, and open ended toys. His teachers follow the kids around to help answer questions rather than kids answering ?'s while following the teachers around . He is thriving like never before in a school setting.