Everything I Learned…
byLately there has been a huge importance placed on Early Childhood Education [wiki], ads on kids programs encouraging parents to read, special nights at schools, letters addressed to parents. All in the hopes that our kids start off on the right foot towards being successful in school.
My eldest son will be starting Kindergarten in September and had been out of preschool for the past year. I previously had him in a ‘parent participation preschool’ [ppp] but found the demands to be too great on a one parent household. I think parent participation schools are wonderful,in that the parents are what make the schools work. They the teacher’s helpers, the field trip organizers and the fundraisers (among countless other jobs). You become so familiar with the other families you become support network for each other. Not to mention we had FREE parent education sessions every month. In the long run however these schools are now being challenged because of the time required to be a part of a school like this and with most families now having 2 working parents it becomes nearly impossible to have a ‘duty’ parent available a few times a month.
I struggled to find him another French preschool but finally gave up hope and enrolled him in the ‘pre-kindergarten’ class at a nearby rec. centre. Today being the first day I dropped him off before work he kicked up quite the fuss even though he had really wanted to go to school. He clung to my leg and even shed a few tears. As any other parent would sympathize, I felt really guilty leaving him but knowing him his whole life I was confident he would settle right in. I then start to worry how he won’t be going to kindergarten next year with any of his new found playmates. After mentioning this to Becky online from work she said something along the lines of ‘it’s only preschool, who remembers preschool anyway?’
I myself was a preschool drop out and Becky never even went at all. We reminisced about when I did go to preschool and she reminded me of the scary marionettes. All I can remember is a girl that always smelled as though she had soiled herself and really wanting to be next in line to paint but couldn’t handle standing behind her any longer and thus giving up and playing something else. I wonder what memories people have of preschool? Was it a valuable experience? Do you still know anyone from preschool?
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your preschool had orange slices and marionettes that FREAKED me out… no wait… puppets, like Punch & Judy puppets… oh god… SO SCARY. Come to think of it when you were in preschool I was like 2. Wowsa.
You would have been less than 2 at the time because I stopped going in like December, so ya. You weren’t 2 yet
i dont know either of these people, honestly!
um, my preschool memory is a foggy kid who wanted to watch what he wanted to watch on tv, when he wanted to watch it, or you would get bitten. i was there when i was like, 3 though, so realistically, i could be thinking of like, a ‘charles in charge’ episode or something.
My pre school teachers name was Ms. Linkie
I remember making jokes to my mother about that and referring to her as Ms. DINKY
My sense of humor has not changed 20 somewhat years later i guess
In Kindergarten I got a gold star for saying “may I please go to the bathroom” in French. It was the highlight of my academic life.
I don’t remember ‘learning’ anything in preschool. I think it’s more about socializing kids and getting them into a school type routine. Mom did stop making me go because I ended up just crying the whole time. These overly happy ladies would come up and speak french to me and freak me out. Loved kindergarten though.
I remember ratting on a girl who picked her nose, and the teacher told my mom because I made such a big deal about it, I made the poor girl cry. My mom was too embarassed to bring me back.
My daughter starts kindy this Sept also. I struggled when she was 3-4 yrs about enrolling her in those “montessori” preschools. So many parents around me were talking about how they HAD to have thier child in it. I would have loved to, but couldn’t afford it. I was talking to a coworker, and we discussed how WE never have those “montessori” preschools, and we’re not stupid for not having attended.
After having looked into many educational options for my kids I wasn’t convinced by the Montessori method. I think it’s caught on here more because it’s a trendy thing to be able to say your kids attend a different kind of school.
My preschool was in an old church. It was a little creepy in the little bell tower room but otherwise, I’ve got good memories from there. I rememer the jungle gym in the yard, nap time and the little kitchen play area but I don’t really remember any major educational moments.
I think preschool is more a social education. Children that are bullies at home with their siblings should go to preschool to learn to “play nice” with the other kids. My nephew is a hooligan at home with his sister but he’s an angel at preschool. It’s good for the little ones to learn before they go to kindergarten how to get along with others and to listen to the teacher. It probably also helps with the “new kid” feeling when you go to kindergarten. They’ll probably already have little friends if they’ve gone to preschool first. You might not have any crying tantrums on the first day of school! 🙂