Preschool or Not...

Oh, I have many thoughts about this topic. As you read please remember that I'm not a teacher and the thoughts that are here are the conclusions of much thought, prayer and common sense... and some advice from friends and family who are skilled teachers.

Anymore, preschool is absolutely expected. Every teacher friend that have has informed me that kids just go to preschool these days. It's no longer a question of "if" its a question of "when" will you send your child to preschool. This is true for parents that aren't teachers. I say that cause I have friends that are teachers who are just transferring the skills that they would ordinarily use in the classroom into their homes to teach their children and let's face it, those children are probably more prepared than other kids... academically. My sister-in-law and her mother, both teachers, made a point of letting me know that Kindergarten is more like 1st grade. And that kids are expected to learn in preschool the things they used to teach in Kindergarten. I believe it!

Here's my thoughts for my own kids, specifically Andrew since he's preschool aged! Last year, when he was 3 years old, I had him all signed up for preschool, registered and everything. At the last minute, we decided to wait. The main factors in that decision were that we had just had our 3rd child and the cost was pretty crazy expensive. Also, he was just barely potty trained which was a requirement for starting. I was really happy that we waited.

This year, just recently, we received the notice that it was time to enroll him if he was starting this year. Since last year and this year, we discussed that it was probably better to wait until Andrew was 6 years old to start him in Kindergarten. The reason is just because he barely makes the cut off--by less than a month--and we just think it's going to be better if he isn't always the youngest. With that knowledge in mind, it was time for us to consider preschool for this year. Quickly I had a different dilemma. The preschool of our choice has a 3 year old class and a 4 year old/preK class. Enrolling him this year and then waiting another year for Kindergarten would put him in the same class 2 years in a row. I was informed that the preschool uses the same curriculum each year.

Our discussion about the topic and the advice of some valued friends and family, led us to explore other options for this year instead of preschool. I decided that the value of preschool this year would come more in the way of socialization than anything academic. Andrew has shown us that he is pretty bright for his age as he can do many of the things that I understand they teach the first year of preschool. Our search led us to enroll him as a member of the gym that I go to (on my hospital's campus) and allow him to participate in something called Discovery Club. Here they are exposed to many different sports, both team and individual and they instructors develop the appropriate physical and emotional skills for their age group. There is no limit to the days per week that he can attend and the cost is less than half of the cost of preschool. A huge savings!

Our plan is to enroll him in preschool next year to truly prepare him for the school setting. This year I look forward to nurturing the academic skills that he demonstrates (as I am not a skilled teacher). He's quite good on the computer and I plan to use that to his advantage as there are many teaching tools on line and in the form of CD-Rom. Otherwise, I think he will benefit from the things that the Discovery Club has to offer.

If you want to see what Discovery Club is all about check out my link to my work website (Rush Copley--on the sidebar)and then go to the Healthplex link on the site.