How can my little baby be old enough for preschool already??? It seems that we first laid eyes upon her just yesterday (or maybe last week). Mark likes to remind me that it's not for another 6 months, so why am I nostalgic already? I guess that's a mother's prerogative. Every milestone seems bittersweet. She's growing and learning, which is so amazing and such a blessing. But (on the other hand) she's growing and learning, which means she's leaving her "baby ways" behind. It's hard to imagine that my daughter could be becoming a preschooler.
Despite my nostalgia, I am excited to get Abby into a 3-year-old program next year for three reasons:
- I am not the most effective teacher for Abby. She is a strong-willed child, and although we love to play with each other and have fun together, she is not motivated by a strong desire to please me. We sometimes clash when I want her to do or learn something, and she resists. It's just a "strong personality" issue between us, and I work on it within myself all the time. Abby does respond well to other adult authority figures, though, and I think it will be great for her to have a regular *non-related* adult role-model.
- Abby will be a "young" five when she enters Kindergarten, and we want her to be as prepared as possible.
- It will be really good for her to have structured play and learning time with kids other than Ethan, and to be required to cooperate with her peers. It will also be good for Ethan to have some time without Abby around.
- Convenience of the program/preschool (is the classtime too short? is the school year too short? is the school too far away, and will I be dropping Abby off and driving home just to turn around and have to go back?)
- Cost of the program (we need to consider that the very next year we will have TWO preschoolers, and none of the programs we found are less than $75 per month)
- How important is a Christian aspect to the teaching?
- What type of teacher runs the class, and which type of teacher is best for Abby? (Today's teacher was very subdued compared to how I teach, but is that good or bad? Will the teacher work for Ethan's personality as well, since he will be in the program the following year?)
- How structured or unstructured is the class? Are kids encouraged to be creative, or are they encouraged to follow instructions to a T? Which of these is better for Abby and Ethan?
- How much of a benefit is it to have the preschool at the kids' elementary school? (that's where today's visit was) (possible benefits: familiarity with the building, some of the preschool classmates are likely to be Kindergarten classmates as well)
- How valuable is a relationship with the other families or preschoolers? (one preschool provides monthly social events for the families)
- Does the preschool hold conferences, and how detailed are the assessments of the child's progress?
- Do other moms I know recommend the program?
If anyone has any ideas of what else to focus on, please let me know! The more information I have, the more comfortable I am in making a decision!
3 comments:
I have two words for you....GOOD LUCK!! As I have recently learned, no matter how much you research something, your perfect ideals come to an abrupt halt the minute your precious child learns bad habits from the other children. When you choose your preschool situation for a particular child in mind, that child will go through some unexpected changes and be a somewhat different child. Boy, will we have alot to discuss on our scrappin' trip. Hopefully, by then, I won't be struggling back tears to get my story out. It is much more frustrating to deal with your child growing up than it was to actually grow up myself.
Although Emma and Allison's daycare has a preschool off shoot, I got really emotional about 6 months ago myself. It's the same organization, but a different building. Our kids are growing up on us and they won't stop! From reading my blog, you'd think I would be jumping for joy about that. Not so. The trials and tribulations of this age will just be replaced by another. Cuddliness never comes back... or it's at least not the same to have a 10 year old sitting on your lap as having a 15 month old. I thin that there is a good reason why we mothers get emotional over things ahead of time. We work out our issues (more or less) in time to help them with the adjustments. Emma is scared of the "big kids" and is just now visiting the othe building more often. I am freed up to help make her comfortable with the change.
I will admit that I'm not much of a researcher myself (surprise, surprise - right?). I picked Emma and Allison's daycare strictly based upon convenience. It's right down the hill from where I work. Could there be better daycares? Could there be cheaper, better daycares? To be honest, I'm not sure. I've not really looked. I can say that I have been so pleased with the situation that we have. Like Jenny mentioned, Emma has learned some bad language and habits from the other children. That bothered me a lot at first. I'm not sure if it gets easier over time, but I have come to realize that at some point the amount of control I have over the children my daughters play with will diminish. I just had to deal with that earlier than some mothers because of my working situation. You know what? Emma is also picking up valuable skills that I couldn't provide her myself at home. There's a trade off.
I know that you and Mark will pick the best possible situation for your children. God is good!
Oh, I am so glad I am not the only one. Matthew is growing so fast. I can't believe he's 19 months already and my mom is already asking about a 2nd birthday party. I know that preschool is just around the corner and when all is said and done, I'd appreciate any advice you might have.
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