so i've been thinking alot about sending Mayden to preschool next year. Chris and i both had mostly negative school experiences which have effected us greatly. so sending May to school is something we talk about often and do not take lightly. there are three main reasons i think it would be a good idea.
#1. socialization skills for May. throughout the week she doesn't see many kids her age and really doesn't know how to play well with others yet. i think i'd feel different if i was watching some kids her age or if she had cousins we saw often etc. i try very hard to get to church each Sunday mostly so that she can attend nursery where she interacts with a few other kids her age. i just wonder if once a week is enough.
#2. practice for Kindergarten. as of right now we're planning on sending our kids to public elementary school then probably homeschooling from middle school on up. so i feel like sending her into Kindergarten with absolutely no preparation is not fair to her.
#3. a break for me :o)
the problem is that i'm very picky about everything. first of all i don't want her to go anymore then 3 half days a week. i'd like the school to be less then 20 minutes way and finally i need this to be cheap or free. on top of that i want the environment to be completely loving, positive, creative & progressive thinking. the public school system has a program here designed for kids who are educationally at risk of falling thru the cracks. it's free and that's great but it's 5 days a week ALL day.... no way!
if money was no object (which it is) my first choices would be these:
Montessori Academy- this is located right next door to my parents house. in fact we play on their playground and feed their goats often.
Friends Academy- i love their values and feel like my kids would gain a lot from being there.
but these are much to expensive and even with a scholarship i don't think we could pull it off. why can't public schools be great? this of course is another great conundrum... if we want public schools to be better we need to send our kids to public schools right? if we homeschool/private school all the "good" kids then of course they are going to go to crap. but do i want my kid to have to suffer in the name of making a [slight] change? that's a hard one.
2 comments:
i'm going to check out a pre-school tomorrow with my boss and sarah. it's really hard to find someplace safe and loving and fun. let me know how the search goes!
You have written about our conflicts here almost perfectly. We have found a little pre-school at a baptist church for next year, and it's within walking distance which is really why we chose it. However, the next stage terrifies me, and although we've pretty much settled on public school I get nervous when I think about it. But maybe it would be that way regardless of where she went???
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