Pants and I toured a school this morning, The Goddard School. It would be ideal for our kids - on the way to work, more of an educational environment, a friend from daycare already there. But they wanted over $2000 per month to take our kids.
We have been considering moving our kids to a more educational environment so they get more socialization, more educational opportunities, more time playing outside, and are better prepared for school. The home daycare we are in has worked phenomenally well while the kids were younger, but as they get older I think they need more than what they are getting.
If we weren't already in debt up to our eyeballs, I might put our kids in this school anyway. But killing ourselves over pre-school? Who affords this school? Some people must, there were kids' names all over the classrooms. (Maybe they put up fake names. Does anyone really name their kid Anakin??)
It actually made me incredibly angry. I have been unable to find a pre-school program that is not phenomenally more than what we are paying a month now (hundreds more per month) or that runs all week. My kids don't have a way to get to and from pre-school for partial day programs, nor would our daycare allow us to go down to three days per week to put our kids in pre-school the other 2 days. I get it, my kids would take up a slot that could go to a full-time kid. Not that it matters, the ones I have looked at would still be too expensive for us.
There is one option, a Montessori school in Anoka, that is pretty close to what we're paying now, but both kids have to be potty trained before they can enroll and we have to figure out how to get to work from Anoka. It will mean more time commuting every day and more time away from the kids.
So my kids may have to start school without a lot of the skills other kids will have. I don't even know what those skills are, as I can't seem to find a list of what they should know. Should they be able to write letters, or just recognize them? Should they be able to just count, or do some rudimentary math? Tell time? Count money? I want to help my kids get a little more education, but what do I focus on?
I feel really lost on this.
6 comments:
Read to them. Seriously. If you read 3 books a day to them, they'll be fine. You'll come across so many new concepts, things to talk about, counting, science, world knowledge, etc. Honestly, studies show, if you read 3 books a day to them, they'll succeed. And they don't have to be (shouldn't all be) new books - it's important to reread familiar stories, too, very much!!!
If you want specific things to work on, work on having them write them names (1st letter capital, rest lower case), count items accurately past 10, recognize basic shapes, play with rhyming words, recognize letters (esp ones in their names), and just play together with cooking, measuring, doing stuff outside. So sayeth the former kindergarten-first grade teacher! ;)
Your school district may offer sliding scale preschool options and kindergarten preparation information. Also, google "how do i prepare my child for kindergarten" and there's an abundance of ideas available.
If research makes you feel better, find out what the registration deadlines are if your first attends in you district. If you have your hopes on another district, that deadline will likely be earlier. Regarding socialization, let me know if you want to connect for playtime(s).
Ditto what Ms. H said- they will be expected to know their letters, but will still be working on writing them. But it's a good idea to know their name. Also, all that reading stuff you remember from first grade? Learning letter sounds, and sight words? That's all taught in kindergarten now. There is a series of books called "What your (kindergartner)__ needs to know" - there is one for every grade, and there are lots of ideas in there.
I've also seen the "BOB" series of books recommended over and over for teaching letter recognition and reading skills. (But haven't tried them myself)
And the Leap Frog "Letter Factory" and "Word Factory" DVDs were big hits over here (they are only :30 min. but genius)
Also, take a deep breath and don't freak yourself out too much.
Deep breath. It will be OK. Money does not necessarily equate to better education. There is more to it than that. Money gets you societal access to other people with money. Mostly it comes down to time and determination. We didn't pay a lot for UMM (relatively) and based on my experiences with the general population, we all turned out pretty well educated. As Ms. Huis says, read to them before bed. Talk to them. Engage them. They are young and everything is a learning opportunity for them. Challenge yourself to show them one new thing a day. Even simple things like what butter is made of, or how a key works, or the difference between an oak leaf and a maple leaf. If they get excited about learning and want to learn, then even if they do start out a little behind, they will catch up and quickly pass up those kids who aren't excited about learning.
Oh just get them some of those annoying gadgets that have colorful letters and numbers on them. Worked wonders for my kids along with my reading to them and educational programs. Peanut wasn't that much farther ahead of son when she started kindergarten. Check into the school district too, they often provide programs and transportation to and from daycare.
Post a Comment