Originally Posted by DCMom:
Well said melskids.
I wish I could let go completely, but I can't. The word 'preschool' is mandatory in advertising in my area or you just wouldn't get kids.
My daily routine sounds very much like yours only I have themes. EX: Right now and probably next week we are totally into Valentines Days with a twist; today we've been talking about real hearts and how they work; yesterday we got into a whole conversation about friendship and what it means to be a friend, kwim?
Couple weeks ago it was penguins ~ they couldn't get enough of penguins and the kinds of penguins and walking like penguins and sliding like penguins. LOL, it was pretty fun. I just choose the theme and give them materials and they just do the rest.
I have friend who is a kindy teacher and it never ceases to amaze her how many kids come to her not being able to zip a zipper or tie a shoe; they have no self control or table manners.
I often wonder when these simple life skills lost their importance?
they lost their importance when parents started worrying about their kid being "smarter" and more advanced then the "normal" crowd. its part of having to have everything bigger and better. don't even get me started on "your baby can read" type parents
lol
all of my parents choose me
because of the type of program i run.
and all the kiddos leave for Kindy more then ready.
i throw some themes in there too. for example, i have lots of valentines activites out right now. pink and red paint, heart stamps, books about friendship, a post office in dramatic play to mail valentine's, things like that. but two of the boys are "stuck" on trains. for months.
lol so we're still "studying" those as well.
i also wanted to add, that when some of the parents
do choose to send their kiddos to a formal pre-k, i'm OK with that too. i don't feel insulted in the least. i actually prefer 0-3 anyway