runlikejoy

Displaced Stay At Home Californian in rural N. Carolina

The Many Faces of Joy

The Many Faces of Joy

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Preschool

The former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger once said that if children attended Preschool they had a greater chance of going to college or obtaining a higher education than children that did not go to preschool. In the latest round of budget cuts before Governor Schwarzenegger left office he proposed to cut state funding to all child subsidized care except for state run preschools. He really liked preschools.

I really don't like preschools. I have always erred of the side of caution when asked about preschool for my kids because I know that my answer tends to get people riled up. I remember once seeing a picture in my favorite magazine, People, where the caption read, "Brittney Spears picks up her 1 year old and 2 year old from preschool" and thinking, "aren't they a little young for preschool? Isn't that just a nice way of saying daycare?" (Tomato, tom-ah-toe) But really I think that all the good stuff, the productive stuff, the stuff that really sticks in the formative years, is taught and learned at home, not hanging out with Jayden James and Sean Preston. (this is what I like to call: my opinion)

So we have signed our youngest child up for a Cooperative Preschool near where we live, what a novelty! And it is a bonafide Coop. I have to volunteer one day out of the 3 that my child attends per week. I have to belong to a committee that requires me to volunteer 10 hours per school year. And I have to volunteer in a general capacity 2 work weekends a year. And I have to go to meetings that are in the evening every couple of weeks and they are from 7:00 to 9:30pm or until the meeting is over. And I have to clean out paint containers. And I have to fill paint buckets. And I have to scrub play dough toys. And I have to make play dough. And I have to fill art bins. And I have to do much more.

My head is swimming right now with the amount of things I have to do to have my child go to this parent supported, hands on, process not product, discounted Preschool so that someday I can look back and feel good about how I gave my youngest child this opportunity in education. Because lets face it, she is not going to remember this Coop at all. Just like I can't remember the majority of grades 1, 2 , 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. I originally relished the idea of doing homeschooling preschool with my youngest like I did with my oldest but the crazy eyes look I got from other parents when I used the word Homeschool as well as the fact that my youngest and I are so much alike and we would drive each other c-r-a-z-y pointed me in other directions. I also have to add that she is a very tall child and sometimes I get questions like "why isn't that 12 year old in school?" (this is what I like to call: exaggerating)

So she is going to preschool in a few short weeks. And if she doesn't end up going to college I guess we will know who to blame, although from the look of things, the former Governor doesn't need any more bad press, he is doing fine on his own. Just as I am sure our little one will do fine on her own, in Preschool.

1 comment:

Whitney said...

You crack me up! All I have to say is that even when my kids were at home and not at an organized school/class/activity, we rarely did playdough and painting because of the mess and because one of us ended up in tears at the end. But they loved to do playdough at school. :) So just remember you are giving her experiences, even if they aren't going to get her into Harvard or Juliard or Stanford, she is learning a lot of other great stuff like problem solving when a kid throws paint at her or she eats playdough and vomits or she has to clean out the chicken coop. :) And you are going to be able to brag about what a great preschool you sent her to when she's 40 and trying to figure out whether to live in a nudist colony or a commune. :)