As many of you know, I have recently been working with my two eldest daughters to help them make a plan for college. Things are starting to relax around here now that they have both applied to and gotten accepted into schools and are starting on their college paths. I have to say, however, that I had plenty of preparation for the pressures of college hunting and it hearkens back to trying to find a good preschool and get my children accepted and enrolled!
When I was a child, preschool was something SOME KIDS did and it was either short-term (only a few hours a week) or it was part of the day care that children with working parents attended. By the time my children were post-toddlers; preschool had definitely become important and required EARLY EDUCATION. I do not know anyone who has opted to not send their child to preschool in this contemporary economy and I know how stressful and pressured the search for a “good” preschool can be.
Of course, I do not live in a high-powered city or an upwardly mobile economic community so I have avoided some of the truly intense preschool pressures. Still, I did develop some strategies back in the preschool-hunting days: 1. establish your own priorities for your children before you succumb to outside pressures—do you value an academic approach, or want more of a foundation in the preschool years? Do you want your child to have social, artistic, or academic experiences? It is important for you that your child make contacts with the children he or she will be going to school with or do you want your child to learn more diversity and multi-culturalism? By determining your values and priorities first, you will have them to guide you in the process. 2. Give yourself plenty of time to investigate and don’t feel pressured to make a quick choice or getting on a waiting list. Unless you live in a really “tight market” you will have plenty of time to find the right preschool so do not get caught up in feeling pressured to make a quick decision. 3. Try to keep an eye on the big picture—your child’s education will be life-long and there will be many opportunities and different adventures. You do not have to try to cram everything into the first two years. By looking at the big picture, it may help you to have a more relaxed approach and keep from burning your child out with too much too soon.
See Also: Why I Don’t Believe in Early Childhood Education
Homeschool Questions: Keeping Preschool Fun
and the EDUCATION Blog