picky about preschool

Finding the right preschool was difficult for me, and probably not for the reasons you would expect. You see I spent A LOT of time this last year substitute teaching for my sister in laws Kindergarten class. I was shocked how much these little kids are expected to learn in such a short time. The full day of Kindergarten is full of curriculum, curriculum, curriculum. Not much time for imagination, or dramatic play. It's all about testing....all kinds of testing to find out where your kid falls in every category imaginable. My sister in law is the best teacher EVER. Putting everything into her class and making it as fun as possible, but she agrees.....kids really can't just be kids for very long. It makes me a little sad.

I am all for learning your abc's and your numbers, but when did we start having to teach our kids to read before they could even walk? I want my kids to stay kids as long as possible. I want them to play and enjoy life, I want them to stay busy but not over scheduled with all kinds of lessons, and music, and sports. Really I am not too worried about my kids learning the things they need to know, I am more worried about them having to grow up to fast.

So I did find the perfect teacher. She is educated and so much fun. The kids take buckets to school instead of back packs because their art projects are usually to big for a back pack anyway. They come home from school not with buckets full of paper work but pieces of cut paper glued on more pieces of cut paper.....looks like scraps to throw away but really it is a fine motor skills masterpiece. They come home with a desire to learn more, and to practice letters and numbers on their own. They are amazing me everyday with what they are learning, and most importantly they are still able to be four, not worried about anything but just being their age.