Lori Alexander On Preschool

[ThatSnark]

UGH. My children thrived in a morning church preschool program. I used those hours to run errands, clean the house, do laundry, and exercise, so that our afternoons could be spent doing fun things together. Had I kept them home, they would have had all the training of staying out of my way while I cleaned the house, did laundry, and exercised, and the great fun of grocery shopping. :roll:

Sorry, Lori. It doesn't add up. Someone's got to scrub the toilets and buy the food, and that's easier done without preschoolers afoot.

[EmiGirl]

UGH. My children thrived in a morning church preschool program. I used those hours to run errands, clean the house, do laundry, and exercise, so that our afternoons could be spent doing fun things together. Had I kept them home, they would have had all the training of staying out of my way while I cleaned the house, did laundry, and exercised, and the great fun of grocery shopping. :roll:

Sorry, Lori. It doesn't add up. Someone's got to scrub the toilets and buy the food, and that's easier done without preschoolers afoot.

But that's prime time to start teaching your daughters to be perfect little housewives!!

[ThatSnark]

But that's prime time to start teaching your daughters to be perfect little housewives!!

Oops. :oops:

[YPestis]

Early childhood education is vital for children's academic development. It can be done at home or at a preschool. I never understood why anyone can think of a controversy for that. There's no doubt that stimulating a young child's mind is good for their development. What's so wrong with teaching a kid with other kids versus at home? I don't understand this fundie's insistence that women must be attached to the hip of young children 24/7. It used to be common for older siblings to care for younger ones. Honestly, preschool is an improvement from the traditional childcare model, which was to sit them with a 10 year old daughter while the other women try to get work done. In fundies' zeal to push mommies back to the home, they overlook the fact that children will always have other people teaching them, interacting with them, influencing them. Short of locking kids in a cage, children *will* have other adults in their lives.

[takers401]

Early childhood education is vital for children's academic development. It can be done at home or at a preschool. I never understood why anyone can think of a controversy for that. There's no doubt that stimulating a young child's mind is good for their development. What's so wrong with teaching a kid with other kids versus at home? I don't understand this fundie's insistence that women must be attached to the hip of young children 24/7. It used to be common for older siblings to care for younger ones. Honestly, preschool is an improvement from the traditional childcare model, which was to sit them with a 10 year old daughter while the other women try to get work done. In fundies' zeal to push mommies back to the home, they overlook the fact that children will always have other people teaching them, interacting with them, influencing them. Short of locking kids in a cage, children *will* have other adults in their lives.

I honestly wonder if it's in response to the fundie thinking that feminism is about hating children and feminists are all about selfishly serving themselves rather than others. Instead of moderate thinking that some distance from children can, and sometimes really is, a good thing they go to the opposite extreme that if you're not with your children 24/7 you don't really love them.

I'll admit I'm a little biased on this one as I recently have a confrontation with my MIL who declared that by sending my 2 year old to pre-school one day a week for two hour a day I didn't love her, wasn't being a good mom to her, and was setting her up for a lifetime of hating school.

[mockingbird]

Re: Church preschools. My mom teaches for a church preschool, but I don't think they teach any religion. I think it has more to do with renting the church rooms, etc. I just looked their website up and they don't even mention that it's connected to the church. The preschool my brother and I went to was in a church but I'm pretty sure it didn't have any religious curriculum either. We also went to Sunday School, which was at our own church. Our public school system has a preschool but it's only open to special needs kids and a few other kids who are selected by a raffle. My sister went to that preschool because she didn't talk until she was three, and it was the easiest way to access a speech therapist.

My mom really likes her job and it seems like a lot of kids really grow over the course of the year. I agree you can approach "preschool" (i.e. early childhood education and socialization) in many different ways, though. But I don't think structured preschool is bad. Actually, there is one family at my mom's school whom she suspects are fundy-lite or QF... the mom is close to my age and they already have a few young kids. lol

[2xx1xy1JD]

I attended a "church basement preschool" that just happened to rent space in a church basement. The building is there, and otherwise it's used just once a week.

My current neighborhood also has quite a few religious preschools. Care for 3 yr olds is not paid for by the government (although the religious daycares are also eligible for government subsidies for families that qualify). The ones that my kids attended were clear about their religious orientation, but the families ranged from really religious to non-observant.

[August]

Here many atheist preschools are in church basements because the space is cheap.

[Jana814]

My mother is a pre-school teacher in our temple. Like someone said above there is mixed w/ religious/observant families to other kids who may not be even Jewish.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

Here many atheist preschools are in church basements because the space is cheap.

Most of the ones here (I can't say all because I simply don't know. I know only know the ones I checked into.) still have some sort of religion mixed in. The one my niece and nephew attended was very much affiliated with the church. My nephew's graduation was terrifying, and it's just a regular old Methodist church. I had to keep telling my dad to shut up, because he kept muttering while the pastor was speaking. :lol: That pastor, who seriously starting bringing up creation and Adam and Eve at a preschool graduation ceremony, spent time with the kids once a week.

I imagine it varies widely depending on where you live. I'm in a very Christian pocket of the Midwest.

[sacrilicious]

The preschool our oldest attended was affiliated with a church and had a 15 minute chapel service every week. The religious teachings were pretty watered down for children that young and most of the focus was on the usual preschool stuff. It worked for us because while we are not religious and lean towards agnosticism, we both grew up in Christian families and felt that our child should be exposed to some of the basic tenets of the religion, since it's in the family. Of course, all schools are different but this one was basic, age-appropriate biblical information.

I don't get the hate for preschools or public schools at all! Our child was very shy and I am disorganized, and she was able to learn so much from preschool and now elementary school and is blossoming and thriving. I would be doing her a disservice by keeping her at home and trying to educate her myself!

[hearyoume08]

I went to preschool as well as daycare (which I went to until I was 10) shock and awe.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Most of the ones here (I can't say all because I simply don't know. I know only know the ones I checked into.) still have some sort of religion mixed in. The one my niece and nephew attended was very much affiliated with the church. My nephew's graduation was terrifying, and it's just a regular old Methodist church. I had to keep telling my dad to shut up, because he kept muttering while the pastor was speaking. :lol: That pastor, who seriously starting bringing up creation and Adam and Eve at a preschool graduation ceremony, spent time with the kids once a week.

I imagine it varies widely depending on where you live. I'm in a very Christian pocket of the Midwest.

I don't remember any religion at all from my old preschool. It was a co-op, my dad went to the management meetings and we carpooled with another Jewish family, so I'm pretty sure that they would have left in a flash if there was anything Christian. I believe it was simply a straight rental.

The Jewish preschools that my kids attended were very clearly identified as such. They accepted kids from non-observant families, but it was a definite part of the curriculum. It tended to be expressed with the food, clothing, songs, themes at circle time, holiday celebrations, stories, and "good deed notes" (we were encouraged to regularly write notes saying what good stuff our kid had done - been nice to the baby, helped mommy, gotten dressed independently, etc. Many of my notes for the middle child focused on the latter, as a way of explaining why she was wearing stripped heavy sweater, polka dot shorts, mismatched socks and shoes on the wrong feet.)

[docmom]

Sounds like a good set-up. To clarify my point. Pre-school here is free. It is free for 2 years prior to evil real school. Anti-pre and then pre-school. It is run by LEA (Local education authority) and is non-denominational. Some schools have attached pre-school eg. Catholic. But I am not aware of 'Church' pre-school. There is voluntary Mother and toddler groups. But I am not sure if these are religion based or just the fact a church hall is available. Obviously there is also private nursery and pre-schools for parents who work full time. From my experience these nurseries used to bring their kids to the evil govt pre-school for their 2 hour session as generally it is more education focussed and is generally tied in to the school you wish your child to attend.

Fascinating the differences we all have.

Ah, but you live in an evil socialist state where everyone is immoral and desperately unhappy (although they don't quite realize it yet).