Preschool what is right for your kid?

The moment has arrived. My little baby has sprouted wings and is ready to leave the nest at least for a few hours a day. I am looking to find a preschool this fall that’s right for my baby (well not baby anymore), one that will make his days pleasurable, enjoyable with a nurturing and stimulating environment that I can get a peace of mind when I drop him and leave him.  I know there are all these labels (Jean Piagét, Rudolf Steiner, or Maria Montessori) on preschools but I wonder what they really mean.  So this is what I am looking for in short;

Where my child will be allowed to make choices about what he learns; Where a large part of the activities are directed by my child; My child’s social and emotional growth and developing values will be taken seriously; A  pleasing environment, fun activities, and great attitude from the teachers (joyful & warm); Where I can be involved and is opened to parents and their ideas..I sound like a NEEDY Parent!.

So after reading this  “According to the U.S. Department of Education, preschool plays a large role in later academic success. Children in high quality preschools display better language, cognitive, and social skills than children who attended low quality programs.” I decided to pull up my socks in the search and really get ontop of it.

Danielle wood (www.education.com) gives the following tips on what to consider when choosing a preschool;

1. Credentials. Make sure the schools you are considering employ teachers that have earned early childhood education degrees. Ask if the school itself is accredited. For more information, go to www.naeyc.org, the website for the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
2. Hours. There’s a difference between day care and preschool. Day care often offers more hours for kids of working parents, in a less scheduled environment. Preschool programs tend to be shorter, and more structured. Decide your needs and look for a program that correlates.
3. Discipline. Ask how the school deals with behavior such as hitting or biting. Ask how they deal with conflict – do they believe children should work things out themselves? Do they believe in “time outs”? It’s important that you agree with a school’s disciplinary approach and trust their judgment – small children have a hard time with mixed messages.
4. Nutrition. One of the great things about preschool is that children are positively influenced by their peers – they may not touch fruit at home, but if everyone else is eating apples, they might be coerced to try them. Of course, they may also be negatively influenced. Does the school provide lunch and/or snacks or will you pack them from home? If they supply the goods, ask what they serve. Pretzels and cheese cubes, or cookies and milk? Don’t choose a school with a teacher who loves to bake if you don’t want your kids eating sweets. If your child has food allergies, make sure they can ensure their safety.
5. Look at the Art. A picture is worth a thousand words, so look at what’s hanging on the walls. Does everything look the same? Is all the crayon within the lines? Some schools emphasize facts: “Trees are green.” Others encourage imagination:  “Interesting. I’ve never seen a baby growing on a tree before!”
6. Visiting. Does the school have an open door policy? Can parents visit at any time, or are there set days for observation?
7. Safety. How does the school ensure student safety? How do they keep track of pickups at the end of the day?
8. Philosophy. More brain development occurs in the first five years of life than at any point thereafter. Educators have different views and approaches, even as early as the preschool years. Some schools are completely “play based,” others have kids as young as three or four tracing numbers and letters to prepare them for kindergarten. It all comes down to learning style.

So I will keep looking with all these good information in hand.

Have you found a preschool? Any more tips? What did you like most in your childs preschool?

Mompetition

What really wears me out is the constant mom’s competition about everything and anything. There is always this mom who has the kiddos who started walking at 6 months or kiddos who can multiple, subtract at 15 months. How about the mother who tries and guilt others into the epidural vs. natural; C-section vs. natural birth; breast feeding vs. formula; staying home vs. working contest?

I really do understand that most of the times we don’t even realize we are doing it. We are all human and so we love to speak about ourselves and share every detail of what’s going on in our and children lives.  Which is what friendship and parenthood is all about anyway! I have come to understand that we need to listen more and try to not to show off about things that might be sensitive to other mother or friends.

I also keep in mind that, we us mothers always long for confirmation that we’re doing things correctly. So when we decide to make different choices from our friends or other mothers, it is natural to support our own style. We have to acknowledge that there is more than one way to be a superior parent! (I believe)

I feel like parenthood as it is has created a sense of vulnerability and we should all be in one team! We should keep supporting each other’s strengths and dwell less on weaknesses. We will sit down days, years or even decades later and look back at the time and moments we lost. When things we thought mattered won’t count any more (which way your baby arrived into this earth, how much they weighed at 2 months) – and realize that our imperfect lives were just beautiful. I am thankful to God and I embrace my imperfect life, and I now know that love is all that matters!

 How do you deal with the bragging, or what advise can you give?

Bundle them up in germs

So I am one of those germ-a-phobes who refuse to let my kids do fun stuff like eat mud and lay a hand on snails and frogs, so I am coming to realize I am doing these little  ones a huge  disservice. When my son started crawling around our home, grabbing everything in view and putting much of it in his mouth, a toy that a neighbors dog, just chewed on, a shoe the has been into the public bathroom, all got munched on. I freaked out!

How many parents tussle with the thought of exposing their child to germs and infection in daycare/pre-schools and hoping this will strengthen their immune system? I was reading about a mother who just put her son in kindergarten and he’s forever sick. Her pediatrician said that because he stayed at home most of the time and did not go to daycare or pre-school her immune system needed to adjust. “Now some immunology experts are beginning to agree that germs that many parents bleach and disinfect out of existence might help children.”Hygiene hypothesis” holds that when babies are exposed to germs, it helps them fight allergies and asthma later.”

Okay! So be happy to let your toddler crawl around the house, restaurants, even the doctor’s office, and put their fingers and other dirty objects into her mouth. A little germ will not hurt after all…. yucky. Oh my parental pet-peeve: parents who let their sick child go to school, and in public play areas, like seriously!

Let me know what you think~ would knowing expose your kid to a little germs