<p><<so -="" to="" all="" you="" california="" parents,="" how="" do="" feel="" about="" the="" reiner="" preschool="" initiative?="" (prop="" 82)="">></so></p>
<p>Well the public schools in L.A. are pathetic. Why do they think they could do a better job with preschool?</p>
<p>The notion of searching for pre-schools that are "fancy" or for children of "social climbers" is rooted in profound misunderstanding and ignorance of the realities on the ground. Perhaps one should be intimidated by ignorance, at least to the point of doing something about it.</p>
<p>I think it would be ridiculous to require a bachelors degree for a preschool teacher- that would just make costs much more than they need to be.</p>
<p>I agree that the mania over preschool admissions is out of hand. One of the reasons many people apply to highly competitive preschool programs is that they are attached to highly competitive prep schools. Once the child is admitted as a 3 year old they may be able to stay through middle or even high school. In addition, many of these schools give preference to siblings. Get Little Suzie in for preschool and perhaps the school will take her less stellar older brother Johnny for 4th grade. </p>
<p>And I have to admit to being one of the lunatics-we're waiting right now to find out whether our 4 year old will get into the private school to which she's applied. Although in our defense I have to say that it's a wonderful school that provided said preschooler's big sister with tremendous learning opportunities.</p>
<p>thankyou, theDad - those of us who have lived through this reality know that it has nothing to do with posturing and everything to do with getting an education for your child. Here in Boston, you either have to do private school or you have to move. Period. In the preschool years, a lot of people just move out of the city. For a variety of reasons, I stayed, and I entered the private school fray. I'm glad that I did, it was the right thing for me and for DS, but we jumped through a lot of hoops at times. Other folks here can criticize but they probably live in places with viable public schools.</p>
<p>EK, I don't know about bachelor's degrees, but the teachers at D's pre-school had, at a minimum, certificates in Early Childhood Education. I've got to say, it showed in things like discipline and in the attitude of the kids. This thread is making me think of calling to see what they charge <em>these</em> days.</p>
<p>I know that many community colleges offer 1 yr certificates and 2 year degrees in early childhood ed- and my older d did attend a preschool which was NAEYC accredited- but I don't think that a bachelor degree is necessary to be a good preschool teacher , the CA requirement is higher than necessary I think.</p>
<p>When we had our babies, we wanted our son to go to the preschool across the street from our apartment, since we played there regularly & he thought of it as his backyard (it was a very selective preschool & highly thought of as well). As a backup, we listed him on the waitlist of another very selective preschool (are you ready for this) shortly after he was BORN!<br>
As fate had it, he had to go for an interview & do an IQ placement test & was ultimately waitlisted (church members & sibs of current preschoolers got priority). He cleared the waitlist just after his 1st week of summer school at the competing preschool, so we declined.<br>
The other preschool accepted him sight unseen & had him come for a placement evaluation, so they'd have a "balanced" class. The director stopped the evaluation a few minutes after it had begun. I was surprised & asked her why & she explained that my 3 year-old son was explaining to her how she should improve the evaluation by making changes to it (it was a nationally validated standardized evaluation for children of that age group). She said in her years as a director, she had never met a child like mine & saw no reason to continue the evaluation. He was happy at preschool & then was one of the few that went to public school thru grade 8 & then transferred into private school (all the others went selective private schools from K). Guess who he sees at the private school? The same kids he went to preschool with! His younger sister followed a similar path, but we just sent her to the same great preschool as brother, followed by the same private HS.</p>
<p>My son went to two pre-schools. The first catered to yuppies (which we were) and the teachers were highly educated early childhood specialists. Most were working on advanced degrees. They took good care of the kids but developed an adversarial attitude toward the parents. </p>
<p>Based on a tip from a mother who had decamped we switched to another pre-school at which many of the kids came from working class, often single parent backgrounds. Most of the teachers didn't have degrees but were long on affection, order and common sense.</p>
<p>When we met the director of school #2 (who did have a PhD) we were astonished at how few questions she asked US. When we commented on this contrast between her school and the "highclass" establishment a few blocks over, she said "We do not interrogate our parents." </p>
<p>My son stayed at this school for several years and had a wonderful experience. He still visits when he's in Manhattan.</p>
<p>Yeah, the preschool our kids actually attended did NOT stress academics, but rather made learning & socializing fun. The kids had different color days, differerent alphabet days, made lots of arts & crafts, celebrated lots of holidays, & had an idyllic time. Many of the teachers had been there for years & years & were very caring & affectionate (don't know but believe many may have had degrees--I never asked nor cared). Neither kids nor parents were asked many questions, but everyone felt nurtured in the community as a big & happy family, many of whom still nurture friendships years later. My daughter still thinks fondly of her preschool when times are tough & has such happy memories of a simpler, very loving time. It was a "yuppie" place, but there was no memorization or drills or worksheets; everything was active & hands-on. All the kids have done great from there.</p>
<p>Exactly: no memorization, drills, worksheets. Duh.</p>
<p>One important event took place at pre-school when D was four, however. A couple of times a week a young woman named Tammy came in to teach "creative movement," which one might think of as "dance" by another name. D was entranced by this one particular form that had all sorts of names for different poses and movements and learned all the names as fast as she could...they were French, she explained. At the end of the year, the kids did their own free-from "show" for the parents on the last day. The other kids who did something from "creative movement" did their own group thing...D, marching to the beat of her own bagpiper, did her version of an impromptu ballet. We had no idea about how many years of classes, performances, etc. that that would lie in front of her.</p>
<p>The story has a sweet (imo) postscript: during one of our moves, when D was in her middle teens, I found an info sheet for parents on the class, with the name of the young woman who taught it. [Yes, I'm an incredible packrat but that's another story.] She had a very unusual last name. Very. Google is your friend. On the third call, I found her parents in Michigan, who (fortunately) were so taken by my story of their story, which no one could make up, that they gave me the telephone number and last name of their now-married daughter in North Carolina. D sent her a letter and a couple of photo and got a very nice reply back; it's rare enough that any of us are aware of the ripples we cause for Good in anyone's life and the teacher was really touched...she's teaching something else these days (yoga?) but has a large spot in her heart for dance.</p>
<p>Sadly, there are preschools who try to "advance" the youngsters' development by drills, memorization & worksheets. It saddens me that they don't have the chance to develop their creative potential & have to worry about being "right" and "wrong" so very young & could easily come to hate formal schooling as a result.
The preschool our kids attended had lots of stories, some acting/drama, creative movement, PE, lots of music & dance, lots of art, parties that included everyone, and lots of hugs all around. It was a wonderful time & place for parents, kids, and families. We all miss that idyllic time.
Love your postscript. Has your child chosen to become a professional ballet (or other) dancer? My daughter took lessons for one month of hula & one month of ballet & decided there were too many rules for her. <grin></grin></p>
<p>HIMom, it's more like professional ballet declined to consider my D, LOL. I always thought her greater strength was in academics and now she agrees but for a while it was not entirely clear whether she was a dancer who studied a lot or a student who danced a lot. She apparently finally crossed that bridge during the summer between junior and senior year in high school. She's now a double-barrelled student but still dances; she's was in a senior choregraphy project last year and the piece she's in this year just got selected for this year's performance. Only downside is that practices are at 9am on Saturday morning, which she considers "unclean." Choreographer is a morning person. :(</p>