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Changes! Eek!
Sep. 28th, 2006 10:50 amI just scheduled a visit to a nursery school for next Thursday.
Well, nursery school/daycare. They have both. All the kids do nursery school in the morning, and you can either bring them home at noon or have them stay for lunch, nap, and afternoon daycare. They have a two-year-old classroom. If we like the school, we'll be signing Alex up to start in May.
I had despaired of finding a good play-based nursery school, because all of the ones that advertise in Baltimore's Child magazine talk about "computer literacy" and "pre-reading skills" and "kindergarten readiness." It's part of a trend that, unbelievably, includes academic tutoring for 3-5 year olds. From the way things are going I do predict that Alex will master preschool concepts early and be reading by three or four - but I am utterly opposed, philosophically, to sending her to an "academic" nursery school where those concepts are formally presented.
My friend Suzanne passed on some materials about the Bolton Hill nursery school. "Play is a child's work," the flyer began, and went on to explain that young children learn best from exploring their world, not from formal instruction. The teachers provide a rich environment - music, art supplies, pretend play equipment, a courtyard and a nearby playground for outdoor play, books, building materials - and help the children negotiate social interactions. They do all the traditional nursery school projects, like sprouting seeds in Dixie cups and visiting a fire station, but "rarely will you enter a classroom and see all the children seated at a table doing the same art project." It seems very free.
Best of all: they offer a flexible schedule - anywhere from 1-5 half and/or whole days a week - and they are much cheaper than a nanny. They're located just six blocks from our house, so we can walk there. And Suzanne's son Leo, who is in playgroup with Alex, will be going 1.5 days a week - so she would be starting out with a familiar playmate.
Still: nursery school? Already? What a scary thought. And yet, Alex really enjoys being with other kids. We've been thinking that when our current nanny graduates from school and takes a full-time job, we'll probably want to put Alex in group daycare. It's just the word "school" that's making me think "Whoa!"
Well, nursery school/daycare. They have both. All the kids do nursery school in the morning, and you can either bring them home at noon or have them stay for lunch, nap, and afternoon daycare. They have a two-year-old classroom. If we like the school, we'll be signing Alex up to start in May.
I had despaired of finding a good play-based nursery school, because all of the ones that advertise in Baltimore's Child magazine talk about "computer literacy" and "pre-reading skills" and "kindergarten readiness." It's part of a trend that, unbelievably, includes academic tutoring for 3-5 year olds. From the way things are going I do predict that Alex will master preschool concepts early and be reading by three or four - but I am utterly opposed, philosophically, to sending her to an "academic" nursery school where those concepts are formally presented.
My friend Suzanne passed on some materials about the Bolton Hill nursery school. "Play is a child's work," the flyer began, and went on to explain that young children learn best from exploring their world, not from formal instruction. The teachers provide a rich environment - music, art supplies, pretend play equipment, a courtyard and a nearby playground for outdoor play, books, building materials - and help the children negotiate social interactions. They do all the traditional nursery school projects, like sprouting seeds in Dixie cups and visiting a fire station, but "rarely will you enter a classroom and see all the children seated at a table doing the same art project." It seems very free.
Best of all: they offer a flexible schedule - anywhere from 1-5 half and/or whole days a week - and they are much cheaper than a nanny. They're located just six blocks from our house, so we can walk there. And Suzanne's son Leo, who is in playgroup with Alex, will be going 1.5 days a week - so she would be starting out with a familiar playmate.
Still: nursery school? Already? What a scary thought. And yet, Alex really enjoys being with other kids. We've been thinking that when our current nanny graduates from school and takes a full-time job, we'll probably want to put Alex in group daycare. It's just the word "school" that's making me think "Whoa!"
