Is this the new Era of preschool?

[neven]

Currently my son is enrolled in a preschool and i am getting quite annoyed whenever i see the web feeds of him there. The facility has all natural toys and is beautifully made, but the issue isn't what they have, its how the teachers run the place. The children roam free the whole time except for a circle time in the beginning. Almost the whole time an instructor sits at a computer, very rarely getting up from her chair while the other one does paper work when she's not at circle time. You do not see the instructors playing with the children, so you see all these great toys rarely being played with by the children because they are not being taught how to play with them, whether its kitchen, dress up or whatever.

When i look back at what i remembered preschools are like, especially when i had a family member work at one, the instructors were very involved with the children. Its sad to see, but from people i know in the industry, this is becoming the norm, where preschool becomes just another daycare.

Sadly, theres a care worker there with my son and someone elses kid. Looking at the web feeds, she's right in there with all the children, they flock to her because she interacts with them, shows them how to play, and helps solve conflicts that are ignored by the instructors (they only pay attention when violence is involved). She's pretty much doing the instructors job for them, and its becoming like this at other facilities aswell. We're annoyed with it, but we cant move our son because it will set back his progress and many of these children will be in kindergarten with him.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Irene and I (as well as other family members) take care of our two girls and I don't plan on sending either to daycare or preschool. We're going to start swimming lessons for Felicia and she has quite a few neighbourhood kids to play with in the summer and other kids she interacts with throughout the year. Irene and I are already teaching her to count (she can count up to 60) and she's learning to spell and read (not bad for 3.5 years old). However, both Irene & I are self-employed and work from home most of the time. We also have lots of family members who live within 3 to 12 minutes drive from our home and have a huge backyard for the kids to play in and learn about gardening/koi keeping, etc.

I know we have a lot of advantages not possible for most modern families, but it allows me to avoid these daycare/preschool issues while still making sure that our kids grow up fully socialized and with a strong understanding of different academic subjects.

Of course, I chose my profession with this in mind because I want to be a fully involved Dad, which is impossible with most jobs.

I sympathize with your dilemma Neven since our kids' well-being is the most important issue in our lives.

Anthony

[hp10BII]

I hope it's not a new era. My last kid left preschool about 9 years ago and all staff, assistants were super with the kids. They had supervised free playtime but there were always 2 sets of eyes on them all the time.

[April]

No it's not normal. I'd complain or something. You mays well not have your kid in play school if just aimless playing. They aren't learning to sit and listen etc. mays well be at family place which is free if you are only getting socialization.is there a governing body for play schools? When my kids were in play school the teachers were interacting the whole session.



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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=49.235328,-123.185296

[April]

I agree with Anthony. My granddaughter is counting, spelling, printing names etc as my daughter spends the time. She does a little ballet class, swimming, libraries have reading sessions for small kids. If the parent does one thing ...read read read..and they will do fine.
It's proven the kids who are read to alot succeed in learning, attention span etc.
My granddaughter also spends most of her time out gardening, beaches, apple orchards, what have you.she knows all about the seasons, growing. Edge tables etc as my daughter explains everything they do.
Some parents only talk to their kids for commands and those are the kids who are missing out. I wouldn't pay money for a play school that hasn't got teaches who spend time with the kids. Our kids loved their teaches. They all got hugs etc. they never forgot them and came to a service we had for one of her kids when she passed away at 17 years. All the kids who were there still got hugs 13 years later.


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=49.234406,-123.185407

[BubBleBee]

Sadly times have changed and thus attitudes of some of the people watching the lil ones. For that reason alone I never put either one of my children in preschool and decided to be a stay at home mom till they entered Kindergarten...my daughter is advanced in grade one and my youngest will be in K in the fall. Both my children learned their abc's and 123's by 3yrs of age and my girl was already reading and writing by the time she entered the school system. In all reality it's hard work and takes perseverance on the educators part, something that not all but most ECE's lack nowadays. Hope all works out for the best Neven...

[rich16]

Definitely not normal...my two boys are out of the daycare / preschool period now (Gr. 2 and K). My youngest is a bit of a special case - as he has autism & cerebral palsy - he was in a preschool for mostly special needs kids that offered the therapies that he should be getting (plug for Reach Preschool in Delta. The staff there are some of the most amazing people I've met)

Outside of Reach, both my boys had attended daycare / preschool programs, and both had high levels of teacher/adult - child interaction. Constant outings to park, library, walk around the neighbourhood, etc, as well as learning new stuff.

April has it right - if they're just going to sit and play aimlessly, you may as well save the money and keep them at home. The only thing they MAY miss out on would be social interaction with their peers, which is valuable in and of itself.

[neven]

there is no governing body actually, as long as they are present in the room, meet the building requirements and have the credentials for child care, there is nothing that can be done to get them to change. My son is enrolled and still has his helper, moving him could make him lose his helper and set back his progress

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[Ursus sapien]

that's way off course, and not the norm. While I'm a huge fan of free-range parenting, what you're describing is just lazy baby sitting.

[Elle]

I'm not a parent, so take my opinion for what it's worth here. But what you describe is WAY different from what I remember 30+ years back in preschool and what my sister describes now as the interaction level for my 1 year old niece at her preschool. There's a big difference between letting kids play without micromanagement and just ignoring them, which it sounds like the instructors are doing.

I would maybe speak with some of the other parents there if you know them and see if they have the same concerns. If so, a group letter to the management might make them review how the facility is run. If it's being advertised as encouraging play/learning/interaction, you've got a valid complaint that you're not getting your money's worth here.

Anthony and Irene are really lucky to be able to arrange work schedules/family to care for their kids while still bringing in an income. In this day and age it's not nearly as common or easy as it should be, and it's one reason that some people now have fewer or no kids - the cost of care so they can work to put food on the table.