In my area, virtually all the options for keeping a kid interesed have a "school readiness" agenda. It's suffocating, but that's another story.
I take the kids to these things because they really need the variety in their activities. Recently I've got a lot of flack, and heard a lot of flack directed at others for not enforcing "school" rules, such as sitting quietly in circle time, staying to the end of any programme (even free play), accurate copying of craft projects (use three white, then a red, repeat, around the edge of your page...) you get the picture.
I don't want to stop using the family resource/early years centers, but I don't want to enforce what I feel to be age inappropriate rules. The programme staff are split on honouring the open nature of their centers, and showing obvious dissaproval though they can't acutally ask me to comply.
What would you do? Is there a clever middle ground?
-Mich
(more in the almost-three-and-just-hit-the-boredom-wall files)
