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Ok: question... what's "Center" time?

-Mich

Ooh, sorry, LOL, it's pre-k jargon for the stations they set up around a room, my DS pre-k had a kitchen and dress up, trains and building, library, painting and a sand table. So 4-6 kids depending on the activity would be at a "center" the kids would gravitate to their preferred areas and if they wanted to go somewhere else if there was room they could join or sometimes they had another kid move. Like the sand table had rules for 2 or 3 and when someone wanted a turn they traded, I think they limited with a timer for those centers. They did this to avoid 15 kids wanting blocks or something like that. But my DS essentially used up the centers it became like his room, except new toys
rarely came in. This was fine for other kids but DS ran out of interest and instead sought more imaginary play from his peers, they weren't up to his level so it became a source of tension and the teachers didn't help him or them negotiate it. They would take out 2-3 kids individually to work with the teachers at this time on the project of the day or worksheets. In the young class this is where they worked on holding crayons properly and scissors and stuff like that doing a craft. So envision a large room, group of kids placed around it working together or not. 2 or 3 of the teachers patrolled the centers and the other usually the head but not always worked on the special. DS loved
the specials it was one on one or two to one with the teacher and so much much more interesting to him and all the kids got that time. It was just more important to DS.

DeHe

Yes, what DeHe is saying really makesw sense to me. A more academic focus is prossibly more likely to introduce new materials more often and things like that too, I would have thought.

About the 'well behaved' bit - I think I have figured out what was getting at me. I was projecting my child's behaviour. When his finding soomething interesting intellectually, he reacts physically - he can NOT sit still! So if they were describing my DS as well behaved, it would probably mean he was a little 'shut off'.

It sounds like his vehemence might serve him really well in the future, Mich!

My DD has just finished preschool a few weeks ago. She was at a preschool which had a lovely physical environment, inside and out, a great staff ratio, awesome resources, and a very well behaved cohort of children. There were never any issues with more children wanting to do an activity than there was room for, because there were always so many quality activities laid out and while some where always the same (sandpit for example) others were changed regularly. They had a really excellent social/emotional development program and they had a slow steady approach to getting the children to learn school readiness skills such as participating well in group times, following instructions, etc.

However, 2 years of it was just way too much for my DD. Six months in the 3yr old program and then one year in the 4yr old program would have been fine for her. She didn't necessarily build any new academic or motor skills but she learned other things she did need for school and she was happy enough to go. The last 6 months was hellish.

Retrospectively I see two problems - one the teachers are well educated about child development and provided such a quality but "age appropriate" environment that they failed to see where children were able (needed) to be stretched beyond that. This was fine while the resources were new enough to be interesting but long term it was a problem. The second problem rested with my DD - she's happy and easy going, but also very strong willed and not at all a pleaser (don't ask me how that all fits into one bundle, but it does). The result is - if it's a pleasant happy place to go with good quality toys then sure she will go along happily enough and dig in the sandpit and dress up and drift along in her own imaginary land and maybe play with the other kids if that works out. But do NOT expect her to do teacher direct activities that are not really challenging enough, she'd rather just go do her own thing thanks very much.

Assuming that DeHe and I had children in the same preschool, my DD would choose "centre time" and self directed imaginative play over teacher directed developmental activities appropriate for a 4-5yr old (her age).

At home she will most often

Now my DD is not DYS level, well not on the testing we have anyway, and while I am expecting her to test a little higher when she is re-tested I am still not expecting her to shift too much, I am more thinking her FSIQ will land closer to her VCI (142). But I do think she is close enough that this difference in attitude to preschool compared to DeHe's description is a difference of personality and perhaps a variance in personal strengths rather than being strictly to do with LOG.

There's the rub. I think I'm starting to think I'm hoping that by doing part-time only having a couple of years of programme won't be a problem. Also, I don't see any reason not to switch daycares for pure novelty if that seems like the right aproach.

I think I'm starting to see some distinctions within the "knowing about child development" arena, which is good. We want them to know about development, but not be over-confident that all kids are the same. We want them to have a sence of "other patterns" (like his speech development, which fell into the second most common pattern & got labeled pathological.) We want people who have enough in-depth knowledge of development to see alternate routs and asynchronies as alternate and not pathological or treatable.

I think I'm also comming to the conclusion that we should be looking for a place where kids can opt out of directed activities, AND where they can seek out one-on-one time with staff or have scheduled one-on-one time.


OK: here's a question. Does anyone have experience with parocial Jewish daycares? We have a full range from slightly to ultra-observant large and small, mixed age and grouped available.

-Mich

In our area there was a highly regarded conservative temple with a preschool. Several of my friends kids went there. It was excellent for teaching the rituals, they did Shabbat and the holdiays and began the inroduction of the hebrew alphabet. Its obviously less diverse than other pre-k's. And It was less "academic" than ours, not by a lot, but a bit. It was very play based, but not even developmentally play based. The only real drawbacks which all the parents complained about were kosher lunches if you didn't keep kosher and if your kid wasnt big on dairy you were stuck. And the month of september/october could be a wash depending how the holdiays fell. Drove everyone nuts having to get sitters for all the erev days as well as the holdiays. But most were pleased to have gotten the head start on the introduction of the traditions, but after that, all the conversations were the same about any pre-k - hours, teachers, equipment, etc. Oh, except for level of observance, you want it to match because if they are more your kid is going to start asking questions you might not be prepared to answer!!!

DeHe

Hah! DS is already more observant than we are. It's a bit complicated, but I think DS has inhereted my leanings towards religions intensity, though. People post on here so-and-so was doing x by y-age. DS was making us look up the miutia of kashrut before he was one

And after all the stress about certain rituals not followed early in life, it was ammusing to see his Israeli relatives' eyes go wide when he did the entire ma-nistana with glee. Twice. When he wasn't really talking yet. Then there was the two weeks where we though he might have a pork allergy!

I love my kid. He's just awesome.

-Mich

that's great! You know it might solve some of your concerns then - he will have something he is super interested in and a source of information about it in the teachers, on top of the regular nursery stuff. And now you have a better idea of what type of teacher and school style will work, or at least what won't, which sometimes I think is most of the battle!

DeHe