Starting preschool can be dicey. And pricey. Everyone makes their own choice. My kids entered hodge-podge preschool at the dining room table this fall as well as a co-op weekly of about four hours of afternoon instruction. Of course our Hodge-Podge Academy strives for academic excellence and the co-op acts as a wealth of enrichment activities, in the afternoon.
Afternoons are Made for Snoozing could be a motto for our small family, not enriching. Afternoons act as halftime between to the two halves of the day. Sanity Time. Two pregnancies in quick succession will give one a keen sense of ones' own limitations. Some people need more babies to come to this understanding with their inner man. Some people need twins. Some people never come to this understanding. However we all have limits. I find life less limited if I nap. Or drink lots and lots of caffeine.
So afternoon co-op sign up passed with some trepidation. Then our first day of preschool arrived. Here is a small list of things not to do.
1. Don't put your children in warm coats or clothes. They will be playing with a dozen other children in confined spaces. Warm children are grumpy children. Better a cold than a meltdown in public.
2. Do not, I repeat, decide to have you children dressed and ready in their clothing for preschool and then introduce a sensory play project complete with whole wheat flour, chick peas, dinosaurs and kitchen utensils.
3. Do not talk on the phone with a friend while getting ready. Focus on your children. Reassure them that you love them. Talk through the transition. Do not cry emotionally sharing another person's pain. Their burden can wait till a new day not First Day of Preschool.
4. Do not forget to tell them about travel. Be sure to prepare them for the mode of transportation that they will be taking to school. Hope differed can cause a major break in trust. Most children do go to school in a big yellow bus in America but those that attend co-ops should expect to go to school in the Purple Pontiac or other family form of transportation. This can be devastating to small people. Also it is good to let them know you will be going with them to this new school setting and will be in the building (please only tell them this if it is true). It can help alleviate unnecessary worry.
5. Do not tell yourself not to sweat the small stuff, sweat it! Prepare them for small things like brothers and sisters do not go together to the bathroom even when you told them to watch out for one another at all times. Whoops! Major scene at bathroom time caused total school consternation.
6. Did I mention it is best not to let your children play with dirt, or eat spaghetti immediately before you must run to the car to arrive on time for your first day of preschool?
If this list seems overwhelming, it totally undid me. I failed at all counts. Preschool still happened but not quite as I envisioned. Kind of like every family shoot, dinner tonight and life as a whole. But we had fun anyways. Lots and lots.
Afternoons are Made for Snoozing could be a motto for our small family, not enriching. Afternoons act as halftime between to the two halves of the day. Sanity Time. Two pregnancies in quick succession will give one a keen sense of ones' own limitations. Some people need more babies to come to this understanding with their inner man. Some people need twins. Some people never come to this understanding. However we all have limits. I find life less limited if I nap. Or drink lots and lots of caffeine.
So afternoon co-op sign up passed with some trepidation. Then our first day of preschool arrived. Here is a small list of things not to do.
1. Don't put your children in warm coats or clothes. They will be playing with a dozen other children in confined spaces. Warm children are grumpy children. Better a cold than a meltdown in public.
2. Do not, I repeat, decide to have you children dressed and ready in their clothing for preschool and then introduce a sensory play project complete with whole wheat flour, chick peas, dinosaurs and kitchen utensils.
3. Do not talk on the phone with a friend while getting ready. Focus on your children. Reassure them that you love them. Talk through the transition. Do not cry emotionally sharing another person's pain. Their burden can wait till a new day not First Day of Preschool.
4. Do not forget to tell them about travel. Be sure to prepare them for the mode of transportation that they will be taking to school. Hope differed can cause a major break in trust. Most children do go to school in a big yellow bus in America but those that attend co-ops should expect to go to school in the Purple Pontiac or other family form of transportation. This can be devastating to small people. Also it is good to let them know you will be going with them to this new school setting and will be in the building (please only tell them this if it is true). It can help alleviate unnecessary worry.
5. Do not tell yourself not to sweat the small stuff, sweat it! Prepare them for small things like brothers and sisters do not go together to the bathroom even when you told them to watch out for one another at all times. Whoops! Major scene at bathroom time caused total school consternation.
6. Did I mention it is best not to let your children play with dirt, or eat spaghetti immediately before you must run to the car to arrive on time for your first day of preschool?
If this list seems overwhelming, it totally undid me. I failed at all counts. Preschool still happened but not quite as I envisioned. Kind of like every family shoot, dinner tonight and life as a whole. But we had fun anyways. Lots and lots.
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