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People have kids and then do everything they can to have other people take care of them. School, soccer practice, the mall, etc . . If the average parent had to spend the same amount of time with their own kid a teacher does, they would go nuts.
So, although Ive never seen pre-school envy, I applaud parents who endeavor to spend time with their kids. They grow so fast. You never hear anyone say, "I wish I spent less time with my child"
It's that way in our city. There seems to be a "my child is more smart/social than yours because MY child goes to preschool and yours doesn't" type of mentality, plus there is the status symbol of parents who brag about paying tuition.
When our son was 2-1/2, the school psychologist indicated that he was almost kindergarten level academically. I take him out at least 5x/week to places where he is exposed to hours of socialization with other kids (parks, library, Lego kids club, indoor play areas, etc). I plan to enroll him in Pre-K early next year.
If your child is not in preschool, what school psychologist evaluated him and why?
It's that way in our city. There seems to be a "my child is more smart/social than yours because MY child goes to preschool and yours doesn't" type of mentality, plus there is the status symbol of parents who brag about paying tuition.
When our son was 2-1/2, the school psychologist indicated that he was almost kindergarten level academically.
People have kids and then do everything they can to have other people take care of them. School, soccer practice, the mall, etc . . If the average parent had to spend the same amount of time with their own kid a teacher does, they would go nuts.
So, although Ive never seen pre-school envy, I applaud parents who endeavor to spend time with their kids. They grow so fast. You never hear anyone say, "I wish I spent less time with my child"
I've also never known anyone to regret sending their 4 year old to preschool.
It's that way in our city. There seems to be a "my child is more smart/social than yours because MY child goes to preschool and yours doesn't" type of mentality, plus there is the status symbol of parents who brag about paying tuition.
When our son was 2-1/2, the school psychologist indicated that he was almost kindergarten level academically. I take him out at least 5x/week to places where he is exposed to hours of socialization with other kids (parks, library, Lego kids club, indoor play areas, etc). I plan to enroll him in Pre-K early next year.
I sent my kids to pre-school to ready them for Kindergarten. Not as a status symbol. They went to a Montessori school and loved it.
Impressing others had nothing to do with it.
I am aware that in some cities, such as NY, there is a lot of pressure to get your child into a "prestigious pre-school". I have heard that parents begin application to these schools while they are pregnant. Personally, I think that's crazy. I have bragging and needless competition.
Pre-school is nice if you can afford it, and there is one you like near your home. It's a personal choice. There are other ways of socializing children, as you have pointed out.
Never ran into that, and I wouldn't think much of anyone who had that mentality.
I love preschool and my kids benefitted immensely from it. But I never thought of it as any kind of "status symbol." That's ridiculous.
It's that way in our city. There seems to be a "my child is more smart/social than yours because MY child goes to preschool and yours doesn't" type of mentality, plus there is the status symbol of parents who brag about paying tuition.
When our son was 2-1/2, the school psychologist indicated that he was almost kindergarten level academically. I take him out at least 5x/week to places where he is exposed to hours of socialization with other kids (parks, library, Lego kids club, indoor play areas, etc). I plan to enroll him in Pre-K early next year.
No I see it more as people wanting to dump their kids on someone else as soon as possible......
It cuts both ways-my wife is a teacher but she has a lot of stay-at-home-mom friends. She was at the playground last summer with a bunch of those friends when one of their mutual acquaintances struck up a conversation with her, assuming that she stayed at home. When my wife mentioned that she was a teacher and that our daughters go to preschool/daycare during the year the conversation totally changed to, "Oh you poor thing-it must be terrible to have to leave your kids with strangers all day, that must be terrible, etc..."
I suppose though, that in NJ, it could be argued that being a stay-at-home-mom could be construed as somewhat of a status symbol because it is incredibly difficult to make it on a single income with a family here due mostly to housing costs and property taxes. We've done the math and what we'd save by my wife (or me, for that matter) staying home in preschool/daycare costs, would not make up for the loss of income. Luckily though, people like the woman I mentioned above are in the minority, and no one really cares how you make it work, at least in our group of friends
Nope. Preschool isn't for status. It's for kindergarten readiness.
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