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First of all, that was years ago and our situation was completely different. My wife had to work because it was out of necessity. The truth is my wife preferred to stay at home with our kids, and has at times, but that was not an option at that time so she had to work. With that said, we have been meticulous with the type of schools we put our kids in. We do not simply just take them to some government ran program and just say here you go. We have even quickly pulled our children out of programs when we feel as though the care is not adequate. I'm not sure how likely that would be for a program like this.
And please don't act like pre-schools are fullproof for kids. When you send your kids to school, there are other kids who are not raised in the same manner as your child so there is always a chance your child can be influenced by other kids as well as the teacher. Being in an environment for 10 hours a day is bound to have that effect. What we are talking about here though is trying to push for people to rely on other adults to basically raise their kids for 50-60 hours a week. Pre-school is a very impressionable time for a child, they pick up on a lot of things, to put people in a position where they aren't being left with a choice as to what they should do with the care of their child is dangerous.
But beyond that, you are missing the point I am making here. I am not suggesting that all pre-schools are bad, I am stating that creating programs like this, is creating a dependency for people to depend on these programs, it starts to further eliminate the options of woman who would want to be stay at home mothers and it place children in a vulnerable state. AGAIN, I am not saying get rid of pre-school, all I am suggesting that it should be more of an option than trying to make it something that people depend on. This is an attack on the institution of SAHM. If my wife wants a career (which she has now), then I have no issue with that at all, I have fully supported that choice, but if our children are not being cared for, then we both understand that they are our priorities and that she would stay at home if it came to that point. Again, if Gov-Elect Hogan were to hypothetically pick this initiative up (which I doubt), then do these parents have that option?
What you are doing is taking a statement I'm making and generalizing it. I will ask you the same question as I asked adelphi_sky. Knowing what you know about my views, would you be comfortable with me spending 10 hours a day with your children (or potential children) as a teacher? What would be the reasoning behind your answer?
Not every woman wants to be a stay home more. Someone could argue that not having free pre-k is an attack on working mothers. Your child will eventually go to kindergarten, middle, and high school and the teachers and students there will be influencing your child. Are you saying that all kids should be home schooled? Or that those who are not home schooled are being raised by the state? Because most people attend school out of the home. My husband is a former middle school teacher and I would argue that a kids personality is more influenced in elementary and middle school.
I doubt a three or four year old child is going to give two craps about your political or social views. I personally have a lot of strong political and social beliefs but when I watch my friends children it's just not something I discuss with a 4 year old child. I don't even discuss that with my own kid. And no I don't mind people with beliefs different from my own watching my child so long as they are not harming my child and are providing them with the necessary and appropriate love and care.
Not every woman wants to be a stay home more. Someone could argue that not having free pre-k is an attack on working mothers. Your child will eventually go to kindergarten, middle, and high school and the teachers and students there will be influencing your child. Are you saying that all kids should be home schooled? Or that those who are not home schooled are being raised by the state? Because most people attend school out of the home. My husband is a former middle school teacher and I would argue that a kids personality is more influenced in elementary and middle school.
I agree not every mom does and I don't think every mother should. What I am suggesting is that it should be a choice if that mothers wants to stay at home or not, not a necessity in most cases. Having free pre-k doesn't solve major societal issues. Having free pre-k will cost money, which means you have will pay for it, more than likely, out of your taxes which raises your expenses. And if you aren't eligible for free pre-k, then those child care places that participate in such a program will pass the cost down to those parents. Then what? Now you are in a situation with either scenario where you have raised the costs of things and you are dependent on the government to help you reduce your expenses. And that applies to people who unlike yourself, maybe don't want their kids in child care. You have just made it more difficult for them to have that option with increased taxes.
Yes my children are going to eventually be exposed to other kids, but as armory has pointed out, these are the most impressionable years of a child's life. No one is suggesting that a child cannot be influenced at other times, but the most influence a child will have starts right at the pre-school age. We should allow people to make the choice as to how their child should be influenced, instead of forcing them to have no option but to work and send their child to a place where they may not get the proper care they need.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Missingatlanta
I doubt a three or four year old child is going to give two craps about your political or social views. I personally have a lot of strong political and social beliefs but when I watch my friends children it's just not something I discuss with a 4 year old child. I don't even discuss that with my own kid. And no I don't mind people with beliefs different from my own watching my child so long as they are not harming my child and are providing them with the necessary and appropriate love and care.
Again you and adelphi_sky (and his passive aggressiveness), to be honest, are being naive. You are trivializing something and turning into as if I am saying something else and I am not. I am not suggesting that your kids are going to learn about politics in a pre-school. I am referring to small innocent things that happen, that open the door for certain beliefs, like not having a child properly disciplined, not teaching kids about personal responsibility, and teaching kids alternative family structures.
The reality is, these kids are far too young to filter out the bad things that they learn which is why having parents around more often is important. Kids who do not have their parents around miss out on the opportunity to learn important values that would normally be taught at home. Why do you think some mothers want to be at home? What mother in their right mind wants other people raising their kids? I certainly understand that women have careers and they have to provide for their homes, but I am speaking to having more opportunities to influence your child. If you go back to the 60s and you see how many women stayed at home and compare it today. The mother was in a position to protect her child, now we are putting women in a position that they have to work (not necessarily choosing to), just to keep food on the table, not because all of these women desire to work.
Why not just boost pre-tax daycare credits to an amount that actually is beneficial to working parents? In Maryland, daycare is highly regulated and many (if not most) daycares are more institutionalized and thus provide the same level of "pre-school" as most pre-schools out there. Since daycare is expensive, I propose that a $750/month ($9,000/year) MD tax credit be instituted to help cover the costs of daycare and to provide a boost to children who otherwise would not have access to higher learning in the early years. It could be implemented immediately.....MD would just need to figure out where they plan to cut spending to offset the revenue decline.
Why not just boost pre-tax daycare credits to an amount that actually is beneficial to working parents? In Maryland, daycare is highly regulated and many (if not most) daycares are more institutionalized and thus provide the same level of "pre-school" as most pre-schools out there. Since daycare is expensive, I propose that a $750/month ($9,000/year) MD tax credit be instituted to help cover the costs of daycare and to provide a boost to children who otherwise would not have access to higher learning in the early years. It could be implemented immediately.....MD would just need to figure out where they plan to cut spending to offset the revenue decline.
That makes a lot of sense. I think that would solve both sides of this issue. Maybe that is something that Marylanders can suggest to Hogan.
Yeah. I started a bunch of Purple Line threads. One already talks about that fruitless endeavor by Chevy Chase. They have so much money, they don't know what to do with it.
Actually studies have shown that pre-k educated youths grow up to be better in school and as a result, less likely to need social programs later in life. So, instead of wasting money on programs that try to place bandaids on the symptoms, funding pre-k fixes the illness and saves money in the long run.
Early education programs should never be considered bloated. An educated society is a self-sufficient one that is less dependent on the government.
Actually studies haven't shown that. Not in the least. The Finns have the top schools in the world, kids don't start school until 8. Parental involvement, stimulation at early ages and frankly genetics have more of an influence on outcomes than pre-k.
The notion that some early education program graduate is going to transform 4 year olds from rough backgrounds into productive citizens is comical. That people are so gullible to believe it is shocking.
GGW has a good article on the issue, making 3 key points:
1. Hogan needs to be concerned w/re-election, so that bodes well for the PL
2. his pro-business backers are very much in favor of the PL. "David Moon, an organizer who once ran the Purple Line Now campaign and was just elected to the House of Delegates from the Silver Spring/Takoma Park area, said, "You're not going to be able to [win Hogan over] from a regional DC-suburban perspective, or a liberal transit versus roads perspective," or the environment (he ran against a stormwater fee calling it a "rain tax"). But if businesses are willing to stand up for infrastructure that will generate economic growth, he said, that is more compelling."
3. related to #2, "The cultural vibrancy of the DC area is rapidly consolidating around places like U St., 14th St., Ballston, Clarendon. Tysons and Potomac Yard will invariably follow. We must be candid with ourselves. Except for Silver Spring, Montgomery County has no place today that can realistically compete for the attentions and diverse demands of the all-important Uber Generation."
Our new Governor is a Chris Christie clone and one of the first things Christie killed was a planned second Mid-Town rail tunnel to Pennsylvania Station in New York. Penn Station has not had an expansion of rail tunnels to New Jersey since the 19th Century and its a real bottle neck to East Coast RR transportation .
Christie didn't want to pay for it . I think you can kiss the Purple Line goodbye (You know some people in Chevy Chase and Bethesda don't want it) and probably the same for the Red Line which whites out in Baltimore County view as Loot Rail bringing the great dark unwashed population of Baltimore City out to the suburbs. The reason Anthony Brown lost was his failure to carry Baltimore County like O'Malley and Glendenning did. Brown lost it by a margin of 200,000. Canceling the Red Line would likely improve Hogan's re-election chances!
Actually studies haven't shown that. Not in the least. The Finns have the top schools in the world, kids don't start school until 8. Parental involvement, stimulation at early ages and frankly genetics have more of an influence on outcomes than pre-k.
The notion that some early education program graduate is going to transform 4 year olds from rough backgrounds into productive citizens is comical. That people are so gullible to believe it is shocking.
Okay, you show a study where that is not the case. Does that invalidate the studies I have provided? Obviously in some cases, pre-k works and in others it may not. Are you suggesting that we should scrap early childhood education and let parents wing it until their kids reach 8 years old? This is not Finland unfortunately. American culture has no room for that level of parental involvement.
Actually studies haven't shown that. Not in the least. The Finns have the top schools in the world, kids don't start school until 8. Parental involvement, stimulation at early ages and frankly genetics have more of an influence on outcomes than pre-k.
The notion that some early education program graduate is going to transform 4 year olds from rough backgrounds into productive citizens is comical. That people are so gullible to believe it is shocking.
That's a good point about Finland. My wife has pointed this out to me a few times. They do not believe kids are capable of focusing in on a classroom setting at the younger ages.
As is the case with just about anyone, home life is the biggest factor of a students success. If achievement and the value of education is not being reinforced at home, no amount of programs is going to change that unfortunately.
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