From pre-school to pre-med

A friend asked me the other day why I didn't send my kids to pre-school - look around, I told her, I gave birth to a pre-school! With 4 kids under the age of 6, it never really occurred to us that they were missing anything by not enrolling. Now, don't get me wrong, this is not a judgement call on schooling - we have always said there are 3 options - public, private and homeschooling and every family has to decided what is right for them and each of their children. Also, my husband and I chose professions that have us teaching every day. So why this decision?? 22 years ago pre-school was not the pre-requisite for success that it is today, but I think I would still make the same decision and if you are leaning that way - have confidence - you are not destroying your child's life.

So let's look at what value pre-school brings - basically it is socialization, self-control, letters and numbers. I couldn't justify shelling out big bucks so my kids could play and learn while I sat at home. So what to do??? We created our own "pre-school". At the time I attended a Women's Bible Study that offered babysitting and also babysat for another study so I not only got paid, but was able to include my own children. Also, our children attended Sunday School and Kid's Church each week - Church is a beautiful thing!!

Sure, it wasn't always easy - why is it your own children are the one's that misbehave when you are in charge?? But isn't that what parenting is all about - doing the hard stuff. Spending the time to play, and teach along the way - it doesn't have to be formal - it just has to be consistent. It just takes a little planning and creativity.

So why not create your own "pre-school"? Invite some other Mom's to rotate the "teaching" and that way you get a morning out and your child gets the opportunity to listen and obey another adult. Or another idea is to "barter" with another parent - perhaps it's a home cooked dinner in exchange for 2 hours of "pre-school" or a clean garage for a trip to the park?

By the time my youngest was home "alone" I was approached by a friend to watch her daughter - who was the same age as my son so she could home school a high school student. So for 5 mornings a week we had "pre-school". We played, shared, and learned from each other and at the end of the week I got paid to "educate" my son.

Now, you are asking, were my kids prepared for Kindergarten?
As a funny turn of events I ended up being hired when my youngest was in 2nd grade to work with his Kindergarten Teacher and I saw first hand what they expect from a new student in a very good school district.
Yes! They were ready for Kindergarten - they loved school, loved their teacher, knew how to sit in a circle and take turns. And isn't that what it is all about?

For our family, it just made cents!