My son will be walking into a new school to start kindergarten this month. He’ll be one of the youngest kids in his class, starting at just four years old because of his birthday. But I’m not worried about my son starting school so young. He’s ready and I know this because of his success in preschool.
There are a lot of parents out there who hold a negative opinion of preschool. I know because I’ve heard them talk about it and I’ve read the blogs. That’s fine. It isn’t for every kid or every family. But I want to share the other side of the story as my son has thrived preschool.
Preschool was on of my best parenting decisions.
Some equivocate preschool with daycare. They are two separate things. Preschool is an intentional process of helping kids develop socially and academically. At three my son was counting to 100 by 1s, 5s, and 10s. He knew his colors, animals and understood the fundamentals of basic math and reading. He had long known the alphabet - not just singing the song. And today at four, he’s reading at a basic level.
But the day I realized that preschool was really teaching him was the day he saw me with a $20 bill. I had it in my hand when my son spotted the back of the bill. Then my three year old said, “That’s the White House. President Obama lives there!” I would have never thought to teach a three year old who the president was, let alone anything about paper currency. But his preschool teachers did think to teach him and that’s why I’m so thankful for them.
We received some of the best advice from one of his preschool teachers. She explained that school will teach our child reading, writing and what they are required to learn. Then she said that we needed to take this time to teach our son to be a good person, to teach him morals and to hold the door for a lady. School won’t do that for him. She’s right.
I fully recommend enrolling kids in a good preschool.
One of the most undervalued aspects of preschool is socialization. I saw a bumper sticker recently that said, “Warning: Unsocialized Homeschoolers on Board.” I laughed at the honesty.
My son has been exposed to and accepted by adults of different genders, ethnicity, religions and regions of the world. One of his classmates spends part the year in the US and the other in Saudi Arabia. She invited my son to come visit her home there. I just don’t think my son could sit in a plane that long.
Preschool has been a great decision for us. I’m sure transitioning to kindergarten will have it’s challenges, but academically and socially my son is ready. Don’t believe any negative blogs when they say it’s a waste of time, find out for yourself. I fully recommend enrolling kids in a good preschool.
So how do you pick a good preschool? In my next article I’ll show you how to use Secure Dad skills to help you find the right place for your child. If you’d like more information on this topic, may sure to check out The Secure Dad newsletter.
