No Ordinary Sundy

This is no ordinary Sunday. The Sunday after Valentine's Day marks the point in time that I realized that Eli's heart was not beating normally. Last year the weather was beautiful and sunny, today, much the same. I tried not to dwell on it or think about it too much but we ended up working in the yard right next to Eli's flower garden. We took out a couple holly trees and are going to be working on making an area that's more flat for our outdoor table and chairs. Since it's a "farm house" yard, there are very few flat areas. So, that's the plan for now and it's nice to get started on it at this time of year instead of starting in June or July.

I promised to hit on this a few days ago, so here we go! Karleigh's preschool issue... it's not a major issue. She isn't having any behavior problems at all, no problems with the "teachers", I'm just feeling like it really isn't a good fit. There is a laundry list of things that have bothered me throughout the months that she has been there and they've all just added up.
* I am finding out that, though they "sold" their program as an educational one, it really isn't. At least it's not up to par for what I would expect her to be learning. She is only sort of getting the social interaction. She's experiencing math and reading and science but all of that is gained at home, with me.
* The staff hardly acknowledges the parents, they leave notes taped to the child's box for instance, about it being a "problem" that she was dropped of 10 minutes early (never mind the fact that I always also pick her up slightly early but humm, they don't refund me my money).
* They don't stick to their schedule. I understand flexibility but when I am there at the same time for pick up and some days they're listening to a story, some days the kids are eating and other days they're getting ready to go into the play room, I don't understand how they can be so worked up about a 5 minute variation.
* There is a very high turnover rate of students. That speaks volumes to me.
* They make K take her sweaters and sweatshirts off if she has a shirt underneath... that's just weird.
* When we were given the info and registration packet, it stated that all children needed to be independent toileters in order to be considered for the program. There is now at least one child who is still solely diapered and walking around with a sippy cup. Apparently the rules only apply to a select few?
* The kids that stay for daycare are not allowed to talk while they are eating. I walked in one day to pick K up and one of the other kids said "Karleigh, your mom is here!" and the teacher said "Shhh, we don't talk while we're eating." I don't know about you but that's when we we discuss our day in our family - around the dinner table!
At any rate, there are a bunch more little things that just all add up. It just seems to me like they're not teaching her anything. I understand that preschool is not all about reading, writing and arithmetic. It's about learning to interact with peers and authority figures and learning how to act in a classroom setting. She's got that down. That was very clear when we went to her first Kindergarten orientation night. We have all but decided that I can teach her, and Rylan for that matter, far more than the preschool. We'll have an extra $250 a month for flashcards, work books and field trips. Now, I'm not talking about full on homeschooling but I am talking about ceasing the time spent at this "preschool". The parents that can do that (home school) and do it well have my highest respect. I'm still looking forward, with my own trepidation, to her starting Kindergarten in September. I sure never thought the words "I can't wait for her to start public school!" would ever really come out of my mouth.

At any rate, Karleigh is a very curious thinker and she needs to be challenged. When she asks "what are the differences between bugs and worms?" someone needs to be able to answer her. She needs to be taken outside to observe them both and she needs to come up with a list of differences. She needs to be allowed to come in and look up other answers to her questions on the computer. When she asked the question at school, she was told "they just are." Nice. Of course, this is what she told me but then again, she talks to me more than the director or her teacher do so, until proven otherwise, I'm going to choose to believe my daughter who, by the way, couldn't be more thrilled that we are going to start "playing school at home more!"

So, no, this was no ordinary Sunday. Yet, at the same time, it was. We worked in the yard and noticed that spring really is on its way and we discussed how much longer Karleigh would stay at the school. There will always be that piece of me that looks back to this time of year both with fondness and with sadness. It's really amazing how much a few hours can change your life. Forever.