"Schoolwork is the easy way out."
We seriously considered putting Kyrie in a preschool this year. I'm thankful that the cost and timing made me hesitate long enough to read a description of the program which was entirely focused on learning letters and numbers and how to read.
I wanted Kyrie to have some time to herself but I also wanted time to get my strength back. Parenting her is a minute-by-minute test of character for me. I am constantly having to sort out where I'm teaching her valuable life lessons and where I'm attempting to control the universe, which is my prevailing sin.
But about the time I was at the point of enrolling her in preschool, I was confronted with an article (that I can't find now) about the rising generation's weaknesses and how one of the prevailing issues they will face is how to be self-directed and entrepreneurial. Why? Because their entire lives have been programmed. Their grandparents played stickball in the streets, their parents participated in Little League or took swimming lessons. They are doing it ALL. Programmed. They hit daycare running and their day is full of pre-planned activities. They sit at a table and cut and paste and paint and play organized games. Then they move on to school and when they are out in the summer, they participate in day-camps and lessons until they collapse in to bed at night.
They never encounter large gaps of time that they have to fill with their own creativity. They never have a minute to figure out how to amuse themselves. They are rarely alone. Even their time in the car when they used to have to look out the window and think has now been taken over by the in-car DVD player, the IPOD, and a host of electronic games.
And as the first of them is hitting the workforce, they want to know exactly what they are supposed to do. They aren't geared to sit in their cubicle and creatively figure out how to get something done in the most economic and efficient manner possible. They are waiting for someone to tell them how to do that. The American workforce is capable of being busy but will it be able to think?
Which brings me back to Kyrie. This little girl is so creative that I do occasionally reign her in with a workbook. If not, she will simply cut her hair or her sister's AGAIN. But she is at her best when she is helping in the kitchen or moving the duster or lining up her dolls in a row and determining who has messed up their clothes and needs to be changed and have them laundered. She loves puzzles, to color and painting...Oh my, she loves to paint.
She wants to learn her letters so we talk through them. She is learning phonics and reading by looking at the Off/On on the light switch and asking me about them. She's working on teaching herself Spanish with a CD I've given her. She knows how to use a measuring cup, how to put away the groceries and how to get her sister dressed in the morning (when she wants to).
Why would I send her off to sit and table for six hours a week and talk about the letter "A"?
The research says that children who are taught to read earlier actually lose their academic advantage by the time they are 9. Early readers don't do as well at science; those who had more time to explore cause and effect on their own are the ones who excel in science.
Kyrie will occasionally think she wants to read but she hates to sit still. So I read to her. (And the others.) We read an hour or two a day. While I read, Everleigh is playing with blocks (or napping), Kyrie is coloring, doing puzzles, cutting or arranging and sorting something, and Ben is playing with Legos.
Which is why when a friend sent this article today I was gratified to read this: That "the single biggest predictor of high academic achievement and high ACT scores is reading to children. Not flash cards, not workbooks, not fancy preschools, not blinking toys or computers...". I know that. But on the heels of having made a tough decision, it affirmed what I know.
Meanwhile, what is important to teach all of my children is how to be prepared for life. Character, emotional maturity, social skills, and how to be independent are all foundational skills that are typically established by the time a child reaches double-digits. I have some work to do.
Sources: The Finnish Miracle
Do we send our children to school too young?
Homeschooling 3-and-4 Year Olds
5 comments:
I thought that some time apart would be good for you two, but this post convinced me otherwise. Take some breaks, but not with preschool.
With 2 older sisters, I read early and often. Science: not so much! Maybe those stats are true.
Judy
Hey Rachelle, I can't get to the article link you imbedded and I'd like to pass this on to the families that come to my house. Could you repost?
Excellent post. It is often hard to see the FULL picture with the swarms of opinions that circle around us. Thanks for the encouragement. :)
This really is a great article. We've come to the same conclusion (when seriously tempted into an official pre-school environment which, yes, we have talked through.) Aside from the fact that our conviction lies in the home, we do agree with all of your points. Gotta keep the whole, big picture in mind sometimes. Which, grant it, is excruciatingly harder to do some days. Again, speaking from personal experience.
Amen! It makes me so sad to see how little free time the neighbor kids have. I am thrilled with the level of creativity I see in my kids and I know it is due to the fact that they have so much down time for imaginary play, and also that they have been introduced to a lot of ideas through literature. It keeps me going when the going gets tough!!!
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