Yep…Tara is dropping out of preschool. She has flunked the school system before she even started in it. How will she ever get into a good college now? 🙂
This has been quite the hassle to deal with for me. I have a fear of quitting. I was and still am the biggest quitter of all time. I quit everything before it has even started. Path of least resistance and all that. This fear of quitting and my kids being like me wars with the part of me that doesn’t believe in pushing kids too much. Find their own way and all that.
It is very confusing.
I wish she could be in the same preschool as her siblings were, but I just cannot afford it right now. I have never heard anything bad about the people running this preschool and they all seem very nice. I do just think it is not for her, but I keep wondering if I am justifying my reluctance to fight this.
She really really does not like going to the school though. It was getting crazy, as she would wake up every single day and ask me if it was a preschool day and I watched it go from YAY to NOOOOOO. This was more than teary goodbyes at the door, this was becoming obsessive and no matter how jolly I sounded about getting snacks packed and fun with friends and all that preschool entails. She kept telling me it made her tired and I figured that being tired was from all the fun. At first. I gave her a week away from it and then went with her the following Tuesday.
I sat there for the two hours and tried to melt into the walls trying to see what would be so bad about their little school. The teacher engaged her and tried to show all the kids how to play together. There were two “disruptive’ kids who made circle time and sing a longs very difficult. They are also down one teacher with just a substitute helping out, but again, a nice woman. The biggest thing that struck me, was how quiet the place was. Quiet. A preschool. Yeah. I thought that was odd too.
How could she feel tired from being in such a quiet space. The kids played in the various centres for almost an hour. Quietly. Is that not a tough thing for a preschooler to manage? By the time it was ready to pack up the kids seemed to be brimming with energy and yet were told to sit for circle time so they could sing name games. The two troublemakers were about ready to explode by this time and were all over the place. This put an end to circle time as the teacher had to go and spend time with them. Then it was snack time. More sitting quietly. They wrapped their time up with some time in the gym (the school is in our community centre) so they did get to do some running around. But what is with all the quiet? I am starting to think that ‘tired’ for Tara was describing more the stress of keeping quiet. Quiet and still is not normal for Tara.
The other kids were all very quiet too, in the sense that while Tara was keen to engage with the teachers in talk and play and they seemed to be okay with the quiet play either alone or one on one. Tara is so used to playing with older siblings and their friends that these kids who were not into the chatter like she was was boring for her.
I think that preschool was boring for her. No real stimulation, hence feeling tired.
If that is the case, then I do actually think I am making the right decision by pulling her out. Despite not having the resources to find something better at the moment. I think my path of least resistance will be to wait until the new year and see what we can do for her that involves more stimulation for her crazy little brain.
Or is this me convincing myself that I am not a total wimp when it comes to dealing with conflict with my kids. Don’t get me wrong…that four hours a week of kid free time was amazing and I mourn it now…and it was definitely worth fighting for….I just do feel that her feelings trump my feelings on this.
So here we are, Tara and I together again all the time.
Jennifer says
Thanks for posting about this. I have a child who is lively.. not undisciplined but active. I worry about settings that are controlled and if its going to work for you. You’ve shown me that when the time comes for preschool it is ok if its not “right”. there is only what feels right for your child. Best of luck finding the one that prospers growth in your child.
Crunchy Carpets says
Thanks for the comment. Will be looking for something that keeps her brain going more I think in the future. She is so used to noise and chaos…the quiet was just too much for her.