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Whew
Well, I've toured the last preschool, and have explored the possibilities of at least 4 educational philosophies including: Emilia Reggio, Developmental, Montessori, Traditional and one I would call Free-For-All.
I actually like spending some time perched on the edge of a tiny toddler chair, watching children do their thing. I have drawn a couple of conclusions: It is true what they say about girls having speedier language development than boys. Children will eat ANYTHING for snack. Every day has a witching hour where all the kids seem to collapse at once.
At the preschool level, one is given plenty of lectures about the different pedagogical techniques, and they all make varying degrees of sense, but when one tours these places, it is a little difficult to see these philosophies in action. The children's' behavior is largely similar in each setting.
Tell, me if I'm truly off the mark. I enjoy hearing about these schools of thought and find merit in many of them. It's just hard to see the subtleties of them in action.
But the inevitable discussions of the importance of community are truly getting me down. I have never been a joiner. I am, after all, the miserable creature who staged a successful hunger strike to get extracted from slumber camp. (My husband finds this hilarious. I am actually ashamed of myself, but I tell it here to illustrate that I really have come a long way, but am still dogged by a kind of joining-phobia.) Current parents at each school all say that their school has the best, most active, most supportive community and if you send your child there, people will watch your back for decades to come.
This is appealing, of course. But it is triggering the timorous yet angry part of my inner middle-schooler. What if I pick a great school for my kid that happens to be the wrong place for my social life? Does it matter? Should it matter? Is it better to scan the parent bodies and just hope I spot some people who somehow resemble me (distracted) or should I be aspirational and look for parents who might inspire me to: go to the gym more, stop eating so much caramel, buckle down and work harder, become more virtuous generally? Would it be better to be a rebel or a sheep?
Actually, the truth is, I am willing myself not to care about this too deeply. The moment I start to ponder this question too hard I start getting incredibly cranky. At bottom, I'll probably end up sending my kid to the one school he gets into and with any luck I'll be able to navigate any circle of parents, and who cares if I'm not the popular girl? I never was one in middle school; it's unlikely to happen now.
posted by Elise at 5:57 AM
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