PREschool or preSCHOOL

In May the Yale Child Study Center released a study which found that preschool children are three times as likely as primary school children to be expelled from their school programs.

According to the New York Times, the high expulsion rate may be due to a new emphasis on academics at preschools which is coming at the expense of focusing on socialization. Are today’s toddlers learning their ABCs, but failing in sharing?

After I got over my initial panic at the word “expelled” (my 2-1/2 year old is active and willful and I’m sure he will be the first one out the door if his preschool starts handing out pink slips), I found the article reassuring.

When I visited my first preschool, when I asked about the curriculum, the director explained to me that it was play-based. The focus is on children learning to develop self esteem, self confidence and social skills – without which they will find it hard to learn anything else in the future. To the rational side of me this sounded great.

To the other side, the one that I try to keep hidden from the light of day, this is very, very scary. And it isn’t hard for my paranoid self to make it even scarier. What if Miles doesn’t learn his alphabet? What if he is one of those people who says “I should have went”? What if he doesn’t get into the Ivy League?

We’re moving ahead with a play based school. But when a friend recently visited the local Catholic preschool where they have a “play based academic curriculum” and HOMEWORK, I’ll admit a moment of panic. Will Miles be able to read at the same level as Isabella in elementary school?

Ok, I buried the thought. Now, thanks to the New York Times, now I only have to worry about him getting expelled….