This entire year I have been debating on whether or not to put Enoch into Pre-K. Some of you will know this because I’ve asked you questions. Well, the start of the new school year has come and Joe & I have discussed this matter of schooling. We have decided that we will not enroll him into any program until January. That way he will get 6 months of Pre-K and then start KINDERGARTEN in the fall.
I’m just not sure how I feel about this, I think a child can be too young for school and you might scar their excitement if they are pushed/rushed/forced to go. Comments are welcome on this, I want to hear from experienced people. I was homeschooled K-12 so I have absolutely no knowledge about any of this.
I found a Brain Quest workbook at Costco last night and I’m pretty excited about it. We are starting that today and Enoch is really excited. I just want to start him out with stuff at home and see where he’s at. Maybe he won’t need Pre-K in January. We’ll see. He knows his ABCs and his numbers. He even notices letters and numbers around the house and when we go out.
Anywho – tips and advice are welcome. Just wanted to put some feelers out there on the topic.
8 comments:
We didn't do preschool for Selah, mostly for $ reasons, and because we didn't think it was necessary. She will start Kindergarten on Monday and I know she'll do fine academically, and it may be tough at first socially, but I think she'll get used to it quickly. I wish we had done more classes or storytime or something to get her used to spending an hour interacting with others outside of home and church. I know she would have LOVED preschool last year, but we just did "school" at home and spent time learning each day. Now she's starting to read and do basic math and loves learning science concepts. My only "concern" is her participation because she's so shy, maybe preschool would have helped, now she just has to figure it out. (Selah is the kid who refuses to pray or give a talk in primary and won't even stand up so they can sing the birthday song to her.)
I totally went through the same thing with little John. I went back and forth on wanting him to start pre-k or not, for months. And finally, I decided that it was time for him to go. He so wants to learn and he's so, so shy that I really want him to break out of that a little more before he starts kindergarten. I also have been teaching him out of workbooks and he does well with that but my concern with him is always his interaction with others while also learning. So basically my kid, I think, would really benefit from going to pre-k but that's just my babe. Everyone's different. My hubby didn't go to pre-k so he was sort of for little John not going but I did go to pre-k and so I pushed for it some more and I won this one :) Little John starts school next week and he's so ridiculously pumped and excited, and that makes my mama heart happy. Glad you came up with a good decision for your family too though, it's a tough one.
PERSONALLY...i love the idea of preschool. tyler went two years, and absolutely loved it. it made for a smooth transition to kindergarten, where there, it is pretty fast paced. he socialized and learned so much. that is just my experience.
I know people feel very different on this. Ben didn't want to put Parker in Pre-K b/c he'd be in school long enough... he wanted him to do sports. Well, Parker's desire was to learn so that's what we did, put him in what he wanted to do-learn. I think it really helped him learn writing, and other skills. But it was also nice for him to get used to being away from me and interact with others his age. Also, to be in a school setting/schedule. But if Enoch listens to you and learns from you that will make a difference. Missy loves it for the interaction as well. I can't believe he's going to be in K next year!! Good luck, whatever you chose will be best for him and you.
You'll also want to do lots of hand/muscle strengthening games with him, like pick up sticks and drawing his letters with his finger in salt on a cookie sheet, etc. to prepare him for writing in kindergarten...boys tend to develop these muscles slower and the pressure to preform writing tasks is high come kindy (which besides socialization is why pre-k is valuable -- they do lots of writing exercises)...as long as he works on those skills and you get him together with other kids for socialization the transition to kindy should be great! Good luck!
Shay (Alana's friend)
We didn't do preschool with Andrew, but I had TONS of playdates. I kind of wish I had done something only because his teacher said he had a few hard days at first sitting and the structure. Then I found out that our school district actually has a mini 6 week preschool during the summer for kids going into kindergarten. TO get them ready for the structure of kindergarten. I wish I would've known about it. Check with your school district, they may have something similar. Ben's going to a joy school type of preschool. But with his personality, he will benefit from it more than Andrew would have. Good luck, he'll be fine no matter what.
Natalie,
So much depends on the kids, and I think Enoch will be ok. Different kids have different needs. Do you think Enoch could use any help in any of the departments? Social or a little academics (basically my kids learned alot about drawing, cutting, their letters and numbers, but that's it, they don't push anything). Noone in my family went to preschool and we did good. But, my Mom has a preschool now and she is for it. I put mine in because they like it so much and most preschools are mostly fun and easy going. As a matter of fact, Sam doesn't like that kindergarten is so long and all week. How funny is that? It's still an adjustment. But I like how much fun he had at preschool. I think Enoch will be o.k. no matter what, just try and figure out your kids. I had them in since 3, but most preschools are just fun, not crazy academic.
I would definately do it for Isaac, he has done good having the structure and social life away from Sam's shadow. I can tell he needs it and he is good in school and not as rebellious as he is at home. So, it's kid by kid.
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