One of my readers forwarded me
THIS link to a snippet of ABC 20/20 News reporting on Universal Preschool.
What do I think about Universal Preschool?
I have yet to blog on politics or controversial topics; however, I will comment on this issue. First, let me begin by explaining our "preschool."
I put a lot of time & energy into "preschooling" my Mustangs. I do not do this because I feel like they will not be educated adults or honor roll students later in life if I don't start early.
Our preschool exists because:
1. I love the preschool age! I would not trade this time with my Mustangs for anything in the world.
Having a large family can be challenging for a mom to spread her time & energy evenly among all her children (& still have some left over at the end of the day for her husband). I loved PK with Momma's Boy. It was this age & experienced that opened my heart to homeschooling. When my Mustangs got to the PK age I made the commitment to myself to not allow demands of homeschooling the big kids to interfere with having this same treasured experience with the Mustangs. I need that time with them & they need it with me.
2. I believe in making my home, Mustangs environment, a place to build on the natural opportunities that arise when in an age-appropriate atmosphere with toys & activities that will encourage natural learning.
I have made the choice to purchase & fill my home with toys that will encourage my mustangs to learn naturally - using their imaginations (*I had an Indian in my living room today that was shooting arrows at the mustangs & yesterday Trevor saw a dinosaur in the Starbucks drive thru - I listened to 20 minute imaginative stories on both!). I don't do the latest superhero or newest gimmick when buying toys. I am very careful in the toys I allow into their environment. I have made the choice to encourage learning through their play & build on that with fun learning activities. I am rather organized & prefer to be prepared in my activities with my children; however, this is my personality - Not what I think (home)school has to be. The best description for this I read on
Milestones Academy, "My child's play is their work."
3. They needed guided activities to keep them busy while I worked with my older kids. They HAD to have something to keep them busy so they didn't destroy my house during our school day!
Alternatives: television, video games (did you know 3 year olds can play these?), day-care, duck-tape (
just kidding)
So, what do I think about Public Universal Preschool?
I want to be clear that I do believe there are children that would benefit from this program; However, I don't think it is necessary or the tax-payers responsibility. I think with the state our economy is in we have much bigger issues that starting a "Universal Preschool" - Our government should fix what is already broken rather than add to the pile. Public school students are not going to "test" better on the standardized tests used to evaluate our educational system because they did or did not attend a preschool program. I seriously doubt it is going to be a deciding factor if a senior in high school graduates or moves on to college. Adding preschool to the mix is not going to solve the problems that currently exist. Where did the Picasso's & Einstein's go? They have gradually been weeded out of our nation when children were placed in a box & their intelligence was measured solely on test scores. The problem is not with the teachers - I have several friends that are public school teachers & they are excellent teachers. They aren't allowed to teach by interest or with creativity b/c our government placed them in same box as the students. Teachers are forced to educate our children on how to test rather than how to learn. Is preschool really going to change those issues? Nope, it just takes the focus off of one issue & places it on another. Instead of measuring a child's education & a teachers ability based on test scores, why doesn't our government spend some time within the school to see where the problem truly lies?
I feel even stronger about there being a mandatory law stating every child should have preschool. Our rights as parents (& children) are slowly being ripped away from us. If you read my feeling on our preschool at home, you will notice that we have preschool because I made that decision & it works for my family. It is a choice. I cannot imagine my barely 4 year old Mustang being ready to leave my stable for an entire day x 5. The devastation & transition of that experience would have been far more traumatic than him not learning his ABC & having circle time.
I could go on & on . . . In short, I think the Universal Preschool is ridiculous. I think our children are being forced to grow up way too quickly as it is & it is important to let kids be kids - rushing an early education is only making them grow-up even quicker.
So, what is your opinion on Universal Preschool?
