This morning I went to tour another pre-school in the area that my friends kids go to. It is a co-op preschool which means you have to help out one or two mornings a month. Yet, curiously the prices are pretty comparable to where Kaj goes now...
Anyway, it's just not for me. All the kids are in one big room together, there is no separation of different activities for different ages. They don't "make" the kids participate in activities, so if they want to read a book or have a snack out of their lunch, they can. I know this is supposed to let the kids have some control in how they spend their time, whatever, but I really didn't like seeing some little girl eating by herself at a table. It seemed anti-social, and who's to stop her from eating her whole lunch? There were tons of parents there, and apparently a lot of them hang out and help or play, which seemed nice too. There was even a music teacher playing a guitar and the kids were having a ball dancing. So, I was basically having a lot of conflicting emotions about it, because it seemed like a fun place to play.
Then someone asked a question about how they handle nap time and the woman (a parent giving the tour) said that naps really hadn't worked out and a lot of parents didn't want naps while a few did and so they don't really have structured naptime now. Then she pointed to underneath a table, which looked like a fun place to make a fort, since it had pillows and blankets, and she said "some kids were napping there..." I'm sorry,
underneath a table??? Who are you people?
The more i hear about co-op preschools, the more I realize you have to be careful. When decisions are being made by committee, by well-intentioned parents, who it should be noted DO NOT have Ph.Ds in early childhood development, it becomes more about what they want for their child, not what's good for the school and for a group of children. So your kid doesn't nap, but would it kill them to sit on a cot with a blanket and a pillow and read a book or color quietly? I don't get it.
And lastly, who are the parents? A different parent is on duty for co-oping every single day. That makes me a little nervous and I don't want to come to school every single day and monitor things, that's not what we're going for here. My friend who came on the tour asked about background checks for teachers and parents. I thought that was an excellent question. They don't do checks on parents, it turns out, but my friend is going to ask that they start. Also, the director of the school wasn't there, and there were five of us on the tour. Turns out she's only there two days a week. Another HUH?
Nothing added up. So I came home, called Eric, and burst into tears at the thought of Kaj going there. Eric said, "Hon, I think you just made the decision for us".
Look at that poor skinless nose. He's like Raggedy Andy. He was distracted on Sunday nite right before we were leaving the house for dinner. The big kids were playing ball in the street and he was totally mesmerized as he came down the front steps. I was ahead of him, and all the kids gasped and when I turned around he was completing his flip with a twist down the stairs. Don't you hate it when blood is coming out and you don't know from where? Luckily he didn't break his nose or knock his teeth out. 
