Okay, here is the deal. Leah goes to a 2 morning a week preschool. It is from 8:30 to noon and she gets lunch. I drive 20 minutes each way to bring her and pick her up. There are no special programs, just the teacher and an assistant with 12 kids doing art projects, circle time, playing outside, etc. She loves going. It costs us $260 a month.
When I was looking at preschools for her way back when, I had another school on my list to look at, but then I found Kids R Kids (where she is now) and did not look any farther. Well, just last week, Laurie went to visit the other one I never got to look at, First Presbyterian Church Preschool (they do not have a website that I can find). Their program runs 9-12 with no lunch. The place is MAX 10 minutes from me, in downtown Monroe. They do the "car rider pickup" in the afternoons so you don't have to get out of your car. You just pull to the overhang and they put your kid in your car. They have music class every Tuesday (from one of those kids music programs, not just a teacher doing music with them). Once a month, a lady comes to do a hands-on science project with them and she brings live animals for the kids to touch. Oh and did I mention it costs $108 for 2 days a week?
So you say, where is the advice? Sign her up! Well, here is my concern. This is a church-based preschool. If you know Mike and I at all, you know that we are only religious on our own terms. We are not ready for someone else to dictate what our children learn about God. I asked the director if there are any specific religious things they do in class. They sing a prayer before snack. I have no problem with that. Once a week (or month, I can't remember) the two and three yr olds have a Bible story lesson. She said they do ones like Noah & the Ark or Jonah & the Whale. The stories themselves I have no problem with. I am just afraid they will be pushing their own agenda and Leah is so intuitive she will pick up things that maybe I don't agree with.
So here is my dilemma: do I let her go, save lots of $ and just see what she picks up? Should I even be concerned about it? Our personal religious position is awkward because it doesn't fit into the tenets of any established religion. While I don't object to Leah learning about organized religion, I think she is a bit too young to have it thrown at her by strangers. At this point, she believes anything grown-ups tell her. I would prefer that she were old enough to really discuss it with us.
Thoughts???
As far as Leah's asthma, the steroids have helped some and she took the last dose this morning. She is now on Singulair, which is a daily medication for asthma. The dr said it will take at least 2 weeks to know whether it is working. Her goal is to completely eliminate the coughing. In a month we will re-evaluate and see if this is the best long term solution.
P.S. Erin pooped last night for the first time in a week! I was already preparing with all the tricks to try to get her to go. She had been eating prunes for 4 days and when I walked into her room at 5am it smelled like prunes so bad! :) I had to take the diaper out to the big trash can, it smelled so strong. So we are better now. I was nervous to have a repeat of Leah all over again but hopefully it was a one time thing.
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8 comments:
I think one of the neat things about kids is that they talk about everything they learn. EVERYTHING! So if she goes there and comes home and you feel like she is telling you things you dont agree with then you have a problem but most preschools that are religious based dont push it all that much this early on. So if she is just learning the stories its really not all that different than learning the other stories we all know and love - like nursery rhymes or where the wild things are.
As a former Presbyterian who attended Presbyterian pre-school - of course everyone's different and times have changed, but I think you'll be OK. I don't think they're going to get in deep, and with the Presbyterians they won't be pushing baptism likely b/c that's left up more to the parents (until older, of course) and it's not pushed like other denominations.
I only remember numbers and tying shoes from preschool/kindergarten at my church, the standard stuff. And it obviously didn't affect my belief system overall, as I spent about eight years (or more) not knowing what I believed and now we attend a church weekly and I even teach Sunday School sometimes, so... You'll probably be fine, but are there any parents whose children attend that you could call? I understand your concern.
Angelle, you and I are VERY similar when it comes to religion. I want my children to learn it from me and our church. I was so worried about that too. I was worried about them learning stuff that we may not 100% believe. Anyways, after much talking and searching we came to the conclusion that it is okay. Our children would still be learning what we believe when they attend our church and what we teach them at home. If they have a question about some thing then I would just answer it at home in our own setting. Here in the Bible Belt, religion is part of everyday life. I had to learn to look at it that way. They are not pushing their belief, that is just their way of life. These people are genuine and loving. It would be a wonderful environment for Leah I think. I would absolutely consider going for Leah. In fact I called about Andy but they are full on that age group. Good Luck!!
I agree with the comments. At this young age, she's likely to just pick up the stories anyway. I'm sure there are lots of children there with parents in your situation, and the preschool knows that.
I agree too .. I went to a methodist preschool while my family was episcopalian .. it didn't confuse me at all and i remember having alot of fun at preschool. Save your money, you can always save it for therapy later on ;)
I agree with everyone else as well. If you like the school I think you can deal with the religious aspects. I went to a baptist preschool but my family was Catholic.
Our kids are exposed to so many different things that I think it is our job to influence them in what we believe.
You know, our (Zac and I) bio-dad is Baptist. Well, really his mother is Baptist. So, when we were growing up, Mom raised us as Catholic, but we got a taste of the Baptist religion when we went to visit Granny. Also, Mom sent us to a Baptist vacation bible school during the summer. I don't remember being confused about anything. In fact, I liked that I was able to experience both religions. I know that your situation is very different because of the fundamental differences between Christianity and Judaism, but Leah is a smart girl, and if you explain that different people believe different things, I think she'll understand.
I feel the same way you do. When I went looking for preschools for Halle, I didn't even consider the religious ones for the exact same reason. I think if I was given your options though, at this point, I'd give it a chance. Like Leshayne said, Leah is a talker, so you can probably ask her questions and find out what she's absorbing. You can always pull her out if something makes you uncomfortable.
I'm sure with a baby in the car, the idea of having them bring Leah to you sounds nice. But picking up Halle is one of my favorite parts of the day. I love sneaking in there and watching her before she realizes I'm there. She's always the one doing her own thing, dancing if there's music on, or playing with baby dolls or reading books. I love to see how happy and comfortable she is there, and I love the look on her face when she realizes I'm there!
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