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To School? Or Maybe Not?
Friday, May 20, 2011 by Stef Daniel
The minute (okay, the day) my daughter turned four, the questions from friends, family, and strangers began streaming in. “So, is she starting school now,” folks would ask with an inquisitive stare that screamed… YOU ARE A BAD MOM!
I blew the questions off about preschool the same way I have done with my other three children. “Oh, I don’t know. We are having so much fun watching Spongebob every day that I don’t think she is quite ready for preschool yet!” Ha. (Eat that you super moms!)
Truly, though, I am very much invested in my children’s education. Yet, I find it humorous that so many people think I am letting my daughter down simply because I haven’t enrolled her in preschool. She is four. But others see it as: SHE IS FOUR, MY GOD… GET THAT GIRL IN SCHOOL ALREADY! Sheesh.
Yes, preschool is great. For some families and for some children. Personally speaking, however, I can say for sure that NOT going to preschool ISN’T the end of the world and won’t automatically end my children’s chance of earning a prestigious academic award in the years to come. In fact, none of my three children have started school before age 5 – and have happily and easily hung on to Junior Beta achievements through Middle School, are all part of the gifted programs, and score highest in their class on those ridiculous standardized testing.
Sure, they weren’t reading chapter books at the age of 4… but they were reading in plenty of time once they started school.
My advice to moms and dads is to use your own judgment and make your own decision without being swayed by pressure, the fear of judgment, and what your neighbors think.
If you are a stay at home parent, don’t need preschool to double as childcare, and WANT to keep your child home… then do it! One more year sleeping in, wearing pajamas all day, staying away from those disgusting germs, and feeling like a ‘one and only’ instead of a ‘one in a million,’ isn’t always a bad thing. And while your child will have plenty of time to go to school, make friends, and learn how to read and write, they won’t have another chance of staying home with you.
Shockingly, just last night as I was going to bed with my now 4 year old, her wisdom (and future smarts) shone through brilliantly. She said, “Mama… what is all this talk about school? I don’t want to go to school and everyone keeps saying school, school, blah blah, just cuz I’m 4. When I was this many (showing me three fingers), no one said anything about school!”
See, she is smart enough already. And I agree with her.
Look, preschool is great and many children NEED it. But others just don’t and are perfectly happy right where they are. So, from now on, my daughter and I have agreed that we are going to tell people that she is only 3, so there will be no more of this preschool blabber and so I can keep her home with me without feeling the wrath of others. (And hey, isn’t lying about her age something she would never learn in school? See… she is already way ahead! ?)
