Have you considered getting a MAID? |
My kids went to an interesting school that drew from the very poorest and also most highly educated families. Hardly anybody in the middle.
There were some odd touches. Local groceries donated their just-expired produce and baked goods every week so the poor families could have good food to to eat but the wealthy families were also encouraged to take and we did — the best stuff was put aside for the neediest kids and to refuse the groceries would have come across as snooty and standoffish, since it was all done publically. There was a bunch of stuff like that that took some sensitivity/thought to navigate. But overall it was great for my kids. |
![]() ![]() The problem is that with poverty comes other issues - food insecurity, uneducated parents, broken family, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, perhaps immigration status issues, criminality, violence, bullying, bad manners etc. I don't want my kid to understand these societal ills at a young age by being around peers who come from poverty and paucity mindset. |
I absolutely would. It’s dual language so your kid will be fine. A low ratio, good curriculum, and positive reviews are great signs of any PK program. |
Of these, the only one that has ever come up with the diverse group of preschoolers I teach is manners, and that’s because everyone is learning them at 3. |
I don’t agree with the manners and low income issues PP is describing, but having been around a lot of low income children and their parents, many of those kids may be experience instability in their families. They may have really bad eating habits. I knew a kid who brought a candy bar and soda with lunch every day and she was 7 years old. They also spend lots of time on screens. Not wanting my child eating sugary food, not wanting to normalize drinking soda, and not wanting to have kids on screens, I keep my kid away from those kids. Tbf I do this with middle class and upper middle class families with bad habits too. I’m tired of every single play date turning into a violent video take session fueled by Mountain Dew, Prime drinks, and super processed food products. |
If being immersed in lower income children is a concern then the center isn't the quality you prefer. It does not have the attributes you prefer.
Find something else. |
Not the responder, but I can speak as a class parent in a very diverse K program. When it came to collecting a few bucks for a subscription to education program (think something like Highlights or National Geo Kids), the underprivileged families wouldn't cough up 5 bucks - that's 5 bucks for an entire school year. I also organized the annual school supplies delivered every year a few days before the start of school. The underprivileged families would not order supply kits and the teachers of those classes basically had to take the kits of the few who did order and spread them around as best they could. And then there are behavioral issues. In preschool, academics don't matter yet. But as the child ascends in grade level, yes, peers really do matter. The more disruptive a student, the more the teacher's energies are devoted to the disruptive student instead of teaching all the kids who are paying attention and happy to learn. But even preschool kids are clued into who the disruptive kids are in their classes and don't like it. |
Tbh though my kids go to school with middle class kids and some of their classmates also have broken homes, too much screen time, bad behavior, etc. It's just that people don't blame it on their income level unless the kids are poor. |
How does it hurt your child? |
And there are parents who are involved, limit screen time, are generally positive and supportive with their child, but they're still challenging. Some 2-4 years olds just struggle with their feelings and impulses more than others, especially if you add neurodivergence to the mix. Yet the parent is often blamed first. My brother was one of those kids with bad tantrums, and he’s a perfectly fine functioning member of society now. |
Can anyone decipher this sentence? |
They are three year olds. If you applied for the school they would want to know how your child would benefit the program. |
I would OP. Little kids are little kids, and they might pick up some language skills and learn how to play with different kids as well. |
Same. I teach in kindergarten with 90% poverty and more than half are Spanish speaking students. These issues might come up much later in school but not at a young age. |