Reply to What is the most elite NYC preschool?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don’t disagree, but if it’s your first kid I understand the panic. Everyone talks about how academic kindergarten is now and most private preschools are very play-based. I’m not saying it’s not reactionary, I just see why they panic.[/quote]

That's fair, but a good 'play-based' school is still going to have those Montessori elements of teachers steering kids towards specific skills to master and monitoring their progress; you're not just paying to have somebody lead your kids in fun games all day.

My kids' experience with kindergarten was that around half of the kids in their classes - most of whom had gone to one of a couple of local chain preschools - knew most of the material already, were bored out of their minds in math and were reading 'just right' (this was back in the bad old Calkins days) books that were level G or H or whatever the chart considered to be 1st/2nd grade.[/quote]

Sure, but in NYC (play based, or child-led, or reggio) preschools, kids are not being taught to read. And they are definitely not being taught to count to 100. Could they be? Absolutely. But the preschools are banking on the children learning these skills in kindergarten. Which is why skipping kindergarten when you don’t get into private school and instead sending a kid to public 1st grade creates the panic.

Of course parents are upset that the independent school process didn’t go their way— we do love to get our way in this city, myself included. But they are now on the hook (after spending 3-4 years on tuition at said preschool) for quickly brining their children up to speed if their only option (short of moving) is public 1st grade.

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