Reply to Are we fools not to play lottery for our 3 y o?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What's sad is that what's best for our kids takes a back seat to not being shut out by waiting. Your DC may not be ready right now, but if you don't apply and take a spot now you may be SOL later. We all lose in this game![/quote]

I disagree with using the term "sad".  The option for free PK3 and PK4 is very rare in DC.  You don't have to participate in the madness if you do not want.  K is a good year to enter charters so if you opt to keep your child at home you have that right, but don't call it sad because its a daunting process if you wish to participate.  All I see about preschool craziness in lotteries etc baffles me, it's more of an entitlement feeling from other parents rather than looking at it as a great benefit to utilize to offset expensive daycare and prepare our youngsters for Kinder (even of you're destined to a tier 2 option).[/quote]

Say what? You sound so completely out of touch and I try to be respectful on this site but -- really? Perhaps it is just that you do not fully appreciate what the system means to children whose families do not live within bounds for a decent school. This isn't a matter of looking a "gift horse" (free preschool) in the mouth. This is feeling forced into sending a child to all day every day preschool because if you do not, your child will have a VERY small chance of getting into a workable public or charter school in kindergarten, which is mandatory. So yes, on the surface, DC's free preschool is nice. But it is very clearly geared toward children who need childcare. Those who do not need childcare, or those who believe their kids are better off with their nanny / play based preschool / whatever, still end up going to those preschools. Why? Because of the way the lottery works. If a school has a PS3, that is where the entry points are. If a school has a PK4, that's the entry point. So the slots get filled up by the students who get their toddler sized feet in the door. By the time my kid hits kindergarten, the only spots left are if a kid moves or ends up in a school that is a better fit. That kind of movement is comparatively minuscule when you think of the numbers of children applying. So it's far from feeling entitled. I would happily skip the DC public and charter school preschool. The problem is that by skipping it, I'm basically stuck with my in bounds. Which has had problems with violence (in elementary school) and where the children do not really get recess, and have gym 1x a week (for a half an hour!). I don't want my kids in that environment, so I feel stuck.

How is that entitlement exactly?  [/quote]

You apparently have the economic means to have a nanny or do private preschool since you "do not need childcare"; yet, you believe that the system (which was originally designed to be a way for low-income kids to get a "head start" on early childhood education) should cater to you.  If you live in a neighborhood that does not have a good in-bounds school, I am guessing that most of the families there "need child care" because both parents (or a single mom) need to work!  DC is a poor city, and it is pretty entitled of you to think that the system should revolve around your needs and not the needs of the kids who are clearly needy.

What keeps you from just sending your child to PS/PK only 3 days/week or picking him up after lunch??[/quote]

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