Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also Asian and think that preschool sounds dumb. kids around the world can read, be potty trained and do math much earlier. Let your child cart around rocks... which they can do after school or on weekends, too.

You sound dumb.

Thanks! I'm enjoying this! And I wish you and your children well. I'm a good mom and went to great schools. have a prestigious job.. but everyone's drinking the KoolAid on play-based everything... you have to wonder when that bubble will burst. A sane approach is balance! A friend was a private preschool teacher in NYC and told me that while her school was strictly all play, most of the kids could read or were well on their way. Why? Well their well to do parents hired tutors or nannies or did academics evenings and wkds so you better believe they were learning to read before K.

Judging from your writing, I highly doubt it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also Asian and think that preschool sounds dumb. kids around the world can read, be potty trained and do math much earlier. Let your child cart around rocks... which they can do after school or on weekends, too.

You sound dumb.

Thanks! I'm enjoying this! And I wish you and your children well. I'm a good mom and went to great schools. have a prestigious job.. but everyone's drinking the KoolAid on play-based everything... you have to wonder when that bubble will burst. A sane approach is balance! A friend was a private preschool teacher in NYC and told me that while her school was strictly all play, most of the kids could read or were well on their way. Why? Well their well to do parents hired tutors or nannies or did academics evenings and wkds so you better believe they were learning to read before K.

Judging from your writing, I highly doubt it.

Anonymous wrote:This sounds fantastic. My older ds went to a more structured play based preschool but I put yds in a free choice play based preschool where the kids have almost unlimited access to the outdoors. My biggest regret is that ods did not get to go. Kids in ods's kinder class who had gone to the other preschool were much more inquisitive, self directed and confident in exploring. That is why I sent yds there instead.

Really? Did you do a follow up study on these kids to determine that they were more "inquisitive, self directed, and confident in exploring?"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also Asian and think that preschool sounds dumb. kids around the world can read, be potty trained and do math much earlier. Let your child cart around rocks... which they can do after school or on weekends, too.

You sound dumb.

Thanks! I'm enjoying this! And I wish you and your children well. I'm a good mom and went to great schools. have a prestigious job.. but everyone's drinking the KoolAid on play-based everything... you have to wonder when that bubble will burst. A sane approach is balance! A friend was a private preschool teacher in NYC and told me that while her school was strictly all play, most of the kids could read or were well on their way. Why? Well their well to do parents hired tutors or nannies or did academics evenings and wkds so you better believe they were learning to read before K.

You must have very small kids. My DS and DD both went to a play-based preschool (not outdoor classroom, just heavily Reggio) and were both reading fluently before K, with no academic nights or tutors or whatever else you think people do. We did read tons of books together at home but that was strictly for enjoyment, with no instruction. Many kids learn to read holistically just by exposure, whether it is at age 4 or 5 or 6 or older. Direct instruction in phonics and sight words and similar strategies are important for kids who are struggling to read at a developmentally appropriate age. But that age is NOT preschool, even if some kids do pick it up at that time. My kids are such curious, enthusiastic learners and I think their wonderful preschool experience was no small part of making that happen. And as far as the stuff that matters to people like you who don't get it, you will be happy to know they both are well ahead of grade level. Older one is in AAP and little one may well end up there as well.

Signed,

Someone who taught 1st grade for 11 years

Anonymous wrote:Any preschool located that close to Microsoft is unlikely to be all white.

Sincerely,
Asian who also thinks this school sounds nice

you don't live there do you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So typically American! We can't just have a preschool where you go outside a lot - it has to be a Nature Preschool (tm) where you spend ALL DAY outside in opposition to the Wrong Ideas about Children that those other people have.

These outdoor preschools are much more common and popular in Europe. They wrote an article about this one because it is unusual.

My point isn't about whether some other place has "nature preschools" but rather the cyclical nature of US Internet-mediated child raising fads.

Or maybe it's a diverse country filled with people from so many different backgrounds that you can find extremes of almost any type of belief? And maybe the press enjoys emphasizing extremes in order to drive readership rather than objectively reflecting the non-extremes that dominate our culture?

You seem overly media-saturated while at the same time assuming naively it's a true reflection of life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also Asian and think that preschool sounds dumb. kids around the world can read, be potty trained and do math much earlier. Let your child cart around rocks... which they can do after school or on weekends, too.

You sound dumb.

Thanks! I'm enjoying this! And I wish you and your children well. I'm a good mom and went to great schools. have a prestigious job.. but everyone's drinking the KoolAid on play-based everything... you have to wonder when that bubble will burst. A sane approach is balance! A friend was a private preschool teacher in NYC and told me that while her school was strictly all play, most of the kids could read or were well on their way. Why? Well their well to do parents hired tutors or nannies or did academics evenings and wkds so you better believe they were learning to read before K.

+1! The guidance changes every 10-20 years.

Not to mention the fact that some kids *enjoy* indoor activities like reading, art, blocks, etc. it is so extreme just to say "playing outside all day and staying away from those evil letters is he best way!"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So typically American! We can't just have a preschool where you go outside a lot - it has to be a Nature Preschool (tm) where you spend ALL DAY outside in opposition to the Wrong Ideas about Children that those other people have.

These outdoor preschools are much more common and popular in Europe. They wrote an article about this one because it is unusual.

My point isn't about whether some other place has "nature preschools" but rather the cyclical nature of US Internet-mediated child raising fads.

This school sounds great. I have an EdD and this is exactly the sort of program I'd love for my children.

My DH is Asian and unfortunately has some of the same misconceptions of Asian PP: mistaking prestige for success, mistaking strict academic focus for learning, assuming competitiveness is the same as growth. Interestingly, many of the Japanese preschools(/kindergartens) I've visited are heavily play- and outdoors-based, so I know this isn't a monolithic belief system amongst Asian people/cultures.

Human beings are meant to learn via play.

Anonymous wrote:So typically American! We can't just have a preschool where you go outside a lot - it has to be a Nature Preschool (tm) where you spend ALL DAY outside in opposition to the Wrong Ideas about Children that those other people have.

These outdoor preschools are much more common and popular in Europe. They wrote an article about this one because it is unusual.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also Asian and think that preschool sounds dumb. kids around the world can read, be potty trained and do math much earlier. Let your child cart around rocks... which they can do after school or on weekends, too.

You sound dumb.

Thanks! I'm enjoying this! And I wish you and your children well. I'm a good mom and went to great schools. have a prestigious job.. but everyone's drinking the KoolAid on play-based everything... you have to wonder when that bubble will burst. A sane approach is balance! A friend was a private preschool teacher in NYC and told me that while her school was strictly all play, most of the kids could read or were well on their way. Why? Well their well to do parents hired tutors or nannies or did academics evenings and wkds so you better believe they were learning to read before K.

+1! The guidance changes every 10-20 years.

Anonymous wrote:Any preschool located that close to Microsoft is unlikely to be all white.

Sincerely,
Asian who also thinks this school sounds nice

I live in Redmond - Microsoftland. Not many Microsofties with young children live IN Seattle so I don't understand the connection. The white people with young children who DO live in Seattle and tree-hugging $15 hour flaming, closed minded liberals NOT in the high tech industry.

So typically American! We can't just have a preschool where you go outside a lot - it has to be a Nature Preschool (tm) where you spend ALL DAY outside in opposition to the Wrong Ideas about Children that those other people have.

This sounds fantastic. My older ds went to a more structured play based preschool but I put yds in a free choice play based preschool where the kids have almost unlimited access to the outdoors. My biggest regret is that ods did not get to go. Kids in ods's kinder class who had gone to the other preschool were much more inquisitive, self directed and confident in exploring. That is why I sent yds there instead.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also Asian and think that preschool sounds dumb. kids around the world can read, be potty trained and do math much earlier. Let your child cart around rocks... which they can do after school or on weekends, too.

You sound dumb.

Thanks! I'm enjoying this! And I wish you and your children well. I'm a good mom and went to great schools. have a prestigious job.. but everyone's drinking the KoolAid on play-based everything... you have to wonder when that bubble will burst. A sane approach is balance! A friend was a private preschool teacher in NYC and told me that while her school was strictly all play, most of the kids could read or were well on their way. Why? Well their well to do parents hired tutors or nannies or did academics evenings and wkds so you better believe they were learning to read before K.

None of the PPs are saying that they turn their backs on other, more academic forms of enrichment or are opposed to helping a child learn to read in preschool if that's what the child wants. They are just saying, for the 3-5 hours a day that a child is in preschool a day, spending it outside is very beneficial. Most of our preschool's outdoor time is free play, but science and nature is also discussed and taught every day.