Hmm, I just bought a stack of coloring books for birthday party favors for my 3 year old. Is this really 'a thing?' Will the moms be appalled that I am giving their kids coloring books instead of blank pages??

The best education your preschooler can have is play. There should be more coloring, play dough, playground and playing house. Memorizing letters, colors and numbers at 2 and 3 really isn't good for them.

Let them play and learn social skills.

Anonymous wrote:I let my three year color in his paw patrol coloring book while I cook dinner. Should I let him watch TMZ instead?

As long as he ends up at or under two hours of tv/day then yes. By all means.

Wow. I wish my 2nd grader would have colored more in coloring pages in preschool. He's been struggling with his handwriting skills for years and I keep hearing about how he wouldn't be struggling with handwriting if he'd have colored more, and learned to do it within the lines. So much for all the scribbles he sent home from preschool on blank paper.

My DD loved to color in coloring books at that age! Loved picking out jus the right color. Loved trying to stay in the lines. Often added extra drawings to the picture. She is now a straight A student in a competitive HS school magnet. Find another issue OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has got to be a joke

I'm convinced there are people who get their jollies by making up absurd complaints and posting them on DCUM hoping to find people that agree so they can secretly mock them.

I'm hoping that's what it is.

Every second of a 3 year old's day doesn't have to be carefully structured to expose her to STEM, expand her creativity, etc. etc. Maybe your 3 yo just likes the coloring page picture of a mermaid and would like to color on it. Because it's enjoyable and she is not able to draw mermaids herself. Not because it will hopefully improve her changes of getting into gifted classes and Ivy League colleges.

Anonymous wrote:My 2 year old nearly always chooses a "coloring page" with a character/picture on it over a blank page, but then she just draws all over it having nothing to do with the lines 75% of the time. I assume she chooses the coloring pages because she likes whatever is pictured on them, but then just wants to draw and paper is paper.

Unless the teachers are stressing the "you must stay in the lines" aspect of it, I don't understand the concern... at all. (Especially since you say they also have blank sheets available, which suggests they are almost certainly not stressing that aspect.)

My three-year-old will also color in coloring books, although I wouldn't say she has a preference for pre-printed pages over blank paper. She colors the picture, sort of, and then adds her own embellishments and clearly does not feel constrained by the lines. This is just something I cannot imagine worrying about, especially if the coloring pages are just made available to kids who are interested.

I understand why OP dislikes having characters on the coloring sheets. I hate that my daycare has Disney princess decals on the walls everywhere; I think it's gross and commercial and a lot of other things. But, even though 3 yo DD sometimes asks about the princesses on the wall, it's not defining her whole experience at preschool. She still has a great imagination, plays with a lot of different toys, etc.

OP, I would encourage you to look at the preschool as a whole and see if you think your child is getting good overall exposure, opportunities for open-ended play, etc. If so, the sheets are not such a big deal. If not, there are probably bigger concerns that will make you re-evaluate the school.

I wouldn't talk to the teachers directly about this. But, you could find some really neat blank paper (colors, textures) and offer it to the teachers for a project.

OP,

Just wait til your child is in public 1st grade, having enjoyed learning about subtraction and multiplication all summer, and shows you the picture the teacher asked them to color in during math class.

Hey teacher, just because it's dot-to-dot doesn't mean it's math!

OP, if you feel like your child is not getting the education she deserves, it is on you to either move her to another school that satisfies your requirements or to supplement her education at home. Don't put her whole education and future on the school system and the teachers. They are one piece of a very complicated puzzle for every child.

I have no idea, but I am also throwing it out there that they might be required to send something home, but only send home coloring, because they don't believe or don't have experience of parents actually completing other kinds of assignments with kids. Just thinking out loud.

I let my three year color in his paw patrol coloring book while I cook dinner. Should I let him watch TMZ instead?

Anonymous wrote:OP, can you next go on a tear about your child being offered play dough?

It's not gluten free. Completely inappropriate.

When my son was 8, he was drawing (from memory) exact replicas of Dragon Ball Z characters. I suppose this wasn't "age appropriate", and I should have told him to stop. I also suppose that all of those coloring pages that he did as a preschooler somehow cramped his style. He should have been creating his own characters and publishing his own anime by that age. Oh, the guilt that I shall have to live with because of those coloring pages.

OP, can you next go on a tear about your child being offered play dough?

Anonymous wrote:Well, I think you can rule out Montessori as being a good fit for your family. I have many, many block towers colored pink!

Montessori teacher who think "coloring" in the work on paper is WAY overdone in many Montessori classes. I am also poster 10.51.