WWYD - preschool subjects

[Deleted]

Bear with me, because I'm new to having a kid in preschool and I need you to share your wisdom here. My DS (3) just started preschool in September. He goes two mornings a week. The teacher has been sending us calendars with the "themes" of the day on them - which is usually what the day's craft/storytime is based on.

So I noticed for October that almost every day has a scary theme. Ghosts, witches, bats, etc. and now my undies are in a bit of a bunch. For starters, DS has been terrified of ghosts or anything remotely creepy for over a year now. Like he saw two seconds of a Curious George episode where George was in a cave, and he was asking me about that cave, ghosts, talking about being scared at night, etc. He talks about ghosts a LOT - without even seeing anything scary to set him off.

I'm really not looking forward to a month full of nightmare material for DS, and it seems kind of weird to me that they chose such scary stuff for a group of 3 year olds. But I also know that DS is pretty sheltered for his age, so maybe that kind of stuff doesn't bother most 3s? I'm thinking of talking to the teacher to explain my worries, but I also don't want to be a complete nut. But witches? How do you explain a witch to a 3 year old?

What says SAHM? Totally normal preschool material and I need to suck it up? Or is it kind of odd to have a whole month devoted to creepy sh*t for 3 year olds? Either way I'm tempted to skip some of it just to prevent the night terrors and exhaustion. 

[lexus]

The ghost thing is odd. I might check and make sure it's friendly ghosts type book. The other stuff seems more normal. How many age appropriate scary books are there?

[mamaalysson]

There are lots of cute preschool-aged stories that feature the characters of the Halloween season in non scary roles. My guess would be that they will be doing more "cutesy" versions of these themes - think cotton ball ghosts, construction paper bats, paper plate spiders, etc. My DD is a nervous nelly too, and if I were worried I would ask for more details. Maybe they can tell you what they will be reading and show you examples of the planned art projects? Explain it just like you did here - your son is easily frightened, and you just want to see what is coming so you can figure out how to best prepare him.

[lovebeingmama]

It's going to be all cutesy Halloween books and projects. Google 'Halloween books for preschoolers.' There are lots of fun, friendly books. The crafts are going to be cotton ball ghosts or white paint on black paper. I wouldn't sweat it and I wouldn't skip it.

ETA: if it's just ghosts he's scared of, you can mention it to the teacher or skip that day, but as for the rest I think it's fun, normal, preschool Halloween stuff.

[sallyanne]

I agree with everyone above that it is all going to be cute preschool friendly stuff. But you can let the teacher know that your lo has shown signs of being scared of ghosts just to give her a heads up. And be prepared to answer your Lo's questions afterwards as they come up.

[jag01]

I wonder if it will be good for him to see it in this cutesy version with his peers around him, he can see that they are not bothered by it, and he might gain some confidence with it.

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2015 9:18:34 GMT -5 runningfish said:

Do you want her to change the teaching material for the whole class, or do you just want to talk to her about keeping your son out on certain days?

I wouldn't ask her to change everything - if anything I thought I might keep DS home on the ghost day. 

Thanks for the input, everyone! I think I will just write to mention that DS has some ghost fears, to give them the heads up that he might be freaked out. I feel better reading about cotton ball ghosts, though.

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2015 9:02:10 GMT -5 jag01 said:

I wonder if it will be good for him to see it in this cutesy version with his peers around him, he can see that they are not bothered by it, and he might gain some confidence with it.

That's a really good point! Hopefully DS will see that the other kids aren't scared and that'll help him. Thanks for that!

[Deleted]

Yeah, I'm sure they aren't going to try to "explain" ghosts or witches. They'll read about the very busy spider or gus the friendly ghost and make a cute little craft. Hopefully it will help him, like pp said, to see these things in a cutesy way.

[Deleted]

I'm sure it's cutesy ghosts and whitches! My daughter (3.5) is loving all the Halloween stuff in stores and begs to go look at the displays.

But if he's scared of a curious George episode than I see your worry. I doubt they are going to change the whole lesson because one kid is sensitive so I would embrace it! Buy fun Halloween books and crafts to do at home and explain it's fun and silly

[cabbagecabbage]

My DD is 3 and her preschool has done spider paintings that they use for a sequencing/pattern games, they made skeletons out of q-tips with their picture for the head, and they've been talking about Halloween and fall every day. I think it's a perfectly normal theme for this time of year. If your child is afraid, I'd mention it to the teachers and hopefully they'll be sensative to his fears and keep it very upbeat and fun and watch out for him. I agree it might be a good thing for him to explore these scary ideas with his peers.

[quesyrah]

I agree with everyone else. DS can be a bit nervous too but he did several ghosts/witch/bat/spider things in preschool and none of it was scary.

I also think it would be good to start getting him to understand that this stuff doesn't have to be scary and it can be cute and fun too. School is a great place to learn that. I have found that sometimes DS is a totally different kid at school and sometimes it's easier for kids to explore things that might be scary when they can see their peers reactions too

[amynumbers]

I would just think it's...not impressive. I am sure it is cutesy vs scary, but even cutesy is going to scary some three year old. And I would think it is just odd a teacher would set an entire class up for that for an entire month.

There is a lot more to fall that she could be using for themes. Halloween day or week, sure. Month just seems, I don't know, lazy or weird or not creative.

I wouldn't freak out about it unless my child did. But at the bare minimum I probably wouldn't have the greatest impression of the teacher.

[lala]

I kind of agree that it's a bit early to be jumping full force into Halloween. They're doing stuff with apples & leaves & fall now. Pumpkins soon since the pumpkin patch trip is in 2 weeks. Halloween stuff won't come until after that. But yes, the cutesy Halloween stuff is fairly normal - but I've never seen witches or ghosts that I recall. Spiders, Jack o lanterns & bats maybe? I'll have to pay more attention this year.

[fancynewbeesly]

I am also surprised it is the whole month. Although my daughters school monthly theme for October is United Nations and customs. They invited family members to the school to teach, demonstrate a custom or something from their heritage. Last year a mom from Columbia came and taught the 4yr olds to salsa dance.

But I thought that theme would be more relevant around the holidays.

I was just surprised to see it in the fall. Reese came home yesterday singing a song she learned about Mexico so I love the theme.

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2015 10:55:28 GMT -5 amynumbers said:

I would just think it's...not impressive. I am sure it is cutesy vs scary, but even cutesy is going to scary some three year old. And I would think it is just odd a teacher would set an entire class up for that for an entire month.

There is a lot more to fall that she could be using for themes. Halloween day or week, sure. Month just seems, I don't know, lazy or weird or not creative.

I wouldn't freak out about it unless my child did. But at the bare minimum I probably wouldn't have the greatest impression of the teacher.

I'm Canadian, so October is also Thanksgiving, which only has one preschool day dedicated to it. That seems really weird to me. I'd much rather DS was focusing on awesome social concepts like being thankful and understanding harvest time. And a whole month (almost) of scary stuff is what bothers me the most. I'm sleep deprived already - I don't need anymore fuel for rough nights!

[nicolewi]

I agree with the others that it will be cute. I.e. cute friendly ghost story, ghost craft, maybe ghost song. bats/spiders might include science-type info about the actual animals (bats aren't scary; bats eat bugs!, etc). It's a little odd but probably will be totally OK.

[lala]

I think it's odd then that they are spending way more time on halloween than thanksgiving. Equal billing at least.

[gennyu]

Your DS is going to be seeing all of these images anyway if you leave the house this month. Target, grocery stores, neighborhood decorations - you can't escape it. I think the preschool is actually doing you a favor by creating a harmless/cutesy framework for his imagination to work with.