Preschool And Privilege:When ECE Hinges On Parental Flexibil

[IIOY]

Sept 8, 2015 8:35:56 GMT -5 heyjude said:

All important topics but childcare and early learning get short shrift, to the peril of our future society. I would like it if the greater progressive movement could take on childcare issues with the same vigor they take on trade agreements and wall street malfeasance.

Random question from someone on the other side of the country: What was the controversy surrounding Rob Reiner's push for universal pre-K?  It got very little coverage here.

[heyjude]

Sept 8, 2015 8:40:29 GMT -5 IIOY said:

Sept 8, 2015 8:35:56 GMT -5 heyjude said:

All important topics but childcare and early learning get short shrift, to the peril of our future society. I would like it if the greater progressive movement could take on childcare issues with the same vigor they take on trade agreements and wall street malfeasance.

Random question from someone on the other side of the country: What was the controversy surrounding Rob Reiner's push for universal pre-K?  It got very little coverage here.

Gee that was so long ago before I was really glued into this issue as a parent but I think that was a tax increase on the wealthy to pay for all kids to go to school. No dice.

Which is funny because ca voters recently passed a tax loop hole closure law on corporate profits for purposes of funding clean energy projects.

[frlcb]

Our state pre-k is full day, 7:45to 2:30 or something. We are at a private pre-k which is 8-12, but offers before and after care (it is a school from 3 years old to 8th grade). Public K is full day as well.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Sept 8, 2015 7:53:32 GMT -5 IIOY said:

I must be an island of one in not thinking those questions are weird. In addition to feeding the egos of the parents completing the forms, I have long suspected it's for the benefit of the teachers and schools to know when they are dealing with high maintenance families, DGAF families, etc..
 The questions seem absurd on their face but I suspect the schools actually glean a fair amount of information about the families from the answers given.

TBF, I wouldn't think the questions on mine were all that crazy if my kid were older. But wanting to know my parenting philosophy and educational goals for my 12 week old was just seemed over the top.

[cville]

Anecdote: for kindergarten, my husband joined the PTA board as a preventive measure to ensure it wouldn't be run by a cabal of SAHPs who gave no shits about doing things at 2:30 on a Tuesday. He also volunteered to be the liaison with the principal and uses his influence to get things to be at reasonable times for working parents too.

So far, all PTA and other meetings are at 6pm, and the PTA has another social/business gathering from 8-8:30am once monthly. Also on the board is another dad who is a full time accountant. And three SAHMs and one part time working mom. Who all suggested initially that things be held at 2:30, when school ends. Which is when the meetings are at the school my friends' kid goes in our same school district. I mean, I get why SAHPs want stuff midday. It's efficient. But exclusionary.

All hail Mr Cville, who has made it possible for me to do some shit sometimes at school!!

[pamela]

I'm thankful we had private pk options here because daycares and their "preschools" suck. The civil parish even provides bus service to the pk4 kids, provided you live in the religious parish boundaries (guess it's the equivalent of your zoned public school). Unfortunately we live outside of the boundaries (damn river). Ours does offer before/after care that extends the day from 630-6pm, but there are some Friday half days and phase in week is rough. Plus entire weeks around Easter (spring break) and Mardi Gras uses up all of our combined vacation just to get us to summer.

[kermit]

Sept 7, 2015 22:59:29 GMT -5 pugz said:

Preschools here are geared to families with a SAH parent. Longest they go is like 830-330 but most are just morning or afternoon 2-4 days a week. Families with 2 working parents send their kids to daycare centers, most of which have a pre-k curriculum. Kids going to in home daycares don't usually get preschool.

That makes me sad because I like our in-home daycare but I want her to go to preschool when it's time. I'm already stressing about the logistics and she's only 14 months! It's a big reason we will probably be 1 and done.

[jeaniebueller]

Just saw this headline pop up and thought it was relevant:

www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/09/08/438354999/10-years-in-tulsas-pre-k-investment-is-paying-off

[blueberry10]

Sept 7, 2015 21:42:24 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

The only reason he can do pre-K at all is that our in-home daycare can do pick up and drop off.

I know it's not going to change for a very long time, but I hate the way I'm made to feel uninvolved because I have to be at work on a normal schedule.

This exactly. I feel really fortunate that DD can attend preschool because it's down the street from her in-home provider's house; it runs from 8:45-11:15 (or an afternoon session that gets out at 2:30), which absolutely wouldn't work otherwise. But I feel like a total outsider since all of the SAHMs socialize around drop-off/pickup times and I don't have that option. I hope to occasionally take a morning off of work to volunteer, but it feels so strange to be almost completely uninvolved with her school experience. It's so frustrating that school schedules in general have such a disconnect with work schedules.

[badtzmaru22]

Ugh, this topic stresses me out so much. Basically, my kids are screwed bc they go to an in-home daycare (which we love!)

Our district has "universal" pre-k, but you have to win a lottery to get into in the first place, and then it's half days with no transportation or before/aftercare. They do have official sites for UPK at some of the daycare centers in town, but those are expensive and some of them close at 5pm.

I hate this.

[badtzmaru22]

Sept 7, 2015 19:13:20 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

DD never attended formal preschool bc it was totally unconvenient for a single working full time w no reliable family close by. Preschools in my area are either inexpensive through a church or parks & rec BUT It's a few mornings a week for a few hours OR it's a super pricey center. Her in home dcp and I cobbled together something so at least she'd know her letters, colors, numbers and shapes but when she started kinder ... oh my did she have problems transitioning bt activities bc her dcp lacked the formal structure of traditional preschool.

This is what I'm worried about- not the academics, but my kid being labeled a troublemaker or something because she can't sit still at a desk all day in kindergarten.

[pamela]

Sept 8, 2015 10:24:15 GMT -5 rvan0905 said:

Sept 8, 2015 9:41:37 GMT -5 pamela said:

I'm thankful we had private pk options here because daycares and their "preschools" suck. The civil parish even provides bus service to the pk4 kids, provided you live in the religious parish boundaries (guess it's the equivalent of your zoned public school). Unfortunately we live outside of the boundaries (damn river). Ours does offer before/after care that extends the day from 630-6pm, but there are some Friday half days and phase in week is rough. Plus entire weeks around Easter (spring break) and Mardi Gras uses up all of our combined vacation just to get us to summer.

Its because the Catholic schools have first dibs on the buses.  If no one else is using the bus, the civil parish system can use them as needed.  It is also why all of the public schools start when it is still dark out.

Why do they have first dibs when the civil parish runs the busses?

[2curlydogs]

I want to smooch the author.

Un-hilariously, my friend's FB post last night was about being snack mom and having forgotten and having to run to Jewel to pick something up.

At the end of last year, B's school sent out a survey to parents as part of their self-assessment for their accreditation. When I filled out the survey, one of the things I complained repeatedly about was the number of "mandatory" meetings set during normal business hours and how this was not feasible for many working parents.

This year things seem a bit better. We had exactly 1 "mandatory" meeting and it was at 6pm. I don't know if that's because we're no longer new parents or what. But it's appreciated.

Also they did away with the 2 half-days to start the year. Which was a huge relief.

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2015 13:44:16 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Our school district gets out early every Wednesday. H says it's less early then when he was going to school in the same district, but still. And the after school program is crazy hard to get into. If our daycare decided to stop doing school pick ups, the Liu kids will be attending the karate school across the street just because they do after school transportation.

I wonder if it would be lucrative to run an after school kids transportation business. Maybe people that can pay for that sort of thing have nannies or SAHP anyway.

[pamela]

Sept 8, 2015 10:40:32 GMT -5 rvan0905 said:

Sept 8, 2015 10:25:01 GMT -5 pamela said:

Why do they have first dibs when the civil parish runs the busses?

Off the record...

Catholic schools are the most powerful down here. The public system couldn't survive without them. Now if I could just get bus service to my house starting in about 3 years, that would be awesome.

[pinkdutchtulips]

Sept 8, 2015 10:24:47 GMT -5 badtzmaru22 said:

Sept 7, 2015 19:13:20 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

DD never attended formal preschool bc it was totally unconvenient for a single working full time w no reliable family close by. Preschools in my area are either inexpensive through a church or parks & rec BUT It's a few mornings a week for a few hours OR it's a super pricey center. Her in home dcp and I cobbled together something so at least she'd know her letters, colors, numbers and shapes but when she started kinder ... oh my did she have problems transitioning bt activities bc her dcp lacked the formal structure of traditional preschool.

This is what I'm worried about- not the academics, but my kid being labeled a troublemaker or something because she can't sit still at a desk all day in kindergarten.

the good news is that by the 1st parent teacher conference in early Dec (school started the end of August) she was on her way to settling in :as if she had never skipped formal preschool D

[stephogirl]

Sept 8, 2015 10:38:43 GMT -5 @kcpokergal said:

Sept 7, 2015 13:44:16 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Our school district gets out early every Wednesday. H says it's less early then when he was going to school in the same district, but still. And the after school program is crazy hard to get into. If our daycare decided to stop doing school pick ups, the Liu kids will be attending the karate school across the street just because they do after school transportation.

I wonder if it would be lucrative to run an after school kids transportation business. Maybe people that can pay for that sort of thing have nannies or SAHP anyway.

I've pondered this myself. It could even branch into the summer so kids of working parents could take part in that fun class/activity that's held from 10:00-2:30 for two weeks in the middle of the summer. 

[heyjude]

Sept 8, 2015 10:17:23 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Just saw this headline pop up and thought it was relevant:

www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/09/08/438354999/10-years-in-tulsas-pre-k-investment-is-paying-off

This was a great read. But it shouldn't be an anecdote. Preschool should be available to all kids of all economic backgrounds. The person to solve the global warning crisis or greatly curtail it may be under 5 right now or not even born. Not investing in this contingent is like cutting off our nose to spite out face.

[Cicero]

Sept 8, 2015 8:15:52 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

This kind of stuff makes me scared to move back to the U.S.

Not that things are great here in Hong Kong. You can't drop off your kid anywhere until they start kindergarten (pre k equivalent) around 3. Like daycare doesn't exist, period. My daughter recently started pre k and she has to be accompanied; since my H and I work our nanny takes her and stays with her.

Even after kids can be dropped off I don't think before or aftercare is a thing either. You have to have a nanny until you trust your kid to ride public transportation and stay at home alone.

But at least employing a nanny is affordable?

This is what worries me about going back to CH.  Early childhood care is difficult to find (to the point that it is pretty normal to take your kid to France for daycare), there aren't enough spaces to go around, and schools send kids home for lunch.  

[heyjude]

For working parents who are afraid of part day preschool programs, look for preschools centered around business areas such as downtowns. That's where you will find full day preschools.

[simpsongal]

Ugh, watching my boss navigate a patchwork of summer camps, daycare, and telework for her girls' summer was painful. It's ridiculous, even in a HCOL area where most families have 2 working parents.

Not sure I've seen it said, but the points in the article also make me stabby for 2 reasons: (1) I was hoping to keep a piece of myself and avoid making my kids' lives my life (e.g., through a constant rotation of school help and bringing crap, isn't homework help enough?); (2) if you need to make it work, it probably comes at the expense of family time. One parent goes in super early and the other takes the morning shift. Great, except you're not spending time as a family while you're tag teaming activities.

For now....LALALAALALALALA

[pinkdutchtulips]

Sept 8, 2015 13:18:53 GMT -5 heyjude said:

For working parents who are afraid of part day preschool programs, look for preschools centered around business areas such as downtowns. That's where you will find full day preschools.

if only I could have afforded any of the preschools located near my then office #MarinIsntCheap

[anonymoose]

Sept 8, 2015 10:38:43 GMT -5 @kcpokergal said:

Sept 7, 2015 13:44:16 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Our school district gets out early every Wednesday. H says it's less early then when he was going to school in the same district, but still. And the after school program is crazy hard to get into. If our daycare decided to stop doing school pick ups, the Liu kids will be attending the karate school across the street just because they do after school transportation.

I wonder if it would be lucrative to run an after school kids transportation business. Maybe people that can pay for that sort of thing have nannies or SAHP anyway.

Or they can afford to hire a Mercedes Benz with a concierge.
boostbybenz.com/aboutus

[overture]

Sept 8, 2015 6:26:26 GMT -5 londoncalling said:

I had to check the very last, singular volunteer box that said something along the lines of "I'm not available to volunteer at school, but I can type and make phone calls after hours. ". Aka "I'm not a SAHM."

Where's the "um, this is public school, fuck off" box?

I don't remember my parents or anybody's parents regularly volunteering at school, unless they were an art docent or something.

Is this is regular part of every public elementary school I have to look forward to?

[hopecounts]

Sept 9, 2015 2:06:07 GMT -5 overture said:

Sept 8, 2015 6:26:26 GMT -5 londoncalling said:

I had to check the very last, singular volunteer box that said something along the lines of "I'm not available to volunteer at school, but I can type and make phone calls after hours. ". Aka "I'm not a SAHM."

Where's the "um, this is public school, fuck off" box?

I don't remember my parents or anybody's parents regularly volunteering at school, unless they were an art docent or something.

Is this is regular part of every public elementary school I have to look forward to?

Depends on the school. 
At some yes it is extremely common for parents to volunteer and help out in various ways. 
DH's Aunt volunteers at her kids elementary school about once a week. 
sometimes it's running copies for teachers, sometimes it's helping in the library since they cut down to a part time librarian, etc. 

[pamela]

Sept 9, 2015 2:06:07 GMT -5 overture said:

Sept 8, 2015 6:26:26 GMT -5 londoncalling said:

I had to check the very last, singular volunteer box that said something along the lines of "I'm not available to volunteer at school, but I can type and make phone calls after hours. ". Aka "I'm not a SAHM."

Where's the "um, this is public school, fuck off" box?

I don't remember my parents or anybody's parents regularly volunteering at school, unless they were an art docent or something.

Is this is regular part of every public elementary school I have to look forward to?

When I was in elementary I know they asked for volunteers, but not requirements. There were lots of regulars.