Long hrs in preschool/daycare harmful

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Long hrs in preschool/daycare harmful
2470
Sun, 03-19-2006 - 3:09pm

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051101/news_1n1earlyed.html

Very interesting. Particularly the difference in the middle to upper income kids vs low income.

"I personally feel children need the nurture of their parents and the home," she said. "Those early years, that's when they are bonding to their family. That nurturing, only the family can give that."

I tend to agree.

MM, WOHM to B&E, 7.24.03

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 8:55am

But then how is that child led?

PumpkinAngel

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 9:29am

But if you don't use them for longer than you need to (or, in the case of SAHMs, as is developmentally appropriate for the child), I don't see a problem.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 9:35am
Is that because the PTA doesn't see a need for foreign language, music, chess, etc. or is it because other organizations in your community offer extracurricular activities?

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Registered: 03-18-2004
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 9:46am
Probably, LOL.

Mondo

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Registered: 09-04-1997
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 10:13am
My kids are not geniuses and I am not superwoman, but my kids are both self-directed learners involved in a variety of projects. I have always trusted their instincts and have tried to provide stimulating activities and to keep a wide variety of high quality materials available. Riding a bike all day is perfectly devekopmentally appropriate for a four year old. One of my kids was reading before kindergarten, the other wasn't. Both are avid readers now. The older one just used my genealogy software to create family trees of the patriarch from Genesis and the Norse and Greek pantheons. It wasn't a school assignment, he just wanted to. The other one is making a scrapbook of souvenirs from civil war battlefields we've visited. That was sparked by a school assignment, but the assignment was turned in on March 3rd and he's still working on the scrapbook. In my experience, that's just what kids do if they are allowed/encouraged to follow their interests.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-16-2005
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 10:25am

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Ironically, that's how I see playgroups. Most of the benefit of playgroups inures to the parents. I'm a sahp and have been in various playgroups over the past 5 years with my 3 children. Currently we're in 2 pgs with my two-year-old son. If you want to talk unsupervised free play, then you're talking about the playgroup, not the longer day at preschool.

IME in pgs, the parents talk, relax and have coffee/sandwiches almost to the point of excluding the children. It's just set up that way. The parents are hands-off. *That's certainly not a bad thing.* And it's truly been a positive for me as a sahp to socialize. And my children like seeing other kids. And certainly the pg is an incentive to get out of the house. But unless a adult directs kids, a lot before age 3 is just parallel free play.

Free play is supervised at preschool, but not so in the playgroup. Preschool staff have no other focus than the children. The playgroup is pure free-play. And when you go to the playground and the children naturally spread out, again only the parents benefit from socializing. It is a benefit for children in playgroups to be active and engage in free play, but I see real advantages to supervised free play with adult intervention and direction that don't exist in the playgroup.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-1997
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 10:29am
I can't help you. All of my sewing and scrapbooking stuff is organized in those multi-drawered plastic carts you can buy at office supply stores. Now they are stacked up three carts high and take up an entire wall in one of those rooms without a name in my McMansion. It's a disgrace.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 10:42am
when i see little kids like that i always think of the little girl in parenthood.
i would be perfectly happy with my child playing legos all day - they are using their imaginations - and in my mind that is a huge educational asset.
Jennie
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-1997
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 10:44am
Depends on the quality of the programs, not where they are held, wouldn't you say? The extended care program at the elementary school my older son attended was abysmal. The one at the elementary school where my younger son goes seems to be pretty good -- although we don't use it. Same goes with off-site locations. Quality varies.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 10:54am
you seem to get totally hung up on titles. if an extended day after school program is developmentally inappropriate then why would another activity, where they do the exact same thing, but call it girl scouts or anything else all of a sudden be deveopmentally appropriate. the fact is if the child is in an activity afterschool, they have just extended their schoolday, and unless the parent is the leader/coach then they are still in the care and under the direction of someone else besides thier parent. i honestly just dont see the difference, which is why i have asked you to explain what the difference is.
Jennie

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