Growing Snowflowers

SCHOOL-LESS

Most kids would be jumping for joy at the prospect, but Piper is royally bummed out.

As of 5pm today Piper is a child without a preschool. So much for preplanning 10 months in advance. A week before school starts we have made the decision to stand by our ethics and remove her from the school. After speaking with the Director of the preschool program we realized that they really didn't see the harm in the McDonalds 'creative play area' in the classroom and they refused to take it down or change it to something more generic. Because of the reaction to our concerns we feel this probably isn't the best fit for Piper or our family on many levels. Deep down I know I'm a Reggio Emilia lovin' girl, but we just don't have schools locally that follow the philosophies. I've known it for a few years now, it is very similar to how I was taught, how I was trained to teach and how I'd like to see my children learn. There are certain things I'd like to make sure my children experience in life, and I'm sure I'll face more challenges along the road. The moral of the story I guess is

"be the change you want to see"

it may not always work in your favor like in this case, but I hope that it inspires some thought on the matter, some discussion among the educators as to why we felt this was important enough to make a stand on. I have Piper waitlisted at the preschool in an area 15 minutes away, she will be attending the Chinese Immersion program in the same district next year so perhaps it's all for the best. If she doesn't get into the Tues/Thurs class then we will just enroll her in the Friday morning preschool Chinese program where she will be with many of the children who will go with her into the Kindergarten program. Other than that I might take a leaf out of my friend Tiffany's book and do a wee bit of Homeschooling.