Preschools
I took the kids with me to visit a preschool today. It's the fourth one I've contacted and the third one I've visited. They've all been really, really different and I'm no closer to knowing what I want than I've ever been, so I'm going to talk about each of the schools and sort of blather my thoughts and impressions here.
( It turns out I have a lot to say about preschool and school in general )
( It turns out I have a lot to say about preschool and school in general )
1) Waldorf -- I've heard some really good things about them. I've also heard that they have a really strong preference for late learning to read. For bright kids, who sometimes really want to learn earlier (or who simply happen to learn earlier on their own, with no adult assistance at all), this may not be the best fit. I have no personal experience here, and certainly there might be some variation between schools, but it's something to inquire about. When do they expect kids to learn to read? How do they deal with one who learns on their own before that age?
2) Montessori -- Having a good long time set aside for "work" is one of the marks of a good Montessori school, and the Montessori method does a lot to encourage independence in the kids, so that low teacher-to-student ratio is actually likely to work very well for them. Also, for a bright child, a multi-age setting can be far more accomodating than a single-age setting, and Montessori is likely to provide plenty of opportunity for Raine to stretch, be challenged, and learn new things. OTOH, I hear you about the logistics; my daughter is also Not A Morning Person, and needs a significant amount of time to wake up before eating breakfast. For us, outside-the-home Montessori like you describe would not have been a good fit.
3) Public school -- I completely understand and agree with all your reasons for not liking public schools. I grew up going to a public school, and have very strong negative reactions to them. I'm trying not to let that color my response to the idea of you sending Raine to one; your local public school may very well be a wonderful place. Whether public ed is bad for kids depends a lot on the kid and the place; if you think Raine is above-average intelligent, the biggest questions are (1) how far above-average? and (2) how accomodating and gifted-friendly is the school? The higher the answer to (1) and the lower the answer to (2), the bigger your problem. (Also, do not assume that they will learn more at the local public school than homeschooling, even if you are lazy; I remember concluding by 5th grade that school was a place designed to waste my time so I couldn't learn as much at home. Once a kid knows how to read, a self-motivated child with access to a variety of materials can teach themselves a lot. Just one more thing to consider. This may be a decision to take one year at a time.)
A combination of graphic design and dance classes would provide excellent flexibility in scheduling, while giving Raine some challenging one-on-one instruction in art and some experience with a group situation in dance. For stretching and challenging her in other areas, you could try reading Barbara Curtis's books, Mommy, Teach Me and Mommy, Teach Me to Read. Her books start with a basic explanation of Montessori philosophy and how to apply it in parenting, and then advice on ways to stretch and challenge kids in various specific areas, including activities to set up that kids enjoy doing that are good for them in various ways. This combination is likely what I would recommend, but perhaps that much effort is more daunting to you than getting kids up, dressed, breakfasted, and across town in time for preschool; that's something only you can evaluate.
Hope this helps. Good luck with your decision. I suspect you're right that Raine needs some sort of challenge and constructive play options; I hope you find a good solution for her.
Newt
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I've been following your homeschooling posts with a great deal of interest and no small amount of awe, by the way. I shouldn't rule out homeschooling completely, of course, because if Raine is miserable then we'll figure something out especially since I think there are some good local resources for homeschooling. And I'll certainly look at some books on trying Montessori methods at home, since I shouldn't rule that out for next year either. Structure, organization, and self motivation are not really my strong suits, though, so we'll see how feasible it looks.
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To be honest, structure, organization, and self-motivation aren't my strong suits, either. It's been a struggle, moreso at some times than others of course, but never really easy. Homeschooling for preschool is pretty easy, though; most of it is social, and the rest is finding some interesting and beneficial activities she can do on her own (which is what the books are for) and making them available to her. It's the teaching a kid to read that's making me freak out a bit. (I just try to keep the freaking out quite and mostly internal. :)
Newt
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A little bit of both. I was born in Los Alamos, NM and can remember quite vividly the one boy in my class who didn't have a parent who worked at the lab. His dad was a minister, not a scientist! And his mother wasn't a scientist either! Astounding! So the kids were smarter than average, and the parents also cared more about education. Of course, math also got easier for me once it got more abstract--I'm still really bad at my multiplication tables.
And "survive" is a strong term--I did ITR my sophomore year ;)
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