2013年07月27日
Is a Co-op Playschool Right for You?
From our first folic-acid supplements to our last mommy-and-me classes, contemporary mothers are a busy lot. Our parenting culture implies that if we only do all the right things, life will be a dream for our little angels. So is it any wonder that figuring out where to send our kids to preschool can become an agonizing matter? How early should you send your kiddo? How many hours should you sign on for? Which educational philosophy do you believe in? What's an "educational philosophy," anyway Thailand real estate for sale?Wanting the best for our kids — but not wanting to spend a lot of money on a pricey preschool, I worked with a group of my mom friends to devise a solution that turned out to be perfect for my (at the time) two-year-old daughter: A parent-run playschool co-op. While similar in structure and goals to a preschool, it can legally only be called a "playschool" or "playgroup" unless you want to incorporate, buy the proper insurance, and all that official school-y stuff. These groups are getting to be a trend where I live, but I wouldn't be surprised if moms everywhere start forming their own playschools. So, should you have the possibly foolhardy but admirable urge to create a unique early education experience for your kiddos, I've prepared a handy blueprint to follow.
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— Where will class be held?
— Will you hire a teacher, and if so, what kind of teacher are you hoping for?
The Basic Timeline
The Winter Before School Begins
The interested parents met for a kid-free brunch and discussed what we loved/hated about early childhood education and what we wanted for our kids. Luckily, we have a family who lives in an actual house (this is incredibly rare in NYC) with a large, bright living room they were willing to transform into a classroom two mornings a week. Other co-ops often rotate between families' homes or rent a space — although this ups the cost. We also met with a homeschooling consultant, who specializes in creative ways to practice pre-reading and pre-math skills.
In the Spring Before School Starts
The search for the teacher began. We placed ads and asked around, and ended up interviewing four or five teachers, then had three of them do sample lessons with the kids. They were all really wonderful, but one had a special energy we all loved. And so our amazing, bilingual, piano-playing, comedian-puppeteer with an advanced degree in early theater education was secured.
The Summer Before School
This is when all the boring — but necessary — parts happened: obtaining the supplies, calculating the costs, and trying to wrangle our ever-shifting group of families into signing contracts for the year ahead. We made our parent-helpers schedule: Every mom (or the occasional dad) would help with potty time and outdoor time once every six weeks.
September
As soon as playschool began, I think we all felt certain we’d done the right thing. Our teacher Cyndi was warm, patient, smart, and fun. The two-year-olds thrived: They adjusted to being dropped off, having a schedule, and dealing with radical new concepts like sitting on a spot at circle time. All the kids saw improvements in speech, manners, sharing, and potty-training. My daughter came home and played school in the afternoon for about six months straight.
In conclusion (to be scientific about it):
Playschool Co-op Pros
— Parents get to be teachers. We've had parents come and give music lessons, develop art projects, do storytelling workshops, lead yoga classes, and the like.
— It’s a very gentle and sweet first educational experience.
— The small group makes everything flexible.
— Being a "pretend" school means that you can indulge hippie-dippie ideas you get from reading books like Nurtureschock. You can also make sure that lots of time is devoted to creativity, imaginative play, and dress-up.
— There are many activities I can't get Harper to do at home (sorting, counting, cleaning up) that she happily does at school.
— In going through this process, I've thought a lot more about the purpose of early education than I might have otherwise. I feel more confident knowing that I can supplement and enrich what my kids learn at school as they get older real estate companies in the Philippines.
Playschool Co-op Cons
— It’s a lot of work. Even if everyone shares the responsibilities for setting up the classroom, staying on top of supplies, hiring the teacher, overseeing the curriculum, and managing the helper schedule, that’s a lot more work per family than a school where you just drop off and pick up your kids.
— Working with friends can be complicated. A couple of families had to drop out mid-year, which made it very stressful for the rest of us. And it’s not like we’re going to sue our mom friends (think about how awkward that would make the next playdate!), so we scrambled to find replacements, despite the fact that the departing families were supposed to do that. Lesson learned: We're going to collect the yearly dues as a deposit up front in the future.
Harper is now in her second year at our little playschool, and we're lucky to have our terrific teacher and many of the same classmates back. Now that they are three, they're able to do more school-y stuff, like ongoing projects with actual themes. If we hadn’t set up the playschool, we probably wouldn’t have sent Harper to school at all that first year. Now, we're already making plans for her brother to join her this coming September.
Posted by hamer at
18:28
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2013年07月27日
When word of the shootings spread
When word of the shootings spread, Tom Sullivan rushed to the staging area at the high school parking lot. His son Alex had gone to see the new Batman movie to celebrate his 27th birthday, two days before his first wedding anniversary.
When he learned that Alex was gone, Tom cried out and embraced his wife and daughter — a moment captured in a photo that ran on dozens of newspaper front pages and websites.
Weeping in the parking lot, Sullivan realized he had no regrets about his relationship with his son. Each knew how much he was loved by the other. They went on guys-only Super Bowl trips to Las Vegas, celebrating craps wins with Jameson whiskey and cigars. When Alex turned 18 and wanted to get a tattoo, Tom got one too, even though he admitted the experience left him a little pale and sweaty.
"There were no unspoken words," said Sullivan.
He laughs easily when remembering his son. He's drawn comfort over the past year from talking about Alex, and the lesson he had learned: We must appreciate what we have.
He also has testified in favor of gun control laws at the state Capitol and went to the reopening of the Aurora movie theater, an event many other victims' families boycotted, including Alex's widow. His son loved going to the movies and the theater is part of the community — a place where people come together, where kids can ride to on their bikes.
Sullivan has been back to the theater about a half dozen times, sometimes watching movies in the revamped auditorium where his son was killed. He sits in the seat and row where he believes Alex was sitting and leaves an empty seat for him.
It hasn't always been easy. Each Friday and the 20th of each month have been a reminder of loss. His wife Terry, a school bus driver, didn't want summer vacation to come even as the children around her grew more excited.
"Some days we're not moving forward, some days we're just making it through," he said.
July 20 has been a day Tom Sullivan has celebrated his whole life — his mother's birthday, and then Alex's. This year, he'll probably participate in some of the public events marking the event, though he said he won't be going for his own sake. He wants to show people that he's OK — and that they, too, can try to go back to normal life.
And he'll probably have some Jameson and cigars, to remember Alex.
When he learned that Alex was gone, Tom cried out and embraced his wife and daughter — a moment captured in a photo that ran on dozens of newspaper front pages and websites.
Weeping in the parking lot, Sullivan realized he had no regrets about his relationship with his son. Each knew how much he was loved by the other. They went on guys-only Super Bowl trips to Las Vegas, celebrating craps wins with Jameson whiskey and cigars. When Alex turned 18 and wanted to get a tattoo, Tom got one too, even though he admitted the experience left him a little pale and sweaty.
"There were no unspoken words," said Sullivan.
He laughs easily when remembering his son. He's drawn comfort over the past year from talking about Alex, and the lesson he had learned: We must appreciate what we have.
He also has testified in favor of gun control laws at the state Capitol and went to the reopening of the Aurora movie theater, an event many other victims' families boycotted, including Alex's widow. His son loved going to the movies and the theater is part of the community — a place where people come together, where kids can ride to on their bikes.
Sullivan has been back to the theater about a half dozen times, sometimes watching movies in the revamped auditorium where his son was killed. He sits in the seat and row where he believes Alex was sitting and leaves an empty seat for him.
It hasn't always been easy. Each Friday and the 20th of each month have been a reminder of loss. His wife Terry, a school bus driver, didn't want summer vacation to come even as the children around her grew more excited.
"Some days we're not moving forward, some days we're just making it through," he said.
July 20 has been a day Tom Sullivan has celebrated his whole life — his mother's birthday, and then Alex's. This year, he'll probably participate in some of the public events marking the event, though he said he won't be going for his own sake. He wants to show people that he's OK — and that they, too, can try to go back to normal life.
And he'll probably have some Jameson and cigars, to remember Alex.
Posted by hamer at
18:21
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