I agree that its important but i would certainly argue that its not worth 20k a year. Some parents seem to think if you can start learning things earlier you have some kind of advantage that carries for the rest of your life. You most certainly don’t.

I learned to read early, because my mom loved reading to me and therefore I loved reading, but let me tell you nothing I read at 5 shaped my world view or prepared me for complex thought. Maybe the moral implications and the deeper philosophical and sociological aspects of Dick and Jane books just escaped me. I’m being snarky, I understand the importance of childrens literature and that good childrens lit is packed with morals and lessons. My point is learning that being a star bellied sneetch isn’t important 4 months earlier does not help make you a genius, and you can learn the lesson just as well if someone reads it to you.

Just because you talk 2 months earlier than average and you read a year earlier that average and blah blah blah your way ahead of the curve at age 4-6 doesn’t mean when your 18 your gonna still be that ahead of the curve. Your still just as likely to get stumped when you first see algebra or complex logic or have to deal with reading comprehension of complex material. Just because your toddler is ahead of the curve doesn’t mean he won’t turn out to be stupid when hes 12 and just because you start average doesn’t mean you wont end up an Einstein (i.e. Einstein). [see advanced classes all through grade school and i can never remember how the punctuation works with parenthesis, i know it goes inside quotes…]

As the AC above says pre-school should be about learning to learn and learning to love it. Its about getting used to being in an academic environment, following rules/respecting authority, following a schedule, learning to share and socialize. Above all it should be fun, if you are pressuring, pushing and expecting too much from a 4 year old how long until they hate school, or fear it? Seriously these are the kids that end up killing themselves during finals week at college. Kids should have fun, learn through play, and a love for learning should be fostered.

I will certainly spend some time and effort finding the right preschool for my child because I agree its important. However right will have nothing to do advanced curriculum, 2 year waiting lists, and pressure to get into a ivy league school. I certainly won’t be paying the cost of a year of public college for a 4 year olds education, teaching the dumbest, non-disabled, college age student shouldn’t cost the same as teaching the worlds smartest 4 year old. They are fucking 4,( I love when people say they have the smartest 2-4 year old, if I can make them think I just stole their nose they aren’t quite geniuses yet) at that age any deviation from normal can not be guaranteed to continue. Also you shouldn’t rely on pre-school to make your kids develop at an above average rate that all starts at home years before pre-school. Its called spending time with them and reading to them, playing with them, talking with them and treating them like they are smarter then they can be but not getting mad because they are not.

Also I love the schools that make the big push to teach little kids other languages. After that kid “graduates” pre-school if their parents don’t speak the language how long do you think they will hold onto it. You think some 5 year old is gonna remember how to speak French if no one ever speaks to them in French. I don’t remember being 5 let alone retain knowledge from then that I never had to use again until high school. I know someone will say “but what if they do speak that foreign language” then the child would have learned that at home the same way French kids do or all the little Mexican kids in my neighborhood who can translate for their parents. Unless all these children of immigrants are going to super expensive pre-schools….hmmm…

/endrant

sorry for the long posts the last couple days, works slow