Preschool Pains

I've been meaning to post about this for a long time, but I hate how riled up, mad, and sad I get when I think about it. Ok, here goes:

Last March Kit's Prechool teacher suggested that we start thinking about the 11-12 year registrations. She mentioned that another teacher was combining with her and was going to teach a continuation of where Kit would end that year. Meaning the new teacher would pick up where the old one left off. Sounded good, so I contacted the lady and we set up a meeting where Kit and I could see the classroom, meet the teacher, and do an assessment for Kit to see where she is at.

The classroom was nicely done. She had turned her basement into a preschool. There were kids art nicely displayed on the walls. The alphabet, shapes, and colors displayed where they would be seen regularly. I was impressed. The teacher seemed compitent. She said she was going to teach 3 different classes of four to five year olds with about eight to ten kids per class; One hard core Kindergarten prep class, and two regular paced classes. Sounded good to me. Kit had only been in Preschool since January, so she was going on four when she was assessed in May. So I figured the regular paced class would be great. Well, being as shy as she is, and I could tell she was uncomfortable in this new place and this lady asking her to do these things, she shut down, and refused to cooperate. When asked to point to a color (since she wouldn't tell her the color) Kit just pointed wherever. I could tell she was doing it, but you can't tell the teacher, no she knows that, she just doesn't care, and doesn't want to do it right now. Whatever. The teacher came to the same conclusion as me, the regular class would work fine. So she asked which class time would work better mornings, or afternoons. I told her mornings. She said the class would be on Mondays Tuesdays, and Thursdays. I thought those were weird days, but she explained that the school district schedule for days off, which she follows, has more fridays off than anything, so this way the kids get more class time. So she said she'd put it in the notes, and contact us when it was closer to the school year.


I was feeling pretty good. I had gotten Kit into one of the more popular Preschools. Everyone I talked to who had a kid in a previous class loved her and their kid loved her.

End of line.....

Yea, I got an email telling us Kit was assigned to the MWF class from 12:45 to 2:15. (so much for no friday classes or a morning slot), and about the open house so we could re-meet the teacher, and find out who is in her class, etc. So we show up and she has redecorated the rooms to a jungle theme. There are lions, monkeys, elephants, giraffes, etc. all over the walls. But no alphabet. Nope, nowhere. The list of classroom rules was still there, but that was about it. She said she had the animals on the walls so she didn't have to put the kids papers on the walls to have them not bare. um? you don't want to display your student's work anymore? ok, perhaps there's a reason for that. In case you didn't know Brent and I are chronically early for everything, so, yea we were five minutes early for the open house, but she was SO not ready. The first thing she said after greeting us was that she forgot to print off the class lists so we could see who was in her class Wasn't that one of the points of going? I asked her about the day change, and she said that she was going to have another teacher work with her and have larger classes, but she wrecked her car and now with the car payment she can't afford to pay a helper for the full time so she had to add more class times. But Mondays are still going to be group days.


Ok, this is getting long, here's all the bombs that went off
Sept
Wed was the first day, That's when I found out that she put Kit in a class full of three year olds and three four year olds. So much for only having 4 and up!!! But the other classes were full too, with a wait list, so no chance of transfer there.

By the next Tuesday she decided the 3 year olds can't handle the group time, and thus ends all monday classes for Kit's class, drops tuition by $5 and adds 30 min on to the other two days. Okaaayyyy....?!

Then called and canceled class the night before to get ready for her Scout Jamboree that weekend. Yup, canceled the class, she couldn't find a sub that was available, so she used a sickday (which she held two extra classes for before the real school year) due to lack of planning in other parts of her lives. I'm not belittling church callings or anything, but this is her Job, her business, I am trusting her to put effort into teaching my child so she can be ready for Kindergarten. Not as impressed.

They did a project in the "my body" segment. (um, my kid knows all her body parts thanks) They did big cut outs of their body outlines, and then were going to paint them. We even got the email to have our kids wear paint clothes on a specific day, but when Kit got home I asked her if she got to paint, she sighed, hung her head, and said "no" WHAT?! after all that. Well two weeks later she gives us the cut-outs to take home. Kits has a bunch of different colors on the top where the shirt neck would be, then the rest of the shirt is colored in long scribbles blue, and the skirt green. I started priasing Kit for her great coloring, thinking that she did the long strokes. She told me no, her teacher had colored the rest of it. I was PISSED!!!! I"m sorry but you don't make a big deal of a project to the kids and parents then not only not let them do what you say they are, but you don't let them do it at all?? You stand over them and finish it for them? Gee I guess Kit couldn't take it home and finish coloring it over the weekend?? ARG!

October

Got the calendar of the classes' schedule: Two canceled fridays due to Fall Break and Teacher's UEA. One canceled Wed. due to a fieldtrip the Tueday before.

Thursday night at 8:30 pm she calls asking if I got her email about class. I told her no, that I don't regularly check my email. She told me that he father was in town for the first time in three years, and she is taking off the next day to see him. She arranged a sub, but the sub couldn't come at the appointed time, so for that day only she was changing that days class to 9:30am to noon!!! Good thing I didn't have to be at work or anything. Gee thanks for the notice. What really pissed me off was that she KNEW before that she wanted the time off. She had already canceled the Thursday classes, but didn't send us an email until 3pm on Thursday! That was after the other classes would have been out, but they were canceled on Wed. why not ours??!!!! So make that Three skewed Fridays!

Can you tell why I was getting frustrated with the class? Kit loved the teacher and some of her classmates and looked forward to class, but she had gotten her shirt yanked and her finger cut by a boy who wouldn't share a toy!! I asked Kit if she told her teacher, she said no. I asked the teacher about the cut finger, and she just looked at me. The teacher had no idea what was going on with the students.

The Fieldtrip was to Cornbellys at Thanksgiving point. Now, I'm neurotic. I did not like the fact that someone I don't know was going to drive my kid 30 minutes each way through the I-15 Core consturction death trap.(seriously, if you haven't seen it, it's BAD. Think of the road work they did for the Olympics, yea, that's about it, but instead of closing random parts of the freeway, they slapped down add ons and weave you like a slolm through the construction, with random split lanes and lane closures. Yea, sooo not letting anyone else drive that with my child both ways. But all the chaperone spots were filled, plus I babysit on Tuesdays so I couldn't have gone anyway. I told her Kit wasn't going when she called to remind me of the drop-off spot, and she seemed offended, but didn't wait to hear my reasons. Whatever. I did tell her that we were planning on going to cornbellys (it's a corn maze/ fall festival thing they do each October at Thanksgiving point) as a family later anyway.

So, I was looking at the weekly emails and the homework was things like: Count the windows in your house. Pair things that are related like socks, blocks, colors, etc. Um, yea. I really thought Kit was in the wrong class. I started talking to moms I knew with kids in the MTTH classes, and they only had one cancelation/change and that was the father visit. Plus, Kit was doing the same schtick as the previous year. So, I asked if Kit could go into the other class. The teacher gave a half hearted comment that yea, Kit might be smarter than she showed, but she was just shy. Then she said that Kit finished the worksheets well before the other kids, and ended up waiting for the other kids to finish. WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME THIS! DONT YOU THINK THAT'S A CLUE THAT SHE'S IN THE WRONG CLASS?? The other classes already had 12 kids. She said she had one dual enrolled kid that didn't participate in all the stuff in the afternoons, so she might be able handle Kit in that class. . . . . . . . MIGHT!!!! If you wanted 13 kids in your class you would have had that many to start with.That was so unprofessional. She should have said that the other classes are full, but that she would keep an eye open for the next semester. Simple as that, but I was desperate. Kit was getting bored at school. and to her bored means she starts not liking it.   We agreed that Kit would start the next week in the other class. Then she pushed back the day Kit was going to go into the other class twice, and I gave up.   I got an email from the teacher during our correspondance of trying to rearrange things to see if Kit could transfer. The email said I had frequently questioned her teaching methods, she put 100% in to her teaching, and that it  "wouldn't hurt [her] feelings if [I] found another Preschool" it wouldn't what!!??? How was I suppoed to take that? As a polite "I don't want you anymore; you pain in the butt," or as an "I appreciate that you are trying to stay with me, but I don't have the ability to put Kit in the other class right now, so if you think it best, I understand if you seek out another preschool"   Two totally different meanings. So, yea, Brent went and talked to her, I was not in a, let's say "proper frame of politeness" to be at all civil to this woman. Good thing too, I guess she hates me. (Which really botherd me. I was just trying to find the best education for my child. I had no intention of hurting her feelings or degrading her in any way) Brent had a hard time keeping his cool. I guess he made her "feel threatened"  hehehe good! Beat some sense into that woman. He had asked her if she was going to start having consistancy in her schedule and in how she managed her class. She  said she couldn't promise that. So we decided that for 75 bucks a month we could have little worksheets and activities for Kit to do at home, which was pretty much all she did in class; get read stories, do worksheets, have a snack and recess. She didn't even do fun activities, like make decorations for Halloween, or anything the only thing Kit brought home were worksheets, and the body cut-out the teacher finished. The teacher was obviously too far in over her head from the start. She should have dropped students the moment she found out that she couldn't have a helper. Instead she went for quantity and not quality. Yea, guess what her new car was. A NEW car Hybrid fancy schmancy thing-a-ma-jig! I don't remember exactly what make and model, but the loan was enough that 24 kids paying $90 a month and 10 kids paying $75 were needed to pay the bills. Sheesh.


Anyway Kit's now home-preschooled. Her face when I told her that she wasn't going back broke my heart. But it was turning into me paying $75 for her to get some "no mom time" for 6 hours a week. Actually it was more than that. There was a great preschool for $110 that was everyday for 3 hours, but it was in Mapleton, and I watch kids T and Th, and I don't have the room in my truck for four kids to fit safely. So much for that. Then the other one I was reccommended is $125 a month for 5 hours a week. NOT WORTH IT.

I am happy to say that Kit is learning exponentially with our little scessions. I'm not good at the songs and such. But I can read her stories, and we can play with friends, and we learn together and it's bonded us in a way I never new. I love seeing her excited to learn. I love praising her success. I guess Kit needed a more "right brained" teacher.  Or, in other words Kit is a visual/ spatial learner, and so am I; so I can manipulate the method to our understanding.

For those who can't keep them apart:

Left vs. right
Linear reasoning^[7] and language functions such as grammar and vocabulary^[8] often are lateralized to the left hemisphere of the brain. Dyscalculia is a neurological syndrome associated with damage to the left temporo-parietal junction.^[9] This syndrome is associated with poor numeric manipulation, poor mental arithmetic skill, and the inability to either understand or apply mathematical concepts.^[10]
In contrast, prosodic language functions, such as intonation and accentuation, often are lateralized to the right hemisphere of the brain.^[11][12] The processing of visual and audiological stimuli, spatial manipulation, facial perception, and artistic ability seem to be functions of the right hemisphere. Depression is linked with a hyperactive right hemisphere, with evidence of selective involvement in "processing negative emotions, pessimistic thoughts and unconstructive thinking styles", as well as vigilance, arousal and self-reflection, and a relatively hypoactive left hemisphere, "specifically involved in processing pleasurable experiences" and "relatively more involved in decision-making processes".<sup>[

Here's the Link Fer:</sup>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralization_of_brain_function




I was going to apologize for the long blog, but nope. you could have stopped reading it of your own will. :) It is now two and a half hours since I started typing this blog. Sheesh! no wonder I don't do this that often.

Computer

So, we go this new computer. Our old one was....um.... dead. Yea, it was so old; (How old was it?) it was so old that a simple process caused the computer to send us a pop-up to say it was using high memory capacity. Yea, checking email, the fan would kick into high gear and "internet explorer is using high memory" would pop up. wow, how about opening any internet page..."internet explorer is using high memory." Fine I'll just play minesweeper..."minesweeper is using high memory." Ok, maybe not that bad. yea, um, so anyway Brent and I have been putting off getting a new computer because we're cheap. Yea, our last computer was refurbished and didn't even have a DVD reader. Meaning anytime we wanted to download a digital copy we had to boot up one of our old laptops (circa 2000- seriously Brent's old laptop runs on windows ME) hook it to the internet, let it read the digital copy disk, etc,. to download the file, which once you got to the actual downloading it took about 45 minutes. Then transfer that file to the main computer. Two hours after that the file would be transfered; we could reconnect the main computer to the internet, and Viola! it's as if we had a regular computer. So yea, we've been watching the Costco ads, and found a laptop that we liked. Do you remember when you had to give up stuff to have the convience of portability? Heh yea right (ok yea tablets and I-everythings have already proven that, but still WOW) This laptop is better than our old computer, even the screen is better, plus it not only has a DVD drive, but it can play Blu-ray! Wow! Not to mention wireless internet capabilities (yup, typing this on my bed, how awesome is that)(minus the cats jumping into my lap, which is where the keyboard is, or licking the screen, or eating the cord.... Did I mention I got 2 cats in June? I don't know if my cheap $25 Walmart Christmas tree is going to survive this year). Plus this computer came with Microsoft included, Not that crappy trial stuff, but "here, have the whole thing, and thanks for buying a Dell" Whish I have to say is going to be SWEET. The last computer had a dilapidated version of Office 2000 that tried to reinstall itself everytime I opened it, but the default was Office 7 but we didn't get more than the 60 day trial, so we couldn't touch any file that opened through Word until we saved it and then opened the file through office 2000. If we tried just opening the file (like clicking on the icon on the desktop,) it would try to use 07 grrr, pain. and no, I couldn't have just bought the 07 version because like I said before, we're cheap. THe other version worked just fine after you canceled the install. :) Yea, so long blog short. New computer nice. I might even blog now that the computer isn't in Tristan's room. He's a light sleeper, and so it really limited my computer time. Now I just have to wait and see if I'll keep my promise to myself that I'll pick back up my writing now that I'm not stuck on the uncomfortable piano bench (yea we had the old computer on the top of our electric piano).