| Pressure to send your child to a preschool is | | | | involve your child and teach what you know as |
| strong, but if something inside wonders if it is | | | | well as the basics of colors, ABCs, number |
| really best, listen to that gut feeling. Here is where | | | | concepts, and so on. |
| you should look logically at the situation. | | | | Art projects and science experiments at this age |
| Kindergartens were begun to prepare children for | | | | can be fun to do in the kitchen with a small group |
| first grade. Fine. Then preschools were started | | | | of friends followed by play time afterwords and a |
| because many women worked outside the home | | | | snack. Natural learning and exploring the world as |
| and needed child care but also this has been | | | | a family will keep your stress level down. Children |
| purported to prepare children for kindergarten. If | | | | who maintian consistent adult relationships and |
| this logic follows, then no parent is even qualified | | | | predictable routines will be less prone to |
| to "prepare" a toddler for preschool. | | | | stress-induced disorders such as ADHD and the |
| Children do not "need" to be around other children | | | | like. |
| constantly. Carefully choose the playmates and | | | | Keep the television and computer time to nil at |
| amounts of time your child spends with peers. | | | | this age. So many books have been written on |
| Good parents are the best teachers and role | | | | this subject. Check these out at the library: Failure |
| models at this age. A room full of two-year-olds | | | | to Connect: How Computers Affect Children's |
| teaching each other how to act like two-year-olds | | | | Minds and What We Can Do About It by Jane |
| is the way to train a child toward adulthood. Do | | | | Healy, Endangered Minds:Why Children Don't Think |
| you want your child acting more like a child or | | | | and What We Can Do About It by Jame Healy, |
| moving toward acting and behaving like an adult? | | | | The Dumbest Generation:How the Digital Age |
| The thinking that the purpose of childhood is to | | | | Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our |
| absorb peer influence like a sponge denigrates the | | | | Futureby Mark Bauerlain. What to do instead? |
| role of the parent. | | | | Anything that engages your child in activity that |
| Make your home a loving, warm place. Teach | | | | encourages movement of large muscles or |
| your child good habits and read quality books, not | | | | reading, thinking, and writing. |
| watered down twaddle with language, characters | | | | Make library trips a weekly event. Start with |
| and plots that will bore both of you . Get out of | | | | Caldecott Award books and don't forget to check |
| the house and be with other people of all ages | | | | out preschool arts and crafts books. With these in |
| and take time for field trips. Siblings can learn to | | | | hand you will have the beginning tools to be your |
| get along with one another and can be trained to | | | | child's best preschool teacher, and fun-loving mom. |
| help around the house. We have too many | | | | After a few weeks, you'll be giving your friends |
| helpless people already. Whatever you do you can | | | | advice. |