01/12/2018
Dr. Laura:
Recently, my best friend and I were talking about our children and all the funny things they have said and done. She was a room “helper” at my son’s kindergarten, and when the teacher asked the students where they had gone to pre-school, my son stated proudly that he was a “pre-school dropout!”
When my son was three, I signed him up for preschool, but a few months later, he asked if he could quit. So I said we could have our own fun preschool at home. I recreated my favorite TV show of the 1960s – “Romper Room”-- in our dining room. I had toys in baskets, a hook for stick horses, picture books on shelves, an art area and a felt weatherboard. It was a cool playroom that looked like preschool. We read stories together, drew pictures together, had stuffed animals as “schoolmates” and we even had a pretend preschool “play.” Sometimes we’d go out to a duck pond and watch the ducks as we ate our packed lunches. This was one of the best memories for both of us, and pretend preschool was a time when he didn’t have to share his mom or anything with anyone.
As a young adult, he’s a great student, funny, happy, charmingly assertive, talented, chivalrous, and well-liked by many. Sorry, pre-school advocates, but there goes your theory about how preschool improves socialization and allows your child to get ahead earlier. Many years later, I’m still proud of my pre-school dropout!
Liz
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