Feeder Preschools

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Feeder Preschools

Well that settles that. Ya know it's getting pretty late...1:37 AM according to my Windows System Tray clock. I gotta take a nice shower and get to bed. Try check out my post in the Walgreen's thread!

Good night

[acousticlady]

Re: Feeder Preschools

OK - I need to throw in my two cents in on this issue from the other side of the coin. As a long time faculty member at one of the more prestigious colleges, it has been our observation that the kids coming into college today are much, much more frantic about grades and extracurricular activities. At the same time they are less prepared academically and emotionally. There seems to be a trend among parents to get their kids into the best preschools, elementary schools and on up through high school to obtain that golden ring - getting into a "good" college.

Anyone who has the desire to learn can into a "good" college. The students who have struggled at some point in their lives tend to do much better in college than the ones who were smothered though life. I just lost a freshman who was top in his class at one of the very best private schools. He was completely unprepared for college. Dropped out after two months.

Kids need to have a healthy outlook on life. They also need to be kids. The structure that is imposed upon them early on is harder to undo when they get to college. We spend half our time trying to undo the structured learning imposed upon them in K-12. How many of you had to learn to think in a new way in college? How many of you were told by professors to leave your high school way of thinking behind?

Going back to the topic at hand - if you want to give your children the very best step up, invest in ther education on a personal level. Teach them to read yourselves. Take them places you know very little about and learn about them together. Give them a love of learning and education by setting the example yourselves. A child will love to learn if the parents love to learn.

[rosiev]

Re: Feeder Preschools

I certainly didn't mean for such a heated debate to ensue after a post. However, I am thankful to everyone for their inputs about what might be a suggested good route to take in terms of how to tackle the entire private school entrance dilemma. BTW, has anyone anything to say about the Cole Academy - if they are a feeder to school? I know this is a repeat, but I'm very much considering this school as it is close to work and has a wonderful building.

BTW, I agree that it is imperative to teach a child to enjoy learning rather than imposing learning as a chore. They are both, but I noticed a lot of parents certainly make it seem like it is a chore and kids get turned off and go wild in college because they had never really developed a passion for learning in the first place.

[1stwahine]

Re: Feeder Preschools

I know this is a repeat, but I'm very much considering this school as it is close to work and has a wonderful building.

After all dat you let us know you considering the school cause it's "close to work and has a wonderful building"?!

tOO FUNNY.

Tickle me PURPLE!

Auntie Lynn

[rosiev]

Re: Feeder Preschools

No- that was one of the reasons I was considering it, but those are not the only factors I am considering when deciding which school to put my child in - you sound like a combative person who needs to listen instead of being patronizing - that is not helpful.

[pzarquon]

Re: Feeder Preschools

That's Aunty Pupule for ya.

Hell, "on the way to work" was a primary consideration for my own preschool care when I was still in diapers. And finding a preschool in our neighborhood was a blessing with our first child.

I have no doubt there were superior facilities with top notch academics and GMAT tutoring for toddlers in Kailua somewhere, but frankly, it's not worth the drive. (We loved Voyager Charter School, but knew that spending two hours a day in traffic wasn't worth it, either.) Maybe my kids will sue me when they don't get into Princeton, but I'll live.

I was mostly looking for a place I could afford, that would let me pick up our kid after 4 p.m. (I mean, really!), and didn't have pint-size skeletons strewn about. We actually paid through the nose for Montessori, and hated it. We then nabbed a bargain at Kamaaina Kids, and loved it.

I wouldn't recommend the Cole Academy, personally. But they get a lot of mileage out of their Mercedes-class reputation.

[1stwahine]

Re: Feeder Preschools

No-you sound like a combative person who needs to listen instead of being patronizing - that is not helpful.

Well, uh...combative? Me?

[For the keiki]

Re: Feeder Preschools

As it relates to Rosie's questions about Cole Academy, I work at one of the campuses and my child attends, so of course I'm biased.

I've been pleased working at Cole and having my child there. It has a strong academic component vs. other more strictly play-based schools, but we still make it fun while learning.

Children have graduated onto Punahou, Iolani, MidPac, Hanahauoli, Island Pacific Academy, etc... also onto lots of other great schools, too.

Here's are excerpts of something posted previously in another thread:

Method: Whole-child development curriculum focused on preparation for kindergarten -- academics, social/emotional development, artistic and creative expression.

Teachers: Staff-child ratios as low as 1-to-3, and no higher than 1-to-8 for very oldest class (the "junior kindergarteners"). [I haven't worked in any other school with as much staffing relative to the number of children.]

Price/Value: Tuition is on the high side, but it covers very high teacher wages compared to the industry (so we have great teachers -- several masters degrees and even doctorate), ample materials, and extensive service hours (6 am-6 pm depending on the campus).

We really strive to respond to our families needs, and that includes when we can do better. For instance, when one of our other campuses opened there were some growing pains, but everyone pulled together to get on track and respond to parents' suggestions.

Several of us have our own kids enrolled, and the owners have 2 keiki at Cole -- we care about it being the best place it can be, for learning and for happiness.

There are so many great schools out there -- just find the place you and your child feel most comfortable!

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Feeder Preschools

As it relates to Rosie's questions about Cole Academy, I work at one of the campuses and my child attends, so of course I'm biased.

I've been pleased working at Cole and having my child there. It has a strong academic component vs. other more strictly play-based schools, but we still make it fun while learning.

There are so many great schools out there -- just find the place you and your child feel most comfortable!

Regarding whole child development curricullum, I do feel that at the pre K age focus should be on play-base as the child needs to discover their learning potential. Play-base allows for that. Too strong an emphasis on academics at that age can actually be a deterrant to early childhood brain development as the brain develops the ability to only repeat what is said instead of trying to develop stratagies of learning.

Remember emergent curricullum doesn't focus on any one component of brain development as described in the whole-child concept so why focus the Pre-K program on academics.

Emergent curricullum does show that a child's brain development is wide spread and that each individual child will learn differently up to around age 8 or grade 3. That's why play-based learning is better suited for that age group. Emphasis on academics is the focus at grade 4 because the brain is better suited to handle the more complex issues of numerical computation because it has had the chance to develop itself in a more creative instead of rote way. This is how the brain works.

Not to take away from the Cole Academy and in it's defense there are kids who's brain development will allow for academic study at the pre-K age because their brains were suited for that kind of curricullum. But for the greater percentage of children from the infant/toddler age to grade 3, it is important to determine how that child's brain is perceiving the world around them as it is their only source of external stimuli that is molding them.

Play-based activities allow for the child to make those determinations by discovering their abilities and limitations thru various activities. An observant teacher will see those individual perceptions and can adjust for each child in helping that child develop their own cognative thinking processes without the intimidation of structured learning.

[rosiev]

Re: Feeder Preschools

Thank you Craig and Keiki, this is wonderful because both of your kids attend both these institutions. What is the waitlist like for both schools - does anyone have a clue? I imagine it is close to impossible. However, I am getting so much from this that I really appreciate all of everyone's inputs. It's so helpful and I have to say, the people of Hawaii rock!!!

[rosiev]

Re: Feeder Preschools

Craig,
I don't happen to know of any preschools that are very militant with their curriculums and I agree that it is important that childrens are encouraged rather than forced into learning. I liked visiting the Early School and was impressed with the caring quality of the instructors, however like I said earlier, I'll probably see hogs fly over the ocean than see my child get into Early School since the wait list is soooo long.

[jkpescador]

Re: Feeder Preschools

Yes. One of the things you need to remember to do is apply early. Some wait lists maybe one year. I thought people were joking when we told them our son was 2 and they would ask so where is he going to preschool. We started looking after that. Some school also have application fees so that may add up. I guess in some sense it's like college and they want the fee to see that the parent's are committed. I also guess when you receive a lot of applications it would take a lot of time and paperwork to go through them all. A couple preschools wanted referrals from people we knew that had children attending or previously attended the school.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Feeder Preschools

Wait lists can be realllly long. For most (including The Early School) if you want your child in one year prior to the start of Kindergarden then you should apply when your chld is around 3-years old.

If you want your child as a 3-year old then start applying as soon as they can walk, but beware that lots of pre-schools require the child be almost potty trained. Wait lists can take around an entire year and for the better preschools almost 2-years. Each Pre-school director can tell you how long the wait list can be.

But don't feel discouraged if the wait list is too unbearable as kids drop out during the course of the programs and suddenly there's an opening within weeks or months of applying. It happens.

And Rosiev it's not that schools are anal about their curricullum but one thing emergent curricullum or play-based learning centers expound upon is letting the child develop their brains at their pace so learning in general isn't so intimidating when they are required to hit the academic books.

Whole-child development rarely focuses on academics but more so on play because that's the concept of whole-child development. The brain decides what it wants to learn first and prioritizes each concept in an order it can understand.

If you try to make a child learn numbers that child must learn sequences first. Sequencing is derived after a child learns shapes and colors. But if you take that learning out of step, the child learns to simply repeat the numbers without understanding how those numbers relate to sequences, shapes or values. They can count to ten but will be unable to count backwards from ten to 1 or start in the middle and count up or down from that point.

But by seeing a selection of shapes they can catagorize them in groups. By seeing a sequence they can catagorize things in a particular order. Once they can see these patterns and sequences, numerical computation become natural. Take these learning steps out of the loop and math becomes difficult.

Play-based learning allows the child to see sequencing thru the use of building blocks. Finger-painting allows the child to see patterns and colors.

These tools of learning allow the child to develop a sense or order that prepares them for the more intricate levels of computation later in life.

In other words, let kids be kids, academics will kick in when the brain says it's ready. Emergent curricullum observations have pretty much concluded that the inclusion of academics too early shuts down the brain's ability to fine tune it's network of neurons because the brain isn't stimulated by numbers, it's stimulated by activity. And when you don't stimulate the brain in that small window of opportunity (age birth to 5) it slows the learning process.

This small window is extremely important if you want to take advantage of an opportunity to let the brain do it's job. This is why early childhood education is vital. The brain is an efficient learning device but if you don't feed it the right stimulus at the right time, the child will have a harder time learning (anything) later in life.

This is why music is so vital and not just any music, but classical music which incorporates rhythm and sequence and changes in pitch. These are basic learning tools that a child at any age can pick up subconciously.

One thing about musicians in general is that most of our leaders have mastered some kind of musical instrument during their formative years. That's something to consider.

[rosiev]

Re: Feeder Preschools

That's great Craig, but my child is still on the bottom of the list despite having applied to the Early School more than a year in advance. This was for the 2 year old program and well, to put it simply, this bites the big one.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Feeder Preschools

You may want to consider Kawaiahao as well. I had good results getting my 3-year old in at that school on short notice. But keep your hopes up, TES had an opening for my 3-year old this past Fall when one kid dropped out. But by then the decision to bring him back to the Big Island was made when my wife was able to relocate her job to Hilo, so we declined the invite, which was really really really too bad because I really wanted him to go to TES.

Not too many preschools offer an infant/toddler program such as TES but you should have a better chance when your child hits 3.

Good luck!