"Do you have any idea what he loathes about it?" I think it is the lack of control over how the lesson plays out. But he seems happy to follow the agenda of the scripted Saxon Math lessons... I believe that having materials to hold and touch and control helps him to feel empowered in his learning, even while carrying out specific instructions. I may be talking myself into buying a movable alphabet...

My son will be five in June. In September, I tried Saxon Math K and the Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. The Saxon lessons were a hit (the calendar portion was not), and the OPG brought us both to tears. So we dropped it for awhile. This past week, I pulled out all the materials again after a lot of questions about how specific words are formed (the "what sound does this letter make" questions have already been asked, answered and internalized as far as I can tell). The Saxon Math, minus the torturous calendar, is the highlight of his day. Dictating stories, he loves. General talk about letters and sounds, fabulous. Even pencil skills have evolved from a chore to be avoided into a task worth doing in order to get the reward (a word on the page). He still loathes the OPG. How do I teach my child to read without the OPG??? He uses Starfall.com for games a bit. I really think that the issue is the (lack of) materials, not that he isn't ready to read or is allergic to phonics. In case it matters, we hope and plan to do a classical curriculum starting with Grade One. We are very "zen" about the whole kindergarten year, and don't need any firm structure - just a child who is literate when he wants to be literate, which was yesterday. ;)

"It isn't one small group of 4 year olds (and it isn't 4 yos playing dress up - it's adults orchestrating children) that's the problem." This is what bothers me. My kids do all kinds of hilarious cultural-hodepodge dressup and fantasy play, based on events and people they've heard about in books and on TV, and it would never occur to me to try to wave the PC wand over that. That kind of experimentation is sacrosanct. But in preschool, as curiculum, for the specific purpose of learning about history? I am a lot more fussy. If the teachers want to talk about Pilgrims and Indians, I want them to take some care to get the details right.

The board of directors met, and decided that No Jews Allowed was the policy they'd like to stick with. You'd think, what with the key role our people play in the Christian version of the End of Days, they'd like us to be well socialized and well educated so we can get on with the work of bringing about peace in the Middle East! :rant: (To be fair, this is the first time my children have been excluded from an educational/social opportunity here in Greenville because they are Jewish. I hope it will be the last.)

(Hi Kari! We're in SC as well, and my "baby" brother is in Boot Camp right now too!)

My ds is 4.5 and will still have accidents when engrossed in an activity or a TV show. I've gone through periods where it made me crazy-angry and periods where it didn't - I don't know why my feelings fluctuate so much on this issue! His accidents are almost never in public these days, which lets me know that he has control (and some inkling of decorum developing), so I think that's why I am not stressing too much on it right now. I do agree with a PP that a little kid's urge to go becomes overpowering very quickly, and I think that means we have to train and guide them to drop everything and go at the first sensation. So my ds is always punished for accidents, even if I'm not angered or deeply inconvenienced by them, because I need to impress upon him that using the toilet is a non-negotiable rule of the house. Typically, he loses the toy he was playing with or show he was watching for some period of time. I explain it as "if this toy/show takes so much of your attention that you can't remember to use the potty, then it's not good for you to have it right now. You can try agin later to play with / watch it without forgetting about the potty." I'm not a martinet, I swear! But I do think that at this age, a typically developing child needs to develop a deep and permanent inhibition against wetting or soiling themselves. It will serve them well throughout life.

I just emailed Suzanne, thanks again for you help!

Thanks for the info, Laura! Yes, I'd appreciate it if you'd put me in touch with the director. We've had lots of positive experiences with playgroups, etc. where the Christian worldview dominates, and have generally felt accepted and included - and your program website is very enticing! But obviously we wouldn't want to go where we weren't wanted.

Ugh, a statement of faith! Do you think that means Jews are unwelcome, or just that Jewish families would have to put up with some Christian references and put them in context for our child later at home? Oh, BTW, hi! I'm Smithie (Lydia), just started down this path but I'm pretty sure that we'll be doing Classical homeschooling (as opposed to another homeschool method) for kidnergarten next year. I run a secular, multiage homeschool coop that meets every Wednesday. Most of the kids are younger, but we have a lot of space to spread out and really try to gear our activities to all levels! Email me at lydia.currie@gmail.com if you'd like to be added to the mailing list!