parenting

It's hardly news, but managing childcare is a challenge in Westwood or anywhere. The Early Childhood Office provides many resources including the Resource Directory (latest hardcopy version available at Main Library) which provides a starting point for researching options...but ultimately, every family is going to have their own requirements and will have to navigate the system as best they can.

When we first moved to Westwood, I worked in Boston and my wife raised our two children...then we had our third. We figured out the whole preschool lottery application process and had good experiences with St. John's Nursery, Dedham Community House, and Mothers' Morning Out. But our needs changed and we now find ourselves evaluating full-time options including Knowledge Beginnings and Next Generation Children's Center.

I'm not going to post "reviews" here but I'm going to start a weekly item I'll call "Wednesday's Parent," where I'll share a tip or two related to resources for families. I'm sure one could do an entire blog on that (and many people have) but I'd like to tag things that are specifically relevant and useful to Westwood. Feel free to send me suggestions...

Having just started my daughter in Kindergarten at Hanlon, and walking my son to his second year at MMO, I am reminded of how, a few years ago, we navigated the new parent choice matrix of preschool. The town website has a link to the Westwood Early Childhood Resource Directory which lists all the programs. I wish I had the time to develop a guide to the process but in general, it begins now if you have a child who will be old enough to start next Fall. There are lotteries at each program, but it is not "competitive" in the sense that the preschools will evaluate your child against other children--it's just that there are a limited number of spaces and siblings will usually take priority.

I wish the schools had a coordinated application process...I know we stressed about the different deadlines and timings--what if we did not get into this program, etc.--but in the end, I believe all the programs are great and it is more a question of convenience. My daughter LOVED her time at St. John's and then we consolidated her and her brother at MMO the next year which they also loved.

There is a provocative article in the Boston Globe about Pressure-cooker kindergarten, that describes the frustration of educators who feel mandated standards and testing are forcing them to make early childhood education a creativity-killing exercise for our kids. Everything I have seen to date with respect to Westwood leads me to believe this is NOT the case here. There is some talk about whether the kids are "ready" or not...and some parents will hold their kids back a year, especially boys with summer birthdays. But that is a whole different world from the insane situations described in some of the "college-prep" kindergartens.

Here's what everyone's been waiting for...

http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/news/x1624774098/Full-day-kindergarten-starts-this-fall

This week's Hometown Weekly has a short column I wrote with some questions and information about the proposed changes to be presented to the school board on Thursday, February 26. I mention a number of resources that I link to below:

• Westwood Schools Web Site - including links to the Full Day K FAQ
• School Committee information - calendar of meetings, meeting agendas, meeting minutes. Unfortunately, the minutes have not been updated since the Jan 15 summary prior to discussion of Full Day K.
• Email Listserv - sign up to be emailed with meeting notices, minutes, etc.
• Early Childhood Program - I spoke with Carol Craig-O'Brian today and learned a great deal more than is published on the website--see below.
• Education411

Today I had the opportunity to attend a "Parent Discussion Meeting on School Readiness" where Peggy Scott, Principal at Martha Jones Elementary School, and Carol Craig-O'Brian from the Early Childhood Office, described what Kindergarten is really like and what "readiness" means. I highly recommend any parent who has questions attend the next session on Wednesday, February 25 at 9:30am at the Islington Community Center (MMO). If you cannot attend that session and are concerned about "readiness" you should call the Principal of your elementary school.

I did not identify myself as "media" and I won't quote anyone here, but I hope relating some of this information will be helpful.

Many parents received a letter on Saturday announcing Superintendent Antonucci's recommendation to move Westwood to a program whereby kindergartners would follow the normal elementary schedule on all days except Wednesday. Wednesday would always be a half-day.

This topic has been discussed here on WestwoodBlog before but now that a formal proposal has been announced, I'd like to share some thoughts and see what others think.

First of all, the program is optional--but I believe everyone in Westwood takes the option. The morning program is free of charge, but the extended program costs $1200/child. This proposal further extends the existing program to a full day and does not add any cost to parents. Also, it is worth noting that kindergarten itself is optional in Massachusetts--if you don't want to send your kids to any program, you can start them off in first grade.

Secondly, and news to me until my wife told me about what a huge topic this is among moms of 4-year olds, parents can elect to "hold out" their kids if they feel the child is not ready for kindergarten. This explains why there can be 6-year olds in class with 5-year olds. I believe there is some concern that extending the program might increase the number of kids who are held out, resulting in more of an age mix, but mostly, this concerns kids who were born in the summer and are close to the cut off age.

The letter we received detailed a series of activities over the past year to develop this proposal. It appears that most of the communication was through the school system...since we are not in the system yet, none of this communication reached us. It would have been helpful to send out letters to parents of future kindergartners in addition to parents of school age children. But the process now provides for feedback and it is more likely everyone will be focused on the issue now that a decision is imminent: Superintendent Antonucci presents his formal recommendation to the School Committee on Thursday, February 26, at 7:30pm in the High School Little Theater.

I like the idea of a full-day program in general and am optimistic that it could provide a comfortable pace for kids with more time and less pressure to get through required material. I read the Full Day Kindergarten: School Committee Presentation posted on the town website, but the presentation is mostly bullet points without the context of an in-person meeting.

One thing I believe would be helpful in this discussion is a "before and after" document that outlines a typical day for the kids. I am hoping more time means more play. But I don't really know what the kids do right now and what is necessary to get them ready for first grade. When our daughter Sharon was at St. Johns Nursery last year, I remember going to a Parent's Night where director Mal Tennihan gave a presentation that both reassured me that the kids were not in some kind of learning boot camp for overachieving parents, but that there was a solid plan behind the activities the kids were doing designed to help them develop social and attention skills to be ready for a more formal environment. I think more time has the potential to allow a more natural pace and less pressure and I'd like to see what that means for the kids so I have something to compare against.

This post ran earlier this year, but over the past few days, there has been more information posted in the comments. I'm promoting this back to the front page so others can find this information...

I have mixed feeling about the article in the Globe [May 25, 2008] about the state's initiative to promote full-day kindergarten. On the one hand it seems a bit lame that you only get a short program that everyone extends an hour anyway...but I can't imagine wanting to keep 5-year olds in a day long teaching class. It would be a little more convenient for us to have a longer session for our daughter next year, but I'm not expecting kindergarten to be "teaching" much anyway. It should be fun and an opportunity for the kids to develop social skills, not a drill to teach them "material" they "need" to prepare for school. I think the thing they need the most is the ability to sit through class without being bored out of their brains and acting up. I never completely mastered that skill myself. Hopefully school has changed in a good way since I was a kid.

Westwood’s first annual Pan-Mass Challenge Kids Ride is set for Sunday, June 8 (rain or shine) at the Martha Jones School (9:00-11:30 A.M.). The 1-mile kid’s route will be closed to traffic; veteran PMC riders will be out to guide the big kids through the 6-mile course; and face painters, bike decorators, a DJ and moon-bounce are ready to greet the tyke riders.

The mission of the ride is to give our kids a chance to make a real difference in the fight against cancer, while enjoying the athletic event and many fun activities. Please visit kids.pmc.org and choose "Westwood" under the kid’s ride to register your riders by May 25 or to volunteer to help either on or before event day.

We have good schools in Westwood. We don't need U.S. News and World Report to confirm that, but it is always great to see some recognition. Over 10 years ago, I worked with a guy in San Francisco, Bill Jackson, whose dream was to improve K-12 education by giving parents access to more information and stimulating their involvement in the schools to make good schools "Great Schools." You can see the fruits of his labor at greatschools.net, a website that allows you to compare schools, write reviews, and track improvements over time. I was happy to find that the Westwood Schools all receieved 10/10 ratings from greatschools, but it is based entirely on MCAS scores. As parents and educators, you can visit the site and write reviews and/or provide more information to better complete the picture--as has been done by parents in Wellesley, etc.

It's not a competition, although of course you will do as I did and look up your school and then sort by test scores to see how others did. The idea behind greatschools is to provide a basic starting point using public data, then encourage parents and educators to supplement that information with more specific details.

Last year around this time, my wife and I were introduced to the world of preschool as we decided to enroll our 2-year old in St. John's Nursery. The Early Childhood Council of Westwood publishes a resource directory (download from town website) listing key information about all the preschool programs in the area but I think most people gather their information and make a decision based on word of mouth.

The application process typically involves enterring a lottery with some preferences (e.g. if you already have an older child in the school, etc.) but it is generally a fair, non-competitive process. Still, it seems like something that could be improved by coordination--i.e. having a single application procedure and coordinated deadlines so that parents don't have to worry about whether they should put down a deposit on school A if they are still waiting to hear from the lottery to be held a week later at school B.

Preschool in Westwood is NOT like the horror stories you hear from intense parents in places like New York City. And you don't necessarily need a web-based tool to figure it out. But in thinking about this, I realize I have a lot of questions...that I don't have time to research. We only know our situation:

I believe preschool should more properly be called "playschool," as it is in the cartoon, Caillou. I hope my children will learn to interact with other kids and make friends. I don't want them to learn any "school stuff," I just want them to be happy and emotionally and socially ready for kindergarten. I also believe a big part of the value of preschool is to give my wife a short break from her 12-14 hour/day, 7 day/week job taking care of the kids.

My questions are enough to write a book about...but just to throw out a few...

What is the breakdown of stay at home parenting compared to two income families with kids in day care? It seems like a lot of moms are staying home here, but I know that is not typical. Do people combine preschool with daycare? Do they have nannies? How much difference is there between daycare and preschool? I'm just curious how people make ends meet. We opted for a single income, "traditional" family lifestyle...and while I have a good job, we are far from rich or affluent.

Is my philosophy more laid back than most or is it pretty typical? I see these cartoons now that preface each episode with a blurb about "this program teaches children relationship skills and reinforces color recognition..." and I laugh--does anyone seriously believe that? And do people think the road to MIT starts with the "right" preschool? My gut instinct is that most Westwood parents are more "down to earth" than some of our more competitive towns to the north.