I’m going to be working all weekend in my dark, dank little basement cubbyhole. On the bright side when I do come up out of my hole it’ll be to splendid weather! I’ve also got to nail down the itinerary to this travel piece and that’s going to be a very complicated jigsaw puzzle to put together. But I’m really happy that the kids (and Brett) will get to have a whole bunch of fun even if I’ll have to work my little fingers to the bone for it. (I get antsy when I’m away from work too long anyway so it’s probably good for me to have to work on the road.)

Yesterday we had Madison’s preschool orientation and clearly this is the year in which Dawn learns to compromise her schooling values for the greater good. The preschool is a nice, clean, well-stocked, NAEYC-approved preschool with very low student to staff ratio (in Madison’s class it’s two adults to nine kids) and weekly swim lessons with a certified instructor. But the real reason we chose it is that it’s diverse — i.e., there are black kids there. Added bonus: No religious education. (The other nearby diverse schools we found were Christian and this was a compromise I was willing to consider but not happily and I’m so relieved that I it’s one I didn’t have to make.)

The big happy is that the old teacher — who I hear was grand — has moved on and the new teacher is AFRICAN AMERICAN! I’m so glad about this! That was high on my wish list but I wasn’t seeing that in the non-church affiliated preschools.

The educational compromise I’m making is that this school is, well, educational. Some of you probably know that No Child Left Behind is being handed-down to preschools and that programs that receive state funding are being told they need to prepare kids for kindergarten by emphasizing academics. I don’t believe this is always developmentally appropriate (link opens a .pdf file). I’d rather preschool focus on social and emotional development and not direct instruction about letters and numbers. But, like virtual school is a compromise I’m making to give Noah options about school, so Madison’s preschool is a compromise to give her access to black friends and (squeezing myself with happiness) black role models. Also while Noah really needed and benefited from a nurturing nursery school-type environment with pretty old-fashioned values about what kids need (lots of open play options, lots of social and emotional instruction), Madison is of sturdier stuff and I think she’ll do ok in a slightly more-pressured environment. Socially she’s light-years ahead of Noah at this age and is far more comfortable hanging with groups of kids than he is even now.

It’s a good fit for her and she’s incredibly excited about going. We’re excited for her, too. (It’s so fun to see your kids in new environments like that!) Jessica is going to try to come visit during her all too brief time off from school, too.

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