Surviving Skating

We did it!!! J and I both survived :30 on the ice without any lasting ill effects :-)

My back was a bit sore, mind you, from leaning over his chair (which he did NOT want to get out of). I spent 99% of the time bent over pushing him around (it was one of those little kid chairs).

Twice I managed to get him out:

"It's Mommy's turn to sit!!"

"Nooooooooooooo!!!! I wanna stay in da chair!!!!"

I'd somehow manage to haul him up out of it and fall down onto it myself. My goal was to force him to stand, but no such luck. He kept trying to climb into my lap. Not so much fun with skates on!!

All in all, though, it was ok. No tears and no injuries!!
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Skating With Preschool

Ohhhhh boy.

Lil J's preschool class has skating today (they do this twice a year) and each child must be accompanied by an adult. My husband is at work, so that leaves... um... me!

I can't skate. I seem to be in the minority - most people I know can slap on a pair of blades and glide around without looking too foolish. Not me. I need a chair, or a cone, or the boards or something. So J and I will make our way out there and more than likely sit with our butts on the ice and watch everyone else.

Which leads me to the question - do I qualify for another adult to help me???

(sigh)

The upside is that it's only for half an hour...
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Full Day Kindergarten

I think I'm in favour of this... The government is considering making Kindergarten full days, and introducing Pre-school to the current curriculum.

What it comes down to is that in today's economy, two wages earners are necessary for most families, and daycare is sorely underfunded. What surprises me is that they would consider increasing the school curriculum rather than increasing daycare funding (I'm surprised simply because it's a solution that I actually agree with!)

There are people out there who say: "Let kids be kids!! Why start them in school even earlier?"

I wonder if those people have children currently in Preschool or Kindergarten. Frankly, my kids have as much fun, if not more, in Kindergarten and Preschool as they do at home. With all the new friends, crafts, games, field trips, play time, singing, classroom pets, recess and gym time that they enjoy at school, it's hard to imagine them NOT wanting to be there.

Currently, studies show that one quarter of kids who enter Kindergarten are not developmentally ready (WOW). Clearly Daycare is not bridging this developmental gap in a society where both parents are too busy earning wages to put food on the table to be prepping their kids for school.

Then there is the theory (supported by studies) that early intervention prevents social problems later on, making the cost of a lengthened school curriculum economically beneficial.

With all of this in mind, it's hard to imagine why anyone would be resistant to a lengthened school curriculum which includes preschool and full day Kindergarten. It will be interesting to see if it is actually put into practice.