Mom Sues Preschool for Not Prepping 4 Yr. Old for Elite University

[Anita18]

There's a test for kindergarten? I feel very sheltered, living in a tiny town where every kid goes to the same school. A public school. For free. Oh well...less pressure and more time to just be a kid is how I look at it.

That was my reaction too, and I've never lived in a tiny town! Things must have changed!

IIRC, kindergarten for me and my sister involved learning about colors. Yah, and we're total failures who never got into college...oh wait.

This reminds me of when my mom had coworkers bugging her about what her secret was (since we both got into good private schools), so they could apply that knowledge for their kids in kindergarten. She wasn't kidding!

[viennese]

imagine how much she will sue for if Lucia becomes a stripper

All that time on the swings and monkey bars, and I still haven't broken into the top 25 rankings of World's Top 10 Burlesque Performers/Contortionists

I'm suing.

[reckless]

Lovely. I wonder if this trend is going to spread to medical charting. The chart note is intended to be read by medical staff and not lay people.

Thanks for the clarification, ArtisticFan.

I should clarify. There are definitely still terms of art and legal terminology in legal briefs, and the arguments require an understanding of the law. But the emphasis has been on using "plain English" in legal writing instead of the stilted legalese of the past. Briefs rarely have Latin phrases in them unless they are commonly known in the profession (per se, res ipsa loquitor, afortiorari, amicus curiae, etc.). Even more, you see a lot less of words and phrases like "heretofore" and "said agreement," and convoluted phrasing that the writer thinks makes him or her look smart, but results in an argument that is incomprehensible.

I wish I could find one of my writing samples that I used to use for my lecture. It was a paragraph from the fact section of a real brief and started something like this: "Joe operates a business that is involved in the process of selling standard motor vehicles, not including vehicles of more than two axles or less than four wheels." I would have the associates rewrite the paragraph containing that sentence. You would be shocked at how few figured out that the sentence basically said "Joe sells cars" and could be rewritten that easily. (The rest of the document made clear that it was irrelevant that Joe did not sell large trucks and motorcycles, because the plaintiff claimed he had been defrauded when he bought a car.)

[skatesindreams]

IIRC, kindergarten for me and my sister involved learning about colors.

Add the Alphabet, and basic numbers to that, and you'd describe my experience in 1959!
It was more about "social readiness" (Were we able to function as part of a group?) than academics.

[IceAlisa]

Thanks, reckless. That makes sense.

It was more about "social readiness" (Were we able to function as part of a group?) than academics.

Ding ding ding ding! Bingo! IMO, first and foremost preschool prepares you socially, how to function in a group, how to take turns and respect one another, how to function in a classroom setting. And they teach letters and numbers while they are at it.

[DAngel]

I wonder what the suit is basing the claim that "colors and shapes" are a two-year-old's curriculum on.

My 15-month-old nephew is learning "colors and shapes" in his baby school

Although, to me, "learning colors and shapes" is kind of vague... You can be in high school/college and be learning colors.

[gkelly]

Although, to me, "learning colors and shapes" is kind of vague... You can be in high school/college and be learning colors.

Or shapes.

On another board I frequent, someone posted an off-topic question asking what a 13-sided polygon is called.

Although she was asking on behalf of her 3-year-old.

[Skittl1321]

Or shapes.

On another board I frequent, someone posted an off-topic question asking what a 13-sided polygon is called.

Although she was asking on behalf of her 3-year-old.

I wrote a 10-page paper my senior year of undergrad about how polygons, polyhedra, and polychora are named. It was a serious stretch, but by moving into 4th dimension as well, I was able to make it a college-level academic paper. (This was a methods of mathematics education class, we drew topics that would be discussed in elementary school out of a hat, and were told to write an academic paper on them. It was bizarre.)

[Prancer]

Although, to me, "learning colors and shapes" is kind of vague... You can be in high school/college and be learning colors.

Yes, ITA. I am pretty sure the ERB includes a section on spatial awareness that uses colors and shapes to see if the kids can detect and predict patterns. I would think that colors and shapes would therefore be part of an ERB prep program.

[Andrushka]

It's her job as a parent to ask for references,to actually drop by and observe what goes on and to talk to her own child and find out what she has learned. I had to check out various Pre-k programs last year and opted for the one my kids are in now,based on references(talked to parents who had their children in this school),on special days,I actually go a tiny bit early so i can observe and see if they really are teaching them something and not just playing,I find out from my kids what they have learned.In Feb. my youngest told me all about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln(presidents day lesson).It's also a parents job to prepare your children yourself,and not just rely 100% on a school to teach them everything.As far as suing,I pay on a monthly basis,not a yearly tuition.If she paid a yearly tuition and if there was anything in the contract she signed that stated there would be no refunds...well..sucks to be her.If there is nothing of that nature in the contract and she found out it was just one big play ground,then yes,I think she has the right to sue to refund what she paid in,nothing more.

[DAngel]

On another board I frequent, someone posted an off-topic question asking what a 13-sided polygon is called.

Although she was asking on behalf of her 3-year-old.

That's one curious child

[gkelly]

Apparently she had a coin in that shape and wanted to know the name of the shape.

[DAngel]

That's one curious coin

[nypanda]

That was my reaction too, and I've never lived in a tiny town! Things must have changed!

IIRC, kindergarten for me and my sister involved learning about colors. Yah, and we're total failures who never got into college...oh wait.

This reminds me of when my mom had coworkers bugging her about what her secret was (since we both got into good private schools), so they could apply that knowledge for their kids in kindergarten. She wasn't kidding!

Times have changed -- especially in NYC. My daughter is in kindergarten in in NYC and they are reading fluently and writing comprehension assesments in full sentences and paragraphs. She takes French, Piano, Chess, and just participated in the all-school speech tournament. Sometimes I feel like Tiger Mom, but all this counts when it comes to applying for (public) middle and high schools (like college applications in NY) which makes a BIG difference to college acceptance....another reason families flee NYC, I fear....

[Anita18]

Times have changed -- especially in NYC. My daughter is in kindergarten in in NYC and they are reading fluently and writing comprehension assesments in full sentences and paragraphs. She takes French, Piano, Chess, and just participated in the all-school speech tournament. Sometimes I feel like Tiger Mom, but all this counts when it comes to applying for (public) middle and high schools (like college applications in NY) which makes a BIG difference to college acceptance....another reason families flee NYC, I fear....

Speech tournaments in kindergarten? We had to do 20-minute presentations in 4th grade and that was the worst I'd heard out of all my college classmates/friends, who are all ridiculously smart, well-educated, hard-working young adults.

These poor kids are surely in danger of burnout before they even hit high school! My cousin burned out in high school (she's since graduated from Harvard Law) and she's older than me so I'm sure they didn't go through all that stuff that early!

[judiz]

I'm actually surprised that different age groups were together at all. I teach pre-k in a child care center which has children ages infant to kindergarten. Every state has regulations regarding ratios depending on the child's age.

For example, in New Jersey you have to have one adult for every 7 children at the age two level, one adult for every 10 children for the age 3 level and one adult for every 12 children for age four. And if you do put a three year old in the four year old class, the class ratio is then lowered as long as the younger child is in the class.

I don't know how it is done in other schools, but in my school we never move a child down, a three year old will never go to a two year old class

[Tinami Amori]

On another board I frequent, someone posted an off-topic question asking what a 13-sided polygon is called.

Although she was asking on behalf of her 3-year-old.

.... probably because he/she was playing with a "Suffaagette's dollar", a real coing issued by US Mint couple decades ago, which is now a collector's coin that is 3+10-sided (tri-deco-gon).

.... the kid probably asked "mommy, mommy, what kind of coin is this, it's weird...... ".

[victoriajh]

That's disgusting! She paid $19000 for a school for her four year old, and they just let them play. Playing is for babies.

Oh! that poor little girl...

actually a play based philospphy is quite widely used in early childhoood educaiton programs- It teaches MANY things - PLAY is a child's work.....

[skatesindreams]

It seems as though we are going "backwards" through history to the period when children were regarded; and expected to behave as, "miniature adults".
Everything we learned about Early Childhood Education during the 20th Century is being ignored.

If what nypanda describes is becoming the "norm", no wonder we have so many "confused" young people, and frantic parents!

[mag]

victoriajh and skatesindreams - THANK YOU! Play is how young children learn. Skipping helps kids learn to read (the ability to move the eyes up and down to stay balanced while skipping helps with following lines and a book,) tying shoes - as opposed to velcro - helps with small motor skills that helps with writing, and most importantly unstructured play helps kids learn to organize themselves, solve problems, and get along with other people. Slightly OT, but having your child totally immersed in hockey from tot to teen does not, contrary to popular belief, help him become a team player. He may be a team player, but he may not, and it is not related to the hockey. Having parents organize, drive, pay, and referee does not help kids develop the ability to work well with others and solve their problems. Yes, I'm ranting, but this is a pet peeve of mine. I read this book after my eldest was born http://www.amazon.com/New-First-Thre.../dp/0684804190 and it was totally freeing. I realized that just parenting my own kids and letting them be kids was okay. That my gut instincts were okay.

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled program...