Imagination

Over the past week the hallway between the playroom and our guest bedroom has become packed out with toys, blankets, animals and pillows. The girls are hard at work playing. On Monday alone they spent 1.5 hours straight in the hallway without any need for me to help them, or even break-up an argument...it has been heaven. HC told me that it is their house, and they sleep, and talk and eat there. I love it!

I occasionally enjoy doing a project with them, like dyeing Easter eggs, but more often I enjoy giving them loads of unstructured play time in the hopes that their imagination will really come alive, and it looks like it is paying off. It is so fun to watch them in their little world, cooking up something in their little kitchen, sailing on the "boat" in the backyard, and playing race cars on their big wheels.

I think this is one of the reasons I'm not enthusiastic about preschool 4 days/week for HC. I just hate the thought of her having to sit in a classroom, I imagine they will do fun projects, but wow, she will have to sit in a class for the next 12 years (at least) of her life, why start now? And I also get nervous and wonder if the reason some kids get "bored" so easily is because they are told what to do 6 hours a day and so they can't think of what to do for themselves. I don't know, I'm sure it all depends on many factors and that is why everyone has to make decisions that are best for their family and their children, and I have to make decisions that are best for us.

A couple weeks ago I was talking to some of my neighbors and the issue of preschool with HC came up. One of the ladies was a bit pushy, like well, she IS 4, she is certainly capable of going to school 4 days a week. I tried to explain that wasn't exactly the issue. She then asked is HC liked school...I tried to explain that that wasn't exactly the issue either (and HELLO, she is 4, what she likes/doesn't like is a factor, but not the most important thing, she also likes picking her nose and eating her boogers...so...).

Another argument I have heard is that I need to get HC ready for kindergarten...well, having talked to some kindergarten teachers that teach in the GA public school system, I have zero worries about HC being ready, she will be just fine if we decide to send her to public school. The same is true if we were to send her to private school, she will be just fine.

So, for now, I have both girls registered for preschool this fall, but I only plan on sending HC two days a week. And Dave and I continue to talk seriously about not sending them at all, but that decision will have to wait until the little man makes an appearance. Until then we are enjoying lots of fun playtime and lots of imagination time which is super fun.