Preschool

I've been flirting with starting my own preschool for some time now. A couple of things held me back, space in my home, lack of experience, lack of start up funds, and a wishy- washy approach to it. The Caldwell YMCA opened up a preschool this year and has had so much success with one class a day, that it's trying to have two classes a day next fall. It would be a part-time job for me, the boys would be in school, and I can take Lexi to child watch for the time that I'm teaching. I've been strongly encouraged by the current preschool staff to start volunteering so we can see how it works for both of us. I'm going in twice a week between 3-4 hours each week while Tyler & Bryce are in their preschool. Last week was crazy, because it was my turn to host preschool at my house so I went to the Y on opposite days. Change is difficult and right now we're all in an adjustment period. It sounds trivial, but the thing that's been affected the most is my work-out schedule which is frustrating. I've got a specific training schedule right now for the 1/2. And the time that I would have left the kids in child-watch while I'm exercising is eaten up by preschool.

The preschool at the Y is good. The only other experience I've had with preschool was at BYU when I had to work a semester to get credit for my degree. As well as the cooperative preschools I've been involved with this year. I'm used to a set curriculum, and a more rigid time schedule. The YMCA's preschool is centered around "Guided Discovery" So it doesn't have a set curriculum. They teach what the kids are interested in. They've spent a lot of time on dinosaurs and superheros. Last week was all about Leprechauns. It's just different. Not bad, different. I've already gained a lot more experience which is what I've been looking for. The biggest struggle is that its for kids ages 3-5 which I totally disagree with. There is so much difference between a 3 and a 5 year old. I think it will be my choice if I decide to seek employment there. I'm not ready to make that decision yet, so the volunteering has been a great way to get my feet wet!