Pre-K

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/nyregion/underground-pre-k-groups-often-illegal-abound-in-new-york.html?pagewanted=1&ref=nyregion

Apparently, the woman in the above article is freaking out about her kid "falling behind" when entering kindergarten. So to her, preschool is a must. Personally, I think she needs to chill. Why? Because kids learn fast when they're young. Many parents who cite the benefits of Pre-K don't talk about how the kids learn a lot of stuff, but say that the benefits mainly lie in the children picking up social skills in a classroom setting and helps with separation anxiety before reaching kindergarten. Okay, I can see that, but is it worth paying thousands of dollars for? Not sure.

Parents in NYC and around the country seem to have, at times, lost their collective minds. I am constantly getting the feeling, when I read such articles, that if I don't do everything just right and rob my kids of any free play, then I will have failed to give my child every chance to do well in life. Everything is about applying pressure on yourself as a parent to get the kids into the BEST schools at age two through college. The constant feeling of you-can't-EVER-screw-up-EVER attitude induces the kind of stress that can give you ulcers and keep you up at night.

Schools aren't even about educating the kids anymore. At least not to the parents. To the parent under high pressure (and in turn applying high pressure to their children), school is about getting good grades to get into good schools to get good money. At the heart of it, is almost seems like the attitude of these parents is, "Who cares if the kids learn anything? As long as they end up rich and give me plenty of bragging rights, I'll be proud!" I am sure that is not true of most parents who want the best schools for their kids, but these articles in the NYTimes are giving the impression that NYC parents are a bit insane with too much money to burn.