Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Something cool.....

                   

A little disappointing this evening....being the parent of a young child, now is the time we find ourselves looking into the open houses for preschools in the area.  So we pull up this evening, right after work, and we are greeted outside by the admissions director.  Our daughter, who is 3, is so excited she can barely contain herself.  She's even wearing her "red sparkly shoes" because she wants to show them off to a potential new teacher to see if she/he oo's and aw's over them like our daughter does. 

The admission director quickly tells us that the open house is for adults because children might make a mess and asks us which parent wants to come inside and which wants to go over to play at the playground with the kids.  This has to be one of my biggest pet peeves. I instantly feel the hairs on the back of my head and all over my arms stand straight up and truly something I just don't understand.....perhaps someone can enlighten me, but what is the purpose of having an open house for families who might be considering placing their child in your school if you don't let the children come and check it out?  I truly don't understand this approach and it's not the first time this has happened to us.  Our sons local school did this last year (before we moved him to a new school) an "adult only" open house.  WHAT IS THE POINT???? 

Are they scared of what kids would say? Is it just easier? Is it convenience?  I really don't understand it, nor do I really want to.  I think it's wrong.  I think kids should be leading the tours. They should be proud of their school and the work they do within it.  They should want to show it off. There should be artwork in the halls. Every teacher, secretary, and custodian should be there. Every door should be open.  This is how we engage families........

Perhaps it goes back to my previous post.  Perhaps it's just time for me to open my own school.......


2 comments:

  1. Wow, that sounds really 1950's... children being seen and not heard. I'm so sorry that happened to you. I couldn't agree more. How can children feel a part of the school unless they're allowed to check it out? It seems like a school is one place a child should always be welcome!

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