[blparent] kindergarten and competition

[jan wright]

Hi  Jo Elizabeth,
I agree, many times we want our children to succeed, so we want them
to be even smarter and better and we don't realize that all of this
Writing (for example) might have an adverse effect on their muscles
later on in life.
If we can afford it, I'd like to send my LO to a montessori preschool
when he gets that age. Sure, I love playing learning games, but
everything (I believe) should be in the context of "fun" at this age.
And, with that, we have to come to the realization that our child
might not be the smartest or most capable in the class because we
don't put nearly the emphasis on such things as some of our parenting
peers.
It  is hard because you don't want your child to feel like he/she is
lagging behind, but you still want them to be a child/kid, not a
computer or extension of a parent or a little adult, or whatever.
there are positive and negative consequences to every decision and I
know that since I am letting my baby develop at his own rate, he might
get there a bit slower than someone else  -- or most everyone else.
  And, that has to be fine with me, I can't have it both ways.
I just hope that professionals don't try to make us (his father and I)
feel bad because our son is taking his time instead of leading the
pack.