Summer's coming to an end. Kids summer camps are coming to an end too.Then they go back to school ... well sort of...
Chris is going into grade 3 and will (obviously) be there all day.
Alex and Sam will be going half-days and will be going on opposite halves of the day. It just happened to turn out that way...
I guess it's all part of the "progressive", left-leaning thinking out here. Kids under the age of 6 are apparently not supposed to be in full-day school / care. I thought it was odd in Ontario, but compared to the 'States, Canadians seem to really cling to the idea that coddling their children at home is the best thing.
I definitely agree that spending a lot of time with your kids creates a great bond and has some unbelieveable satisfaction for parents and kids, but I think there's a point where some time apart benefits children as well. I've seen quite a few children here (of course, none of our friends' children!) who don't have adequate social skills when with other children and who also have a very low educational baseline.
There were children entering grade 1 in Chris's class who barely knew their ABC's and basic mathematics! Chris was starting to read Harry Potter and had begun basic division shortly after starting grade 1!
I look at Alex and he's entering kindergarten knowing how to read and do some basic addition and subtraction. Sam's has a year to go before entering kindergarten and she's already reading four-letter word stories!
I don't know what it is, but it seems as though Canadians don't have a very high expectation of what kids are able to achieve with not much effort. We're not, by any means, partents who push their kids or pressure them to participate / excel in activities at any cost.
But I digress...
I look at the kids' schedule and then at what I'm trying to do ... set up a new business, make contacts, land some gigs and score/complete jobs - in the midst of drop-offs and entertaining/mentoring/caring for two pre-school/kindergarteners...
Sam and Alex can be self-sufficient at times, but not in blocks of two-three hours during the days. We'll figure something out ...
