The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.

Rules, language, safety and cost: an immigrant's impressions of a U.S. kindergarten

'13.12.2020'

Source: "Queen in the USA" on Yandex.Zen

Russian mom, channel author "Queen in the USA" on Yandex.Zen sent her child to an American kindergarten and shared her impressions of visiting him.

Photo: Shutterstock

My son is 2,5 years old. A week ago, he went to kindergarten for the first time. Quite late by American standards, a bit early by the standards of child psychologists. According to my maternal instinct - just right.

Which garden did I choose

We live in the city of Pasadena, northeast Los Angeles. The garden, which I looked after my son more than a year ago, did not grow together due to the coronavirus. Therefore, the choice of a new kindergarten had to be made in a hurry and actually took a pig in a poke: it was possible to inspect the territory only virtually, there was no way to get to know the teacher at all.

In the end, I settled on a Montessori school for two reasons: it was the cheapest kindergarten among those that suited me with its philosophy, and also, by a lucky chance, it was the closest.

Price issue

The cheapest is $ 1075 per month. What is the price of?

The base fee for 5 days, 8 hours a day is $ 900.

Surcharge for changing diapers (diapers and napkins themselves are bought by parents) - $ 50.

Materials for various activities, personal belongings and a surcharge for cleaning (during an epidemic, they must treat everything around with disinfectants after each change of activity) - $ 125.

In the first month, you must also pay an annual fee: registration in the garden - $ 150 and an individual kit in case of an earthquake - $ 20.

Group and educator

Our group has seven children aged 2 to 4 years. Judging by the photo, my child is the youngest there. One teacher spends the whole day with them, not leaving for lunch and rest.

In "peacetime" the distribution of forces is somewhat different, but the coronavirus has made its own amendments. The garden has minimized the number of people in contact with children now.

Rules for visiting the garden for parents

We started adaptation from 2 hours a day. The parent who brings the child to the garden must register him at the counter in the yard. To do this, each family has its own code, which must be entered on the tablet and signed.

The same must be done when taking the child out of the garden. Only people indicated in the child's personal file can bring and pick up. That is, if we indicated only the mother and father, then no grandmothers, nannies and acquaintances have the right to do this.

You cannot enter the playground or the building of the kindergarten for the same coronavirus reason. Previously, parents could freely attend the group at any time and as much as they want.

On the subject: 'American children don't cry': an opinion about the peculiarities of school education in the USA

Unknowing of the language

How does a Russian-speaking child feel in an English-speaking environment? Complicated. My son in his 2 years 5 months has a very well developed speech. He has been talking in full sentences for six months now. He doesn't know English yet.

While he is either silent, or contacts the teacher and children in his native language. They are with him - in incomprehensible English.

This will continue for several months until a second language begins to form in his head. This stage is a necessary and normal stage of infusion into the environment. You need to slip it to the school, where children in the USA go at the age of 5.

The language of the environment is stronger than the language of the family. English will inevitably push Russian into the background. This means that he will think and speak in society in English, and with his family he will switch to Russian. For our part, we - the parents - did our best so that later Russian would be a strong and fluent second language for our son.

Routine

A very classic picture. Before lunch, outdoor games, songs in a circle and one lesson (Chinese / drawing / music / Spanish), snack (garden provided), games.

Then lunch, which the parents pass for their child, sleep from 12:30 to 14:30.

After sleep, potty training, playing games, reading books, snacking again and playing outside or in a group until the parents arrive.

Caregiver reports

How do I know what's going on in the garden if my parents are not allowed inside? There is a special application for communication between parents and caregivers. There it is daily noted at what time the child was brought to the garden and taken away.

Several times a day photos of children are posted to us for different activities: drawing, dancing, learning Spanish, building towers, etc.

We always have an online connection with the teacher. I can at any time, while the child is in the garden, write her a request, a question and get an instant response.

On the subject: What immigrants miss when they come from the USA to their homeland: personal experience

Coronavirus and children

Amid the epidemic, many gardens in California are completely closed. Those that are open have introduced strict restrictions: from wearing masks by children from 2 years old to dividing the play space in such a way that children do not interact with each other, and also do not play with the same toys.

I was looking for a garden with the least restrictions. I really didn’t want the already difficult period of adaptation to go even more harshly. In this sense, our Montessori school meets my expectations.

Children are encouraged to wear masks, but not required. In the photo from the group, I see that almost all the children are constantly wearing masks, I have never seen a mask on my son. The rules state that the caregiver will “inspire” to wear the mask, but not demand.

Original column published on the blog. "Queen in the USA" on Yandex.Zen

ForumDaily Woman is not responsible for the content of blogs and may not share the views of the author. If you want to become the author of the column, write to us - [email protected].

Follow success stories, tips, and more by subscribing to Woman.ForumDaily on Facebook, and don't miss the main thing in our mailing list

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By: XYZScripts.com