Tot School Goals - Note to Self

I'm writing this post as a reminder to myself, which I fear will be all too necessary: that the point of Tot School is not to teach Basbusa her letters and numbers faster than anybody else!! That is not the point! NOT what we're aiming at!

Are we quite clear on that? Yes? Good.

Am I going to forget this every single time I read about another toddler who is writing a doctoral thesis already? Probably. And then what am I going to do? Go running to pull out the letter-matching games and counting bears? No! I'm going to re-read this post and remind myself, yet again, that winning the academic-smarts race is not the point.

She's one and a half. She has no need whatsoever, for reading or number skills at this point. She does not have a checkbook to balance; she does not need to read street-signs as she drives around the apartment on her plastic car. What she does need is to learn how much joy there is in books; how many fascinating patterns and connections there are in the world around her; and the confidence that she, too, can enjoy the process of creating things. That's the point.

Note to self: please take note of note to self!