Zeno's Bar & Grill

Early Decision programs in preschool? Yup, that’s just one of the facets of preschool admissions that are sounding more and more like college admissions, according to an article in the NY Times yesterday (“In Baby Boomlet, Preschool Derby is Fiercest Yet”, by Susan Saulny). Parents applying to the most selective programs even have to write pithy essays profiling their 18 month olds to get them accepted.

Maybe time will prove us wrong, but we just can’t see how going to one of these fancy preschools is really going to affect things downstream too much. Of course, all parents want their children in safe, nurturing environments that promote their happiness and early learning, but it’s not entirely clear that this requires upwards of 10 grand a year in tuition, along with hiring consultants to help with the applications and all the working oneself up into a lather that goes along with all this.

Of course, lots of people make money on parents’ anxiety in this regard. And that’s probably what keeps the whole thing going. But in the end it just seems bad for families to introduce this level of anxiety and competition over…ahem…preschool. You know, the place where you lace shoestrings through punch cards, learn the ABCs and sing the itsy bitsy spider song.

--Melanie & Kelly