Religion
The Atheist and the Preschool
In an attempt get our 3-year-old daughter, Sophia, ready for school, my husband and I wanted to enroll her in preschool. Being the godless commies that we are, we wanted her in a secular preschool. No prayer, no songs about Jesus, Allah, or Moroni, no church services or religious classes.
Of course, that is all well and good. If you can find one. And in Fort Wayne, you are more likely to see the Flying Spaghetti Monster in Headwaters Park than find one.
There were a couple of preschools that were not directly attached to a church but, after some discussion on the phone, I came to find out that the preschool was either surreptitiously injecting religious doctrine in to the curriculum or was really just school for smaller people (and ridiculously expensive). I couldn’t imagine Sophia actually sitting at a desk all today. If you’ve met her, you’ll understand.
So, we didn’t enroll her anywhere. I thought I would homeschool her for preschool. I could teach her ABC’s and 123’s (with the help of They Might Be Giants). However, like many great ideas, it looked really good on paper.
She needed other kids. She spent 2 hours a week with kids her own age (gymnastics and dance class). The rest of her time was spent with just me and my husband, excluding the occasionally coffee klatch. And during the day, I was her mom, her teacher, her cafeteria lady, and her only playmate. I was getting tired and frustrated with it all.
So we caved. Kind of.
My husband met someone whose daughter goes to a great preschool. Lots of playtime, lots of learning, reasonably priced. But, you guessed it, is a part of a church daycare. Granted it is a fairly liberal church but still, a Jesus Loves Me church. They say grace at lunch and go to chapel once a week (which is today). But, the rest of it is exactly what we wanted. They have a “music lady” who comes by once a week, swimming for the older kids, story time at the library, a playground, etc. Plus, my mother reminded me that I went to a church preschool (the same denomination, as a matter of fact), and I turned out okay.
We did tell them that we are not religious and that didn’t seem to matter. We went for a visit and Sophia ran straight for the basket of dinosaurs. So, we enrolled her.
Her first day was Monday and when I went to pick her up, she didn’t want to go home and she spent five minutes saying good-bye to everyone. Her teacher seems to really love her job and the other kids seemed wonderful and very excepting of the new girl. This morning she woke up bouncing and ready to go for the day.
I am happy, so far, with the choice we made. For the first time, I can write a blog, uninterrupted by requests for juice or snack or “Momma, what’s that”. I can watch what I want to watch on TV. I can go to the grocery store without having to get one of those carts with the plastic car on the front of it that turns like a aircraft carrier.
I’m happy just to get a little time to myself again.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by an individual contributor to this blog are not necessarily shared by all members of FreeThought Fort Wayne. That is what makes this organization so interesting. Commenters on the FreeThought Fort Wayne blog are expected to abide by our comment policy. About the author: I am a full-time mom, part-time book peddler, some-time writer, and an amateur Play-Doh sculptress. Read more from this author
The The Atheist and the Preschool by Katie, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
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6 comments for “The Atheist and the Preschool”
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@Katie –
Congrats on finding a preschool and rediscovering the freedom of having a couple hours of alone time. My wife and I had the same dilemma – finding a secular preschool where our kids wouldn’t be beat over the head and brainwashed into believing a certain religious doctrine.
There is a Montessori school (3 Rivers) in town, which our daughter now attends. We have been very happy with the school so far. It is very inclusive of a wide variety of beliefs, and shuns away from religious indoctrination. Among other things, the school also incorporates respect of our natural world into the curriculum.
When we were looking into the school, my wife and I were very blunt – we were not looking for a parochial education for our kids.
The school is a little salty in price, but at the moment, we have cut back in other areas in life, because we feel the school is worth it.
We are going through the same conundrum here in South Florida, though I have opted to keep Dante home another year and teach him. We belong to an extensive and very active playgroup so I am not too concerned with the social interaction, but the fact that all his friends are now in school makes it a bit more difficult. I don’t think our secular nature would be so welcomed here at the Catholic school everyone seems to attend, so I am envious you found a school that was so open to your heathen-ness.
I am at a loss.
I am glad that you have your alone time katie!! I completly understand. Mine are now 10 & 12. One thing to always keep in mind is that religion is everywhere….and we can not shelter our kids from it. Infact that is the worst thing to do. Mine went to a preschool in a church….and have not been scarred for life. lol Mine are actually old enough now to be invited to religious based functions…one resently at Crazy Pins. My son went, and we explained that it was a religious program and had a nice conversation about religion in general. He had a good time bowling with no crazy jesus talk. lol
Enjoy your free time!!!!
Katie,
Your blog was interesting as I am coming from the opposite perspective. I want to find an amazing Holy Spirit filled preschool/daycare that I can actually afford. Because I too am longing for some time to myself and also to prepare my young children for school while not killing our budget. It’s been hard to find one here in Fort Wayne, after moving here from another nearby county and having one that I truly loved there.
I’m glad you found one for your daughter and wondered if you would share the name of it so I may too check it out. I like hearing from other parents instead of just the daycare/preschool facility itself as they are a little biased.
Thanks and glad you caved, even if just a bit.
Jamie,
Katie was looking for secular daycare. You are looking Holy Spirit filled daycare. Despite having had to make a small compromise, I very much doubt that Katie’s daycare selection would match what you are looking for. Besides, it’s generally not a good idea to share such details on the Internet; one never knows what malevolent persons or misguided do-gooders might take interest. With a little bit of extra effort, I’m sure you will find a wonderful daycare facility for your children.
Anon, I realize what she was looking for, I read the blog. But she decided on a Christian preschool, and if she was okay with it than maybe it wasn’t as “preachy” as some can be, that is why I asked her. I only found her blog when I was researching preschools for my daughter on the internet. I also realize what kind of world we live in and if Katie had responded to me in this way I would’ve understood, but honestly, I wasn’t writing to you, I was writing to Katie and frankly you weren’t involved in that conversation. I’m sure with a little bit of extra effort you could make some comment on Katie’s blog other than speaking for her.
Again Katie, glad it worked out for you.