Daycare Update: Groups By Age

I understand the idea or theory it's best, so it's argued, to keep everyone of the same age in one class or group. The thinking goes, you relate best with people of the same age group.

However, it seems contrary to everything I've experienced and observed in life. There are plenty of kids (and adults) who get on with people of different ages. Obviously, values, common interests, character and personality, maturity (or lack thereof), geography, all play a role in determining who you "hang out' with.

Think of the mature girl in high school or the immature guy in school. And while schools have no qualms holding back a kid for a year (or jumping them forward if gifted), I don't understand the commitment to this theory.

I imagine there exists schools that employ a different philosophy?

Right. Not if the government legislates against it.

I wasn't a fan of state education prior to getting into daycare and my time in daycare certainly hasn't changed my opinion. In fact, it solidified it. My aunt owns one of the last pure pre-schools in the province and the government tries its best to find ways to shut her down.

God bless her renegade soul. But I worry the tyrants will get their way one day. It's a matter of time.

Much of the rules, regulations and laws on the surface "make sense" but they bog businesses down in red tape for nothing more than anything. Worse, in Quebec, they publicly display where you "miss" a policy requirement. A way of shaming daycares. Sure, it's meant to help people but too much of it is blown way out of proportion and context. Besides, parents will be much more forgiving of a subsidized daycare that has a poor track record than of a private one. After all, it's cheap at $7 a day.

Aside from putting pricing and wages completely out of whack, government run daycare also prevents private operators from really blossoming and creating their own philosophies. The Quebec government doesn't have a philosophy no matter how well it presents its papers and documents. It's nothing but a collection of American and European theories pasted together.

Bah.

This is not the point of my post.

The point is daycare groups kids by their ages. For example, 0-18mths, 18 mths-24ths etc.

But kids are not robots nor are they piece of predictable construction paper. They all move at different paces. Sure, there are general rules of growth that must be observed (biology and all that, including potty training etc.)

The government is strict about this. If you have a kid who is 16 months but is clearly capable of being in an older group, this can lead to some problems with the inspectors. What should be a decision between parent and educator is really an unsolicited three-way process involving a bureaucrat.

I don't understand why they don't leave private day care alone. There's no reason to subject us to draconian paternalistic rules that impede us and benefit the subsidized programs.

Why not let us blossom? If one daycare thins multi-age groups, then let the market determine if it's a good or bad idea?

I'm just speaking in general terms of course. My overall point is the government loss to formalize everything into a one-size fits all concept believing it to be best for society as a whole.

Bunch of alchemists if you ask me.

Pauline Marois in a recent article made the ridiculous claim, in an effort to defend more government intervention in daycare, that more complaints are levied against private daycare. Naturally, the state has to step in and save the day. We get the picture, private enterprise bad "pour la societe."

It's the trend on the continent - engaging in "redistribution of economics"

Of course, they rarely - if ever - produce evidence of this but if it be true, it's not surprising. Think of it, if you pay $40 a day your demands will be more than if you were paying $7. Ergo, complaints will generally follow. It's like anything else. You want bang for buck.

Conversely, parents will tolerate horrid conditions in daycare solely based on the cost.

We know the cost of everything and value of nothing - and the state only helps to cement this.