For Those Who Suffer Preschool Angst

Re “My Son Is Flunking Pre-Kindergarten,” Voices, July 14: Just to encourage Ray Richmond and his wife in being “out of step” with this society’s obsession with pushing toddlers into academic preschool--I deliberately did not send my little girl to preschool. All my friends did, though, and they thought I was definitely limiting my child’s future and preventing her from learning healthy socialization. “Oh, puh-leeze” was my response then and still is now. We played in the park, listened to music, took naps, went to movies, theater, ice shows, the zoo and read hundreds of books chosen from a weekly walk to the library.

My daughter excelled in school, K-12, just graduated from a top-rated university and is now getting ready for grad school. She hasn’t got a neurotic bone in her body and is well-rounded, charming, smart and good. I’ll admit that limited preschool can give a mom a well-earned break, especially if there are younger siblings, and that some working moms have no choice; but if you have a choice, why? When I was a toddler in the 1940s, there was no such thing as kindergarten, much less pre-kindergarten. How did we and the generations before us manage to be such great writers, inventors, scientists, teachers and leaders?

Susan Marzorati

Pasadena

While the fragile feelings of a 5-year-old may indeed be tender, if rejection is delivered in a gentle way it need not be devastating. I know of a little girl who has to repeat preschool. With her mom present, the teacher told the class that she was going to give Amy “the gift of time.” Beaming, Amy listened as her teacher explained that, because Amy so was so helpful and cheerful, she felt she needed her for another year. The pressure on children is mind-boggling, but in the rush to achieve we must handle with care, or the product will arrive at its destination damaged.

Kathleen O’Donnell Hunt

Huntington Beach