Kindergarten Round-Up

I’ve come to realize that I don’t do well with infinite choices. I can’t stand restaurants with huge, long menus. Picking paint colors for the house has always given me anxiety. And I would never be able to handle satellite TV – way too many channels!! I don’t think I’m bad at making decisions; I just like things to be narrowed down for me.

Knowing this about myself, I realize that I may be in some trouble here with my oldest daughter heading to kindergarten next year. All of a sudden I’m responsible for choosing a school from a very large inventory – a situation I was not entirely prepared for.

Time Together

Preschoolers typically interact with same gender peers 3 times more than with opposite gender peers.  Gender segregation begins around age 3 and increases dramatically during preschool.  By the time children reach age 6 ½, they are interacting with their same gender peers 11 times more than with opposite gender peers.

Same gender play and friendships continue to increase and peak during elementary school.

So, when children spend significantly disproportionate amounts of time with their same gender peers, how can we get boys and girls to learn successful strategies from each other?