Un-teaching...ugh.
I'd absolutely love to just follow my son around at preschool all day but I know that it's not possible or good for him. I'd also love to have more choice as to where he goes to school but we're having to opt for public schools and so he goes to the local Headstart program. I'd also really really love to not have to un-teach my son things that he learns in school.
I've seen the after school teachers on several occasions chastising little boys (my son included) for picking up "girl" toys to play with. I've seen them take away a teddy bear in a stroller from my son and say, "you don't need to be playing with that." And then, just yesterday, I told my son that his drawings could be colored in more and he said, "but mommy, my skin is the color white." and I thought...who told you that?? I had to tell him that no, his skin is tan colored, and I helped him pick out the right crayon for me and for him and for his dad and showed him they were all different and definitely *not* white, but different "tans." I don't want to bring up race or gender issues here, I just wish that it was a perfect world where I knew that the issues that I worried about teaching my son about at home weren't being un-taught to him at school!
*sigh*
Re: Un-teaching...ugh.
I'm just lurking here...
but as a Head Start preschool teacher, i find the actions of your son's teachers absolutely unacceptable. And i feel the need to tell you - not all Head Starts are the same! In our center we encourage boys to play with dolls, dress up and explore who they are - that's how they learn!! I'm sorry you're going through this. As far as the skin color, the center should have multicultural paints and crayons for the children to use when drawing pictures of themselves.
Just hang in there, with you working with him and 'un-teaching' him it will work out the way you want it to. And, you might want to go a step beyond talking to the teachers - if i were you, i'd get in contact with the director and let them know what you're seeing and what your son is telling you.
I opened this expecting to see you complaining about all the crap he's learning from the other kids, and I thought that right up until the second paragraph. I was all prepared to tell you that regardless of where you send your kid to PS you are going to just have to deal with it, and it will continue well beyond PS. I was going to say that I deal with the same junk, blah, blah, blah...
HOWEVER, what you described about the teachers is ABSOLUTELY beyond unacceptable!!! I would first talk (calmly and in a non-accusatory manner) to the teachers about your concerns and what you are hearing about how things are done in the classroom. Then I think I would probably take it up the chain regardless of the response you get.
If your gut is telling you that things are probably more kosher than you originally thought after hearing DC's version of things, I think I'd approach the director/principal in a "I'm just sharing information so you can keep an eye on things" fashion, but if your gut is telling you that things are as bad as you feel they are now (or worse), I'd be raising holy heck over this stuff. Furthermore, unless my concerns were assuaged, I think I'd pull my kid out. I'm a HUGE proponent of PS, but I'd rather teach him the academic stuff and make sure he's getting social interaction myself than have him exposed to this nonsense.
Good luck!