Tuesday, February 3, 2009

group for mom? playgroup?

we've now been to 11406 pre-schools and daycares looking for a place samil can go ONE day a week that isn't going to break our bank, will give him some of the socialization skills that he's missing out spending all day with mama and has a curriculum or program that we're okay with. like, we don't threaten samil with punishment (physical or not), or he's going to get punished it happens - warnings, yes. threats? especially if not followed through with? nope. outdoor playtime everyday. limited tv viewing (please, i'm not paying my hard earned money for him to watch barney in your house).

that all said. i've decided to try to start some sort of play group for other stay at home kids. i preliminarily talked to the pastor at our church and with some other mothers and it seems that yes, indeed, there is a need.

the problem?

we're at kind of a loss. i've never been to a moms group or to a play group or even a moms bible study (in fact, i'd never been to a single sex bible study until three weeks ago). and since it's a kind of foreign - ie: american? - idea, most of the dominican mamas are interested, but not really sure what the deal is.

here's where you, oh faithful readers, come in. if you belong to a moms group, a playgroup a ECFE or MOPS group, i need your help! let me know, if you can, what the group consists of - i mean basic ideas, things you think work really well and things that maybe don't. if its a play group, what do the moms do? if its a moms group, where are the kids? you know, the basics.

and i will be forever, forever indebted for your wisdom and knowledge.
thanks in advance.

2 comments:

simplicity said...

Hmm...well ECFE is run by our school district (Early Childhood Family Ed) and so we pay to go, we have 45 minutes of parent/child playtime, then the moms go to another room with a parent educator and the kids stay in the classroom with a child educator for 45 minutes. The playgroup we do is a branch off of that, five of us get together weekly rotating homes to play at, the kids play, we take turns making lunch and we visit. Is that what you're meaning and asking? The playgroup really just stemmed off of ECFE. As far as Mops, I was involved last year but didn't like the chapter I was involved with so am no longer in BUT there is a Mops international website and you should look into how to start your own chapter there. Does any of this help?

Unknown said...

Good idea, Melanie. Too bad I can't offer much help!