From the perspective of my three year old grandson (the boss), one year of school is enough. After all, for one year he went to school two days a week, carried a lunchbox, and had the preschool experience. What more does he need to do?
He will tell you that he is finished with school. Going back is not what he wants to do. He likes to make his own decisions and is fully capable of going to the refrigerator and helping himself to a beverage and a snack. It's pretty much the boss's choice after that. His day is filled with all sorts of activities. Play dough, books, computer games, riding his bike, creating pictures, you name it. He seldom stops. In his opinion, the world is perfect as it is. Why mess it up with going to school?
The funny thing is that I remember feeling the same way. I was sick a lot as a kid, and my mother provided a wonderful stay at home, healing environment. She brought my meals to me in bed and let me listen to the radio. Once we had a television set, I got to watch Topper and the Loretta Young Show. I much preferred staying at home to going to school. When I think about those days now, they are very special to me.
As the kids go back to school, I think it is important to see things from their perspectives. Some of the older kids are still little kids inside wanting to stay at home in a nurturing environment. Going back to school is about more than lesson plans and a new lunchbox. It's definitely about more than new educational themes and policies. The beginning of school should be about teachers getting to know their students instead of about all of the latest hoopla the administrators have come up with over the summer.