I sent my son to Vinewood for just the first half of the school year. He had gone to Kindermusik at Vinewood Church and one of the perks to attending that preschool is the students still attend Kindermusik as part of the curriculum. He loved Ms. Wendie and Kindermusik very much and I liked that music and movement was part of the program. Other positives were that Vinewood is in a nice part of Lodi, the teachers were all very nice, and the curriculum is Christian based. The children go to chapel twice a month.
After attending Vinewood for a few months I began to notice that this was not a good fit for my son. There was very little structure, a lack of expectations, and poor enforcement of rules. All the classes are together for the first hour or so of the day. That is 40 3-year-olds in one room. There are plenty of teachers to make the ratio 1 to 10, however it was over stimulating for my son. Instead of doing any activities that there were to do, he would just play and act out. From what I saw, the teachers focus more on the students who choose to work at a center and less on the kids playing and it created a very wild atmosphere.
I was constantly told that my son was not doing well and was having behavioral problems and he was...along with most of the other kids. I went to school with my son a couple times to find that when kids acted out they were seldom, if ever, taken to the side and spoken to about rules and the way we should behave in the classroom or outside. I never saw kids sent home for being ill and almost everyone was ill. My son was rarely well for the time he was at Vinewood. When asking about expectations, rules, and structure I heard, "They're 3!" over and over again as if a 3 year old was just not at a stage in their development to impose such ideals. I felt like there was a very minimalist attitude towards just about everything.
Over all, I felt like my son was not learning. He learned more at home. Play is a big part in any preschool and should be, but I wanted him to learn how to follow directions from someone besides me, play respectfully with other children, and function in a classroom environment. I didn't feel like he learned any of this. When I asked him about his day he couldn't tell me anything. He would say, "I don't know" or "I didn't do anything." At first, I thought he just wasn't telling me the truth but then I realized he was right. He wasn't doing anything. In the 6 months he was there I got maybe 3 little art projects to take home. I was told he was not ready for preschool and teachers even implied that he may need help of some sort, and so I pulled him out. Two weeks later I had him enrolled in a different preschool with structure, expectations, and clearly communicated and enforced rules and he is doing so awesome! There is a smaller group of kids (16) and he loves, loves, loves school. His cubby is full everyday of art and learning projects that he's done. I get mostly great reports on his behavior. The only time I've heard something negative is when he's upset because he doesn't want to stop working on an activity that he thinks is fun and that's it! Vinewood was just not the place for him. read more