Why Millie went to Kindi and stayed there…

I tend to become very involved in things I see the value of. These are few and far between, but when they come along my commitment is total. Mulberry Tree is one of those.

In 2001 when my first daughter was 1 ½ I had had enough of toddler groups where mums drank coffee, kids drank juice and ran around screaming or throwing stuff. My head was hurting and my parenting uninspired and uninspiring.

I discovered Mulberry Tree Toddler Group by chance and my first response was shock that there was a place where I could come with my child and enjoy a quiet time, lovely songs, that I could do things I'd never dreamt of doing (knitting, felting, making bread) in the company of people who weren't adverse to a conversation about composting / analysing children's drawings / homeopathy / doing things simply slowly and with a sense of the bigger perspective.

I liked it so much I stayed…and ended up doing a hundred and one different jobs within Mulberry Tree. I now run a Toddler Group and am always trying to make it the same magical experience that made my own visits the high point of the week.

Millie started Kindi when she was three largely because I was intrigued by the difference to her current nursery! The existing kindi children were mysterious creatures, able to sew from an early age, adept at climbing gates, out in all weathers, self possessed. They got to dress up in beautiful clothes, sing heartrendingly beautiful songs, make biscuits, grind corn, tell their own stories with puppets, paint amazing ethereal pictures, make proper things out of wood. They were practical and capable, yet able to create and appreciate beauty. I wanted to be like that. So the next best thing was to send Millie.

It took her a few months to settle into the routine, find playmates, learn the songs. But she was the one who asked to stop her current nursery and go to Kindi more.

She should have gone to "school" in September 2005, aged 4 and a half. None of it felt right. The large classes, the "busy" rooms, the uniform, the duality of simplistic approach and emphasis on learning facts. The lack of play opportunities. Unappealing outdoor spaces. School meals. The fact the teacher didn't know her, and as far as I could tell, was not given much opportunity to get to know her.

We deferred for a term. Then another term. Then unilaterally decided (parents and Millie!) that she would stay at Kindi until she was six or seven.

Sometimes we waver. The system stacks heavily against more individual paths and makes constant re evaluation part of the parenting process. But the discernible differences firstly in play and secondly in approach to life that kindi children have to others make it all worthwhile.

I believe mainstream school does not allow the child to grow at their own pace and delight in the emotional and social progress of a child. Mainstream school does not nourish the child's sensory, emotional and spiritual elements allowing them to flourish, nurtured and protected by a caring teacher and community. It does not provide nourishment for the parents, or full participation in the child's education and growth. Kindergarten does not stop at the door of the Village Hall, but comes home with us and is present (to varying degrees of success!) in many aspects of our home and family life, and we try hard to uphold the values of kindi at home.

It's not for everyone. It requires effort and bravery and financial commitment. It requires an emotional commitment to the community that can be draining, but is always worthwhile in that we are enabling more families to experience this early years education.

That's why Millie went to kindi and stayed there!