I’m the competitive mom. I can admit that. I want my kids to be exceptional. I don’t push my kids or force academic work on them. We pay attention to their interests and encourage their interests and provide them with activities and enrichment to support what they want to explore.

I’m the parent who isn’t afraid to admit that my kids are smart. I tell my kids it’s important to be smart, but I dont hold them to impossible standards. I have to admit that I was doing a happy dance inside when one of his teachers was telling us how smart and awesome he is. He has a good interpersonal intelligence and is very empathetic and kind. He counts higher than he needs to for kindergarten readiness and recognizes and writes all of his letters and numbers. He is starting to read and wants to keep learning how to read. He can spell many of his friends’ names from memory and wants to write often.

I know that my kid isn’t rare-so many young kids excel early on- but it reinforces what so much of the research proves: early childhood education is the most important. My kids already have an advantage by getting high quality early education.

I’m a proud parent. I’ll go ahead and take much of the credit as my kids first and most important teacher.