<p>Though I’m a mom, as you can tell from my username, I’m not a mom of someone in high school or college. My daughter is two, and she’ll be three before the school year starts this fall. We are interested in getting her in preschool because she is extremely social, and we think she’d enjoy it. I’m also a full-time student, and while her dad works at home, he’d be able to get more done if she was somewhere else a little while every day.</p>
<p>I asked for advice here a while ago, when my daughter was one, about how to get her to eat. She was going through a stage where she refused all food. The advice here was by far the best I got, and so I’m looking for advice here again.</p>
<p>What should I look for in a preschool? I don’t suffer from the illusion that where she goes to preschool will determine her future or anything like that – I’m not hoping her preschool will be the beginning of a trajectory to Harvard or something – I just want her to be enriched and happy.</p>
<p>When we were looking at preschools, we paid attention to how happy the children seemed to be. We wanted a nurturing environment where they felt safe, where they had room to run and play, where learning is fun, where individuality is respected, and competition is downplayed. We found the perfect place for our kids. Sorry I can’t recommend it to you as the commute would be brutal (it’s in Dallas).:)</p>
<p>I agree with DMD - a preschool that focuses on play of all sorts. Socialization is really important, reading sheets not important at all. There’s plenty of time for “ditto sheets.”</p>
<p>A co-op might be fun as it becomes a social group for families. Usually a co-op means a parent participates in class once a month and helps in some other manner once or twice throughout the year. Our closest friends are those we met in nursery school 17 years ago. Our daughters friends from that time are more like cousins than friends, even if they drift apart from time to time (like now in college or even in high school) there is a bond connecting them and is comforting for them.</p>
<p>You’ll know it when you see it, I think. I don’t disagree with the above good suggestions.</p>
<p>I visited 2 or 3 pre-schools when my S was 3. I felt the first two would be “fine.” The third one, I felt, I want my son to be here. A lot was the teacher. Some of them are just special. </p>
<p>Whether this is related to the quality of the pre-school or not, I don’t know… but I can tell you that he made a friend there who is his best friend still. They were never in a class together after pre-school, didn’t even go to the same high school much less same college, and they are still best friends. A wonderful fringe benefit.</p>
<p>I’m very interested in preschool education. I’m a former children’s librarian and currently work in the children’s book field. My D was in two preschools, one was a co-op preschool which required parent participation and had a parent education component with college credit. These preschools are all over in our state and are connected with our community colleges. Our preschool director had her Ph.D. in child development and I learned so much from her as well as from the other moms in the program.</p>
<p>The second preschool was a Montessori preschool with extended day care. I think that sort of preschool might work better for your family because you’d have more flexibility with what hours you choose.</p>
<p>Most preschools that are just a preschool and not day care too do not have sessions every day for each age group. Usually it’s two days a week for three-year-olds and three days a week for four-year-olds. My neighbor has owned her own preschool for 25 years and that is the schedule she uses.</p>
<p>The Montessori preschool was family-run by a middle-aged woman and her older mom. Both were Montessori-certified but not college graduates. At that school you could arrange the hours you wanted and they were very flexible and accommodating. My D started there part-time and then went full-time for a couple years when I returned to work. They had all sorts of art projects (a special beloved art lady came on Fridays), theme units in preschool time in the AM, Spanish class with a native speaker, and gymnastics class (we paid extra for that). There was a huge fenced outdoor play yard with lots of fun things out there and they went outside a lot. </p>
<p>There was no academic pressure in this school, although they did help the kids learn to write the alphabet and numbers if they were interested. The kids always had some choices in activities.</p>
<p>This kind of arrangement is really helpful because sometimes you and your husband could have an afternoon or even a whole day off together while your D is at preschool/day care. My D got very comfortable at her school and continued part-time after school and on vacations in the first few years of school.</p>
<p>So: warm, caring teachers, play space outside, creative play activities and open-ended art projects, story time, learning how to get along in a group and with the teachers. No pre-reading activities, no computers, and definitely no coloring books. What you are looking for is “developmentally appropriate” for young children.</p>
<p>When I was looking for preschools, I looked for National Association for the Education of Young Children accredited ones and my kids had great experiences in two preschools (we moved). You can search at their website [National</a> Association for the Education of Young Children | NAEYC](<a href=“http://www.naeyc.org/]National”>http://www.naeyc.org/)</p>
<p>My kids went to an outstanding nursery school AND day care rolled into one. When three, the nursery school part was two mornings a week. BUT my kids went full time as I was working. I will tell you…it was terrific. The atmosphere was excellent. The director was a parent of kids about the same age as my kids. The most notable things I remember, …it was clean, the kids were all laughing and smiling and SO WERE THE ADULTS. The equipment and toys were in good condition. One very important thing…there had been virtually NO staff turnover (which I viewed as a good sign…it was a good place to work AND the folks liked their jobs). </p>
<p>Word of mouth in your area would be good…so ask around BUT go visit yourself. You’ll know when you find the right places…and likely there WILL be more than one choice.</p>
<p>I agree…focus should be on social interactions, and play at this age, not school readiness (although learning to listen to stories, playing cooperatively with friends, singing songs and doing finger plays, having access to good hands on play…paints, playdoh, etc, and a variety of toys…all good things.).</p>
<p>Look at how much experience the teachers have, and how long they’ve been with the program as well as the kinds of activities and organization they have. I chose a preschool run by a church where the teachers had between 4 and 18 years experience, and where the atmosphere was calm and happy – low tech, high play, lots of outdoor play and storytime, and very kind. I had thought we would certainly send D to the in-house program offered at the plant where my H worked, but when I spent some time there I learned that the staff turnover was huge, the chaos level was uncomfortable, and they didn’t do a lot to get kids outside. </p>
<p>I wasn’t disappointed. The teachers at the church school had seen everything – and knew just what to say and do when D bit another girl, because they’d seen lots of kids through that before. (They also knew what to say to me, because I was just mortified.) I think that it gave me some great parenting training. I also liked how the teachers ate lunch with the kids at family tables, and the carefully planned routines of the day and the week, and even the regular treks over to the adjacent senior citizen housing for pageants and concerts.</p>
<p>Another point, don’t hesitate to change schools if you feel for some reason that the one you have chosen isn’t working well for you. D attended 3 different preschools between ages 2 and 4. The first was run by a church and had a great rep. We liked it but had to change when we moved to the 'burbs and it wasn’t convenient to get to the church downtown. </p>
<p>The second also had a religious affiliation. It seemed great, and lots of people sent their kids there, but D was kind of clingy at 3-3/4 years and one day I took her into her preschool room and left, and when I was walking down the hall I happened to turn around and she was following me. Down the hall. Alone. That caused me a great deal of alarm, and as soon as the semester ended (and she turned 4) we switched her to the school her brother was already attending (had to be at least 4).</p>
<p>Reading other suggestions, definitely look at turn over of the providers. Spend a half a day sitting in the classroom your child would be in and observe, without your child, they will just distract you. If you fell comfortable after observing it is probabaly a good fit.</p>
<p>I think the suggestions above are good. I just wanted to add that the preschool we used was not flexible in terms of the added hours of “enrichment” or late stay because it was fairly small. In retrospect, one of the larger preschools that had drop in late stay and enrichment would have met our needs better in terms of scheduling due to the fact that I was working. If the school offers some music (I mean singing to the teacher’s piano playing kind of thing) and art work as well as play, story time, snacks etc. those are also a plus.</p>
<p>Where we lived there was a YWCA which later became independent, and people loved the courses that they offered for preschool age. They also had a preschool, but these were 1 or 2x per week courses that were for a caregiver and child for the young (2-3) and then for 3’s and older they had kiddie gym and swimming and other things without parents. We took courses called “messy play” and “fun with numbers” that were great. People loved the gym and swim as well. The place was run by some women who were really creative, and there always seemed to be new offerings. So if you have a Y in your area you might check this out, as well as the preschool. It’s great for you too if you can go for an hour a week to “messy play” or whatever (and they had the mess there not at home.)</p>
<p>^^^I can relate to the post above. D1 was at a Montessori school which seemed great to us. But our DD told us one day she didn’t want to go back because her teacher was “mean.” We began to look elsewhere and fell in love with the preschool my husband had attended. Several months after she began attending the new preschool, I had to do a u-turn barely out of our neighborhood because I was nauseated and knew I was about to lose it in the car. When she realized we were not going to be able to get to school that morning, D1 got absolutely hysterical. Even as I raced to the bathroom, I was smiling because I knew for certain we had found the right home for her.</p>
<p>how many sick kids & policy dealing with sick kids.
Late pickups.
snacks and liquids served
naps (DS awoke very late because W worked swing, I worked days, with grandma’s watching kid between the time I had to sleep and W returned home.) So normal nap time for the kids just did not work for DS. Did he put up a fight=unforgetable, he won.</p>
<p>I agree with the above posts–our kids thrived in schools that emphasized PLAY & socialization. Our kids enjoyed learning & just being their ages (3 & 4). Parent recommendations & visits are invaluable. Preschools can change dramatically overnight, especially if there is a power struggle between the director & other factions. This can trickle down & affect the staff and unfortunately the kids. Our kids went to a fantastic preschool (after I had visited 3). Unfortunately, after they “graduated” to K, there was that power struggle & the preschool lost most of its excellent & very experienced teachers. It has not recovered since. My kids still have fond memories 17 & 19 years later–THAT is the sign of a great experience & fostered their love for learning.</p>
<p>I know I’m only a high school student, but I had a few thoughts on preschool. Not that preschool doesn’t really matter or anything, but I personally don’t think it has that great of an effect on your child as we think it does. I went to a local preschool that was a few blocks away that was operated out of the basement of a Methodist church. We had 2 teachers among the 20-30 kids, and we only had school three days per week. I turned out okay, and I was at the top of my class even when I transferred to a rigorous private school several years later. So wherever your daughter ends up, she will grow up to be the great child she was meant to be.</p>
<p>Request to look at the room your child will be spending their time In. See that it is set up in such a way that is conducive to socialization and organization. Their should be a dress up area, housekeeping area, a library area with books, games. Art and play area. It will give you an idea that they have focused areas for different types of play, socialization,interaction and side by side play. Check how many adults(teachers) will be in the room and the max amount of children that will be in the room, also check what qualifications they require to be employed as the childcare/preschool providers. Inquire what their policy is on incidents occuring when children misbehave, hit or bite other children while under their care.
Preschool is not only good for the child to start socialization, it is also good for the parents to get ready for what is in store in the coming years of dealing with teachers, other parents, unruly children, different personalities and the multitude of good and bad phone calls that may come your way.</p>
<p>Lots and lots of love. Look for teachers who love this age and clearly enjoy the kids. Look for kids who love being there. Look for parents who love the school. Ask some of the parents what they love, what they don’t. Avoid a school (as I did) that is looking for the “right kind of kid” coming from the “right kind of family.” (Which clearly was not us.) Look for a school that is going to love YOUR kid exactly as YOUR kid is but also help your kid grow in areas where he/she may need a little growing. Look for a school that doesn’t flip out when your kid does something slightly odd. </p>
<p>Also, flexibility. What I loved about our preschool was that I could sign up to keep my kids for extended lunch. So preschool ended at noon but I could buy tickets so they could stay for lunch – either until 1:00 or 2:00. This qualitatively changed my life in a big way and my kids enjoyed eating lunch in a social setting and logging some extra playtime. And I think geography matters because it’s nice for them to have little friends nearby.</p>
My kids still have fond memories 17 & 19 years later–THAT is the sign of a great experience & fostered their love for learning.</p>