Good Preschools

I am starting to do some research on Preschools for my 2 year old and
would like to hear where other San Francisco parents have send thier
kids to what the pros and cons of the Preschools they are attending.

wrote:
I am starting to do some research on Preschools for my 2 year old and
would like to hear where other San Francisco parents have send thier
kids to what the pros and cons of the Preschools they are attending.

You might try Craig's List. http://www.craigslist.org/ Maybe the
"Parenting" list under discussion forums.

misc.kids.moderated is an international group -- you'll get a lot
better local information elsewhere.

Good luck,

Jan

wrote in message
oups.com...
I am starting to do some research on Preschools for my 2 year old and
would like to hear where other San Francisco parents have send thier
kids to what the pros and cons of the Preschools they are attending.

I actually did a rather thorough search of San Francisco preschools over 7
years ago. It's somewhat of a zoo, with some parents signing up their kids
for the better preschools at birth; some preschools requiring a $100 deposit
just to tour their school. My personal theory is you should match your
child's temperament with what a preschool offers. In San Francisco, you
have foreign language preschools where your child can learn French,
Japanese, or other languages. You have the Waldorf preschool in Pacific
Heights (very hard to get your kid into). You have faith-based preschools:
Jewish, Christian, etc. You have preschools which focus on developing
social skills. And then there's a dozen different Montessori schools (some
claim to be "real" Montessori schools opposed to others which are hybrids).
So many to choose from. There's actually a book out called: "Finding a
Preschool for Your Child in San Francisco & Marin," by Lori Rifkin, Vera
Obermeyer, et. al. I'd suggest buying the book since it will outline all
the possibilities and you can go from there.

However, the best piece of advice I can give you is to take a very close
look at your child and make sure the course you're setting matches the
child's temperament. My husband loves languages and really wanted our son
to attend one of the immersion preschools and I just knew it was a wrong fit
for our son's temperament. What we ended up doing is sending our son to a
preschool which focused on developing social skills. It was absolutely one
of the best parenting decisions I've ever made. He is temperamentally shy
and doesn't adapt well to transitions. And as an only child, he needed to
learn how to get along with others first, rather than learning how to master
a foreign language. Fast forward seven years later and this kid is very
socially adept and you'd never guess he started out so shy and withdrawn.

So pick your preschool carefully. I really believe it can make a big
difference in your child's development. And another venue for finding out
about different preschools is to talk with parents on the playground.

Noreen