Choosing a preschool

The time has snuck up on me that I should start looking around at the
preschools in my area to pick one for Julie to go to next fall (how can
it be?!?). So I'm interested in hearing others' experiences with
preschools. How did you select one? Was there anything about the
school you found out after your child started, that you wished you'd
asked about before registering there? How different are different
preschools? Is the quality of the experience for the children dependent
mainly on the individual teacher, or are there other important factors?
She already knows all the letters, upper and lower case, numerals,
colors, and shapes, which seem to be the main focus of preschool. Are
there any that focus more on social skills and less on academics?

(For any that remember, she started her "intro to preschool" class last
week, and loves it! No crying at all!!)
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 7 mo.
And Jaden, 1 month

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

The time has snuck up on me that I should start looking around at the
preschools in my area to pick one for Julie to go to next fall (how can
it be?!?).

I think you're still a bit early. Most preschools around here expect to do
tours etc. in January and February and start taking enrollments in Feb/March
for the following fall. And while some do fill up earlier than that, many of
them still have openings well into the summer.

(Of course, your DD is only a couple months younger than my DS, and he has been
in preschool since August already! I'm glad we decided not to wait another
year; it's turned out well. This is not meant in any way to imply you should
have done the same, of course.)

So I'm interested in hearing others' experiences with
preschools. How did you select one? Was there anything about the
school you found out after your child started, that you wished you'd
asked about before registering there?

There is a local parents' organization that puts together a "preschool
directory" containing a page of basic info on each school -- the name, address,
hours, price, whether they accept kids in diapers, etc. and a blurb on the
school's "philosophy" and similar factors. I started with that, focussing on
schools in the geographic area that would be convenient for me, and then called
the ones that seemed like a possible fit and scheduled a visit.

The first visit just I went, to observe. With the school I liked best, I then
scheduled a visit with DS, so I could see how *he* liked it.

I also talked to friends and neighbors who have, or have recently had, their
kids in local preschools. So I had some independent
recommendations/information on two of the three schools I visited.

I ended up being happy with one of the first three I looked at; if I hadn't I
would have expanded the search to some schools a little farther away. (My
choices were automatically limited by the fact that I was going to enroll a
non-potty-trained 2yo, and some schools require potty training and/or have a
3yo age minimum. Also, co-ops were out for me because I work full time.)

There haven't been any surprises for us; the school has exactly the advantages
and disadvantages that I expected. It's been a good fit for us, but since DS
will be in preschool for 3 years total, the possibility exists that we'll
switch him to a different school later, as his needs change with age.

How different are different
preschools? Is the quality of the experience for the children dependent
mainly on the individual teacher, or are there other important factors?

There are some significant differences.

The main factors (some of these are interrelated, of course) a

-The overall "philosophy" of the school -- is it Montessori,
play-based/developmental, academic? Is it a church-based, community center or
privately run school? Of course, "Montessori" and similar names mean slightly
different things to different teachers, so there are individual variations, but
the label the school applies to itself does tell you something about how it's
run.

-The size of the school and, if the children are divided into more than one
class, of the classes, as well as the student:teacher ratio. (A school with
one teacher and 6 kids is different from a school with 3 teachers and 18 kids,
even though the ratio is the same.) If the kids are divided into classes, how
and when are they moved from one class to another? (It's usually age-based,
but it's generally easier on a child if the whole class starts with a new
teacher the following year than if each individual child is moved into a new
class on his birthday.) You'll also want to ask about the teacher turnover
rate. The smaller schools hereabouts all seem to have one or two "main"
teachers who own the school and have been there forever, with a rotating roster
of part-time assistant teachers who come and go somewhat regularly.

-The physical facilities and activities that are available. Of course, there's
a basic health and safety standard you want to see, but there are other
considerations. For example, a very active kid won't be happy all day in a
school with limited outdoor play space. It may be important to you that a
particular school offers classes in music or gymnastics. You may be concerned
about good separation of the napping area from the play area if your child has
sleep issues. Stuff like that.

-The hours offered, and the typical schedule of most of the children there if
there are variations available. The atmosphere of a school that provides
full-time daycare for a population of mostly children of working parents tends
to be different from that of a school that is in session only 3 days a week for
a few hours each day, and caters mostly to families with an at-home parent.
Also, don't forget to ask about the level of parent involvement that is typical
or expected. A co-op school where parents spend x hours in the classroom every
week is one end of the spectrum, and large full-time schools with age-divided
classrooms tend to be the other, but most schools do have parents helping in
various ways, if only to drive on field trips or send in cupcakes on a child's
birthday.

She already knows all the letters, upper and lower case, numerals,
colors, and shapes, which seem to be the main focus of preschool. Are
there any that focus more on social skills and less on academics?

Most of them, IME, focus much more on socialization than on stuff like the
alphabet, at least for the 2- and 3-year-olds. For kids who will go to
kindergarten the following year there is a little more "academic" program,
usually. But I'd be surprised to find a preschool where numbers and colors and
so on didn't take a back seat to sharing and making friends, manners,
self-care, and other practical and social skills.

(And why is it that it seems like every other kid I know about DS' age knows
their letters, and he doesn't? Sheesh.)

Holly
Mom to Camden, 2.5 yrs

On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 17:11:32 -0500, "Cheryl S."
wrote:

The time has snuck up on me that I should start looking
around at the preschools in my area to pick one for Julie
to go to next fall (how can it be?!?). So I'm interested in
hearing others' experiences with preschools.

How did you select one? Was there anything about the
school you found out after your child started, that you
wished you'd asked about before registering there?
How different are different preschools? Is the quality of
the experience for the children dependent mainly on the
individual teacher, or are there other important factors?
She already knows all the letters, upper and lower case,
numerals, colors, and shapes, which seem to be the
main focus of preschool. Are there any that focus more
on social skills and less on academics?

Don't mistake the fact that preschools do things with
letters, numerals, colors and shapes for the primary
focus. I know of not one preschool that actually considers
that their primary curriuculum.

Talk to the director about their philosophy. You will probably
find that social and emotional skills are very much a part of
the curriculum. I would not put a preschool child in any
program that wanted them to sit still for more than 15 to
20 minutes for circle time during a class lasting 2 to 3
hours. Emphasis on imagination and dress up and block
play is very important in most preschool classrooms.

(For any that remember, she started her "intro to preschool"
class last week, and loves it! No crying at all!!)

The quality of the experience will depend on many things.

What the school offers can be very different depending on
their philosophy, the organization they are affiliated with
and their facilities.

The Y offered part day preschool for 3 year olds - 3 days
or 4 days a week and for 4 and 5 year olds 4 days a week
We were off on Fridays. This is their part day program,
not the daycare which was full day with preschool as a
component of daycare.

The Y offered swimming twice a week, and gym once
a week in a their preschool classes for 3, 4 and
5 year olds. We had the Y right across the street and
walked there for the program. We also had at least 4
parks within a few blocks so we got outside to those
parks when the weather was good. We also had a
playground and playroom we could use at the school itself.

We also went to Borders for story hours on occasion.

But note: most of our focus was on the children's physical
development. The children learned to dress themselves
completely on their own. They also learned to control
their bodies in swimming and gym classes.

Still we also did letters and numbers in the classroom
and read books and did the traditional academic preschool
things as well. We had themes that came from the
children's play - we might do dinosaurs if the kids seemed
to be playing about them or transportation themes if we
had a lot of car and truck play or pets if the children were
playing about their dogs and cats.

We did a lot of talking about emotions. We taught conflict
resolution. We did cooking once a week too (very simple
recipes - the kids learn a lot of math skills and reading
from that - we made pictures of the recipes for them to
follow). We did story dictations when the children drew
a picture. We also had snack everyday and children
helped set the table and poured juice from small pitchers
for the juice. One to one correspondence came with
being a snack helper and putting out one napkin for each
chair and then one cup, etc.

**********

The program I teach in now is 5 days a week for
2 1/2 hours a day which is more the norm here
than the Y was.

My current preschool is quite different in focus, but we
still do many of the same things. We go outside every
day weather permitting and we have a playroom we visit
when we cannot go outside. This is for gross motor
activity which every preschool wants kids to have plenty
of. We don't have the swimming and gym though.

We teach the children to put on their coats, but we don't
teach dressing themselves since they don't dress and
undress at school.

We still focus on cooperation and conflict-resolution.
When children are angry, we teach them to use words
and to wait their turn and to walk away from fights when
they can.

We also use themes to teach about reading, math,
science and the world. We have done themes with
squirrels, spiders, pumpkins, corn, etc. We build on
the children's play in this school as well. This year
we have a lot of children who love building with blocks.
We have had a space ship, a pirate ship and many
other creations and will probably do themes about
space and robots later in the year and also will talk
about construction and transportation.

For each of these themes we bring in books about the
subject, play games with the theme, do art projects
like painting with corn husks or making spider webs
with glue and paint.

We have a circle time every day where we do the
calendar and the children get their jobs for the day
as well. We do our snack and have children to help
with putting out the napkins and cups in this school
too.

We do story dictations when the children draw pictures
if they wish to talk about what they drew or painted.
They may also want us to read their stories at circle
time. Sometimes we save creations made from legos
and take pictures of these with stories the children tell
about those too.

Each class is a bit different. Each teacher has their own
style, but the kids are learning a lot about the world in all
these classes and for our center, they will usually have
two years with two different sets of teachers though the
classes are mixed in age.

**********

Both schools believe that children learn best through
hands on activities and play.

There is a lot more to what the kids are learning
than just how to recognize letters and numerals,
shapes and colors.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

Cheryl S. wrote:

The time has snuck up on me that I should start looking around at the
preschools in my area to pick one for Julie to go to next fall (how can
it be?!?). So I'm interested in hearing others' experiences with
preschools. How did you select one? Was there anything about the
school you found out after your child started, that you wished you'd
asked about before registering there? How different are different
preschools? Is the quality of the experience for the children dependent
mainly on the individual teacher, or are there other important factors?
She already knows all the letters, upper and lower case, numerals,
colors, and shapes, which seem to be the main focus of preschool. Are
there any that focus more on social skills and less on academics?


I would recommend asking around and checking credentials
(though some very good preschools aren't accredited) to get a
short list of schools to look at. Actually, before you do that
you need to decide what sort of experience you're looking for--
something more academic, or something more social? There are
definitely schools that don't have an academic focus. We
chose one of those four our children and were very happy
with it. Then make arrangements to visit the school, ideally
while classes are in session. Most schools will also have an
open house that you can go to and get any questions answered.
You should definitely talk to the director. For the most part,
I think if you visit the schools and see the teachers in action,
you'll know very quickly when you've found someplace that
feels right to you. Check out the facilities as well. Fancy
facilities aren't always an indicator of the best school, but
you certainly want something that looks safe and reasonably
engaging. I think you'll be surprised how obvious the answer
is to you once you've seen the schools in action.

Best wishes,
Ericka

HollyLewis wrote in message
...
I think you're still a bit early.

I take a long time to make "big" decisions, so I want to start early.
;-)

There is a local parents' organization that puts together a
"preschool directory" containing a page of basic info on each
school -- the name, address, hours, price, whether they accept
kids in diapers, etc. and a blurb on the school's "philosophy"
and similar factors. I started with that, focussing on schools
in the geographic area that would be convenient for me, and
then called the ones that seemed like a possible fit and scheduled
a visit.
snip

There is a preschool guide available at our library like that too. I'll
pick one up next time we're there. I wasn't sure what the next step
should be after reading the guide, so thanks for detailing your
selection process.

There are some significant differences.

The main factors (some of these are interrelated, of course) a
snip much info

That was just the type of info I was hoping for. Thanks! I feel like
I'll have a better understanding of what I'm looking at when I visit
schools now, and be able to compare them better.

But I'd be surprised to find a preschool where numbers and
colors and so on didn't take a back seat to sharing and making
friends, manners, self-care, and other practical and social skills.

I'm glad to hear that. It seems like learning letters, etc. is mostly
what I hear about from other moms with kids already in preschool.

(And why is it that it seems like every other kid I know about DS'
age knows their letters, and he doesn't? Sheesh.)

Julie's two same-age cousins don't know them either, so you're not
alone! I think she just happened to be interested in it and picked it
up. I'm sure there are lots of things your DS is interested in and
knows all about, that Julie doesn't.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 7 mo.
And Jaden, 1 month

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

toto wrote in message
...
Don't mistake the fact that preschools do things with
letters, numerals, colors and shapes for the primary
focus. I know of not one preschool that actually considers
that their primary curriuculum.

I'm glad to hear that. Learning letters has been all I've heard about
from other moms, and I haven't been in a preschool since I attended one
myself g, so I thought that was mainly what their kids were doing
there.

Talk to the director about their philosophy. You will probably
find that social and emotional skills are very much a part of
the curriculum. I would not put a preschool child in any
program that wanted them to sit still for more than 15 to
20 minutes for circle time during a class lasting 2 to 3
hours. Emphasis on imagination and dress up and block
play is very important in most preschool classrooms.
snip: descriptions of two different preschools

Thanks for taking the time to give such complete descriptions of your
two different preschools. They both have lots of great activites. I'm
looking forward to Julie getting such varied experiences!
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 7 mo.
And Jaden, 1 month

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

"Cheryl S." wrote in message
...

I take a long time to make "big" decisions, so I want to start early.
;-)

Depending on your area, you aren't all that early. I had Matthew registered
for 2003-2004 at his nursery school this time *last year*.
--
JennP.

mom to Matthew 10/11/00
remove "no........spam" to reply

Ericka Kammerer wrote in message
...
I would recommend asking around and checking credentials
(though some very good preschools aren't accredited) to get a
short list of schools to look at.

What credentials am I looking for? Who do I check them with?

Actually, before you do that
you need to decide what sort of experience you're looking for--
something more academic, or something more social? There are
definitely schools that don't have an academic focus. We
chose one of those four our children and were very happy
with it.

I guess it depends on what the academics are. Until I read toto's post
I thought the academics were just letters, numbers, colors, shapes etc
which she already knows. But if they are more science/nature oriented
that would be cool, and the art and gym activities sound great too.
Right now, I'd say the main priority is building self-confidence in her
ability to interact with other kids, but it's hard to say if that's
still going to be the #1 important thing 10 months from now.

snip For the most part,
I think if you visit the schools and see the teachers in action,
you'll know very quickly when you've found someplace that
feels right to you. snip

That makes sense, and is reassuring to hear. Thanks!
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 7 mo.
And Jaden, 1 month

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

JennP wrote in message
news:St_nb.41976$mZ5.238171@attbi_s54...
Depending on your area, you aren't all that early. I
had Matthew registered for 2003-2004 at his nursery
school this time *last year*.

I remember reading about preschool registration here on mk last fall and
being glad it came up, because otherwise it would never have occurred to
me to start looking into it soon enough this year.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 7 mo.
And Jaden, 1 month

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
...

There may be a variety of credentials. The preschool
we used was NYAEC (did I get that right?) accredited.

Close. NAEYC. National Association for the Education of Young Children.

--
JennP.

mom to Matthew 10/11/00
remove "no........spam" to reply