How did you find your preschool/MDO?

My girls are 2.5 this month. I'd like to start looking into a MDO/preschool program for them soon. I don't know many people with kids in this area, all my friends are in surrounding areas. So, where do I start? I tried looking in the yellow pages but I guess I'm dense and can't find anything. :unsure: So how did you find yours? Where did you start looking? How many did you check out before you found the right one? Thanks ladies! I feel like I'm full of questions lately.

 

First of all, go back to the yellow pages and look for "nursery school" instead of preschool.

Then, just start talking to people. Ask people with young children where their kids go to preschool, and if they like it and why.

I picked our preschool due to positive comments from friends, and the fact that they offered more than one preschool class per age at a time, so I had the option of separating or not.

 

I called the school's superintendent's office. They gave me a list (and phone numbers!) of all private and public preschools in the area.

 

We found ours by word of mouth and referrals from friends. But I would call the local school district if I didn't know a lot of people. You might also want to look into your city Community Center if you have one. Our city has an awesome Tiny Tots program that we considered.

 

My local library had a preschool fair. I also spoke to most of my neighbors. My girls are going to the preschool that alot of my neighbors used.

 

We've been in ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) since the twins were 3 months old. That is the same place they are going for preschool.

 

Thanks everyone! These are all good ideas!!

QUOTE(sharongl @ Nov 4 2008, 07:18 PM) [snapback]1056308[/snapback]
First of all, go back to the yellow pages and look for "nursery school" instead of preschool.

Then, just start talking to people. Ask people with young children where their kids go to preschool, and if they like it and why.

I picked our preschool due to positive comments from friends, and the fact that they offered more than one preschool class per age at a time, so I had the option of separating or not.


I went back to the yellow pages and found it under 'school'...go figure. :lol: I marked a few close by but it's the big city-wide YP, I need to find the one for just our city. I'm also going to ask a few more parents at the Little Gym we attend. Thanks again!

 

We found ours through our Special Ed teacher. She recommended it highly and I was so excited they had spaces for us! We love it!

 

Ours was only on Tuesday morning but it was mentioned to us by another mom of twins. I'm not a big preschool fan for kids that don't really need it or aren't going to daycare anyway but the Tuesday school was fun for the kids. It was through the Church of Christ and I think there are a few of them that run Tuesday Schools.

 

Great suggestions already posted, but if all else fails:

You can seach the NAEYC website by zip at http://www.naeyc.org/academy/search/. We have a free city paper that lists preschools, daycare, etc. You can also try local churches -- many have preschools that may or may not be directly affiliated with the church.

Best of luck.