Preschool shopping

I'm on the fence about when to send the girls to preschool since they were born on our town's cutoff date for starting school. But...that's another post. Preschools around here start enrolling now through January for next fall. So if we do decide to send them then, I need to get cracking on my research now.

I'm going to start calling around to check them out but have no clue what sorts of questions I should be asking them. We have 6 in our area, and I know off the bat 2 of them I just cannot afford. So that leaves me 4 to call. Where do I start?

 

Here are a few things to think/ask about:

Observe classes -- can you bring your kids to visit
Typical day
Student:teacher ratio
Teacher turnover rate
What do they do when teachers are sick
Student return rate
Are there conferences
Food: Provided/bring your own
Type of curriculum [i.e., play-based, etc.]
Certification [NAEYC, other]
Any specific concerns you have [i.e., food allergies, biting, etc.]

Best of luck

 

I would get what PP stated and do a visit:

A visit will give you a good 'feel' for the school- which is much more important when 2 schools are comparable in $ and facilities.

Also talk to other moms and see the 'pros/cons' of school they have been involved with.

 

Michelle, also look into if they have more than one class at a time. That gives you the option to separate them or not.

 

I think the days of the week are very important. I have huge creatures of habit and I know it would have been a difficult thing if the days they went were not consecutive. So, we chose a M,T,W program the first year (as opposed to say M.W,F) then the second year was M,T,W, Thu. They thrive on routine and going 3 days in a row with 4 days not going I think we were able to establish it a lot more easily than one day going, the next day not, the next day going then two days not etc etc. What I am trying to say is you know your children best and finding out these little details can be important to some while not so important to others.


Not sure how you comprised your list but if you haven't done so already, check out the local school system to see if they have a preschool. My children went to the public school preschool, it was accredited!

 

QUOTE(ehm @ Oct 30 2008, 02:01 PM) [snapback]1049146[/snapback]
I think the days of the week are very important. I have huge creatures of habit and I know it would have been a difficult thing if the days they went were not consecutive. So, we chose a M,T,W program the first year (as opposed to say M.W,F) then the second year was M,T,W, Thu. They thrive on routine and going 3 days in a row with 4 days not going I think we were able to establish it a lot more easily than one day going, the next day not, the next day going then two days not etc etc.


I totally agree with this. The boys go T, W, Th. For us, this is a great benefit!


I also would be sure to visit. I visited one prior to the one I actually chose. When I saw it, I was really happy but then when I saw the one I finally chose, I looked back at the other one and did not like it at all!