[Sabra]

Hello:

I was visiting different preschools and talking to friends about the different preschools in our area when my children were in their preschool years and I really noticed that there were large differences in the preschools here.

I found that knowing my child well. Helped me to know which preschool would be a positive experience for my child.

Some the the variences were in the area of duration of hours for the student to attend.

Interaction times with peers and adults varued at the schools.

The facility itself varied.

One of my daughters loved to climb. It was neat to see her get excited over the play structures. She also loves animals. Her preschool did a great job with helping with possible separation anxiety. They had a pet or reptile in the first area that my child would see when she would come in her preschool. She would become so facinated with the new animal of the week she had no problem saying "Bye mom!" She has mentioned over the years some of the things she really enjoyed at that special preschool. Her comment are a joy to hear.

It took some research but I found the best preschool for my daughters were not the most expensive but the ones that truly understood preschoolers and loved them. We also went for an environment that gave choices and had routine but was not structured with detailed tablework.

We all had fun!! And the teachers were great!

What have some of you found at the preschools in your area?

Preschoolers are at such an age of discovery.

Warm regards,

[saj]

Hi Sabre,
(I hope I spelled that right)

I have a little girl who will be 3 in April and a boy who will be 4 in June. They are both in preschool because I work outside of the home. They have been at their preschool since Aug of 2001. Prior to that they were in a private home daycare for one year. (I chose an in-home day care in the beginning because both of my babies came out of shelters and I felt they needed the consistency and nurturing of one caretaker in a family atmosphere more then they needed preschool.) However my son's speech therapist recommended that he go into a more stimulating setting when he was 26 months old.
Academically my pre school is doing a great job with my children. But I have issues about teacher turn-over....its high, and moving the kids around to keep their numbers legal. I often have issues concerning the teachers' behavior management skills, as well as their ability to meet the emotional needs of my children. ( I of course think my children are perfect)
Several times I have thought of moving them, but the kids like it there; they have many friends and continuity is very important for them. They both had a rough start in life, and I feel that change would be damaging to them. Also, I did search carefully before enrolling them. So I have decided for now that the devil I know is better then the devil I don't know. I would be glad to get advbice from others. Thanks Saj.

[khnath]

We're struggling with this issure right now. We're looking at 3 preschools for next year. My son is 3 1/2 and currently is in a Cooperative preschool. We had every intention of returning to the Coop up until about a month ago. My son had missed about 5 weeks of school due to the holidays, and then he had tube and adenoid surgery, had strep and 2 bouts of a nasty flu virus. So, in January and Feb. he had regressed in his behavior and was behaving quite immaturely for where he should be. Infact his teacher suggested we hold him back in the 3's program again next year. My son will be 4 in the summer and there is no way I'm holding him back in a 3's program. Doesn't make sene to us at this point.

That said, the last 2 weeks of Feb. he has been doing really well but we've all ready begun the search for new school. And there are 2 others we're considering. They're all learn through play schools. One is through our public school and we know he will get outdoor play every day that the weather is good. The other is a private preschool and he would get a lot more "active" playtime there and these are both close to home. We're leaning towards the program through the schools, because we thought maybe he'd meet some kids that might be in his kindergarten class.

The Coop is a lot of work, and I am on the board of directors. Which is added work and meetings. The school is about 30 mins from our home, and all their field trips are quite bit south of the school. We're also in the process of adopting our second child, and working in the classroom and all the driving is going to be more difficult.

I hate giving up my board position because it has been a lot of fun, and I have really enjoyed the women. I also like being able to steer my son's education. We feel really empowered because we make, uphold, change, implement policy for our school and ultimately for our kids.

The coop was an excellent way to start out. I didn't feel like I was completely handing my kid off to strangers for the morning, and it made it a much easier transition for both my son and myself.

[vicrose]

I have a 3 year old who has been going to a nursery school that is through the church. It has worked out pretty well with her there this year. The first month all she did was cry, but since then, she has made lots of friends, and become a social butterfly. They have lots of playtime, but her favorite thing to do is painting. Next year I am thinking of putting her in the Pre-K program through our local school district, because she will be able to meet other kids that will be in her Kindergarten class, and it's a little more structured than the regualr nursery schools. Sincerely, Brenda....

[Carolina Mommy]

We have a 3 1/2 year old little boy who is enjoying his preschool experience so much. I was able to stay home with him for about 10 months and then went back to work. I really did worse than he did even though we had hired a nanny. When our nanny suddenly returned to Canada we had to make quick decisions. We first enrolled him in a church 1/2 day preschool program that was great for his age(1 year old). I was having trouble being happy away from him and decided to volunteer to work in my own church's summer adventures program to see if I would enjoy doing that with him. I loved it and worked for our church for 2 years and decided the curriculum was not creative enough to hold my childs attention so I applied at a wonderful Christain based dayschool near our home. We have been there for two years now and we both love it. I love being down the hall from him. If he needs me I am there quickly. He is learning so much about social behavior and educational tools. The program he is in is A-Beka and it is really advanced and fun. It also has christian aspects to teaching as well. He can write is first and last name which I find incredible. They have been working on upper and lower case letters since August and are on the letter S this week. They have group time of the morning and afternoon where they all form a circle around the teacher and listen to a teaching story or have sharing time relating to the letter. They say the Pledge of Allegience, The Pledge to the Christian Flag and to the Bible. They have center time and share room responsibilities as the Helper of the Day. They have a great ourdoor playground sectioned off by age. Before we adopted I didn't think I wanted to put my child in daycare, but if you really research your area you will find centers that are not just babysitting your child, but nurturing them as well.

We live in South Carolina and are very happy with Kyles day school experience.

Good Luck to everyone,
Kim

Yes, there certainly ARE differences. I am a teacher of two-year-olds at an accredited "learning center". The standards of my center are very high, although of course it's classified as a "daycare" tossing it into a catch-all bin that can often be confusing to parents who don't know what to expect. First of all, a GOOD pre-school will have a curriculum, even for children as young as 12 months old. Not that they sit and do worksheets all day. A curriculum is a learning plan, a posted schedule outlining pre-planned daily activities for the children, at this age often dealing with sensory experiences and exploring their environment. Also, a GOOD pre-school will not over-utilize the television (ours does not use TV at all). Sure, I've heard the argument that "Barney" and other videos are educational, but really... anything that Barney can teach a child, a pre-school teacher can teach better because she will actually be interacting with the child, not just entertaining him like Barney on the screen. I only know the laws for my own state, but I think most states require pre-school teachers to be certified, meaning that they must hold current CPR and First Aid certificates and take a designated number of hours of continuing education classes in Child Development each year (in my state, it's only fifteen hours, although many teachers choose to take more). A good pre-school will have a low student-teacher ratio: the law is a maximum of eleven 2-yr-olds for every adult, a maximum of nine one-year-olds, a maximum of five infants per adult. A REALLY good pre-school will have student-teacher ratios even lower than that, although schools like this can be costly and there is often-times a waiting list. Finally, the school should be well-lit, pleasant, clean, friendly and inviting. State inspectors regularly inspect ALL daycares and pre-schools in my state to make sure they meet minimum standards of sanitation and child-safety, but still... it's easy to tell, from touring a pre-school, whether or not it's really "child-friendly". Forget about the decorations high up on the walls: get down on your knees and try to visualize the classroom from a child's perspective. Anyway, these are my suggestions about finding the best pre-school for your child. Remember, pre-school is preparatory to "real school" and should provide a variety of different learning experiences, not merely have the children watch TV or play outside all day long.

[foreverbaby 2]

Hi. Choosing the right daycare to care for your child all day, can be fun, and frightening at the same time. I mean, you hear so many stories about bad daycares. But.. there are good ones too.
We had our 5 yr. old in this daycare, for almost 3 yrs. It was good, until he got older it seemed they wouldn`t let them just be kids. They couldn`t do this, or that. Our ds was getting into playing dinasaurs. I picked him up one day, and his teacher said she had to get on to him, for playing dinasaurs. I said, Why?" Well.. they all want to be the bad dinasaur, and chase each other around going, ggrrr, and we are afraid someone is going to get hurt. I thought,"Oh my gosh."
There was way to much TV. It seemed the kids were forced to sit and watch TV. That`s when I said, enough. We enrolled him elsewhere and he`s been there for almost 6 months. I can only remember twice, that the kids were in front of the TV, and that`s because it was raining outside.
I believe in protecting our kids and keeping them safe, but I also believe, let them be kids! They need to explore there imagination, run and play. not sit in front on the TV, being forced to watch a program there not interested in.