What to Look for in a Pre School?

Be sure to pay attention to whether the kids look happy or not. Also, how do the teachers talk to the kids? I made the mistake of going with a place that looked clean and organized and had all the checklist stuff (safety, etc.) but found out only later how they were woefully closed off to the kids (not engaging with them enough, not loving enough). Now my son is at an awesome daycare/preschool and the teachers are really warm and loving and the kids are all super happy to be there (most dont want to leave at the end of hte day).

Go with your gut - if you're visiting a place and something jsut doesn't fee right follow your instinct. Women use both sides of the brain at the same time and we have this instinct for a purpose. Use it.

Gorgeous facilities are not always better places. A pre-school that spends it's money on the staff is a far better choice than one that spends in on the "high quality maple blocks" and realisitc dinosaurs toys. The beautiful rooms, toys and furniture can be decieving.

Look at how clean the place is. Look in the corners, pick up a toy and look at the nooks & crannies. If the corners of the rooms are cruddy and there are cheerios by the molding iwth dust on them - they don't vacuum often. If they don't vacuum often they sure don't clean off the tables & toys often either.

Pre-schools are churches are often (not always) a good value becuase the overhead costs are lower and they can spend more on the staff. The preschool at our church has trained teachers who run the classroom and loving moms who help. The congregations brings all of their kids' gently used toys. So they kids get a great time and the parents get a great value.

1. Curriculum. Will the school work on teaching not just upper case letters but also lower case? The lower case are actually more essential for kindergarten. Otherwise, don't stress the curriculum. The main things kids get out of preschool are social skills and learning routine. Don't worry about whether your child will be a reading pro by the end of preschool. This honestly doesn't matter in the long run (by the end of kindergarten, all kids are reading). Let your child have fun in preschool and don't stress much about the academics unless it's clear there isn't an academic plan.

2. Structure. Does your child thrive on it? If so, look for schools that follow a typical routine each day. Not all do. Structure can be critical to adjusting to kindergarten.

3. Teachers. What is their educational background? What are your first impressions?

4. Most important of all is gut instinct. If you walk into a preschool and think YOU want to stay there, it's so happy and fun, then that's probably the best match.

1. Class size: the smaller the class the more they can do as a class, and the more attention your son will get. My daughter is in a classroom of 6, and I am certain she knows more than most kindergartners already! (In my not-so humble opinion LOL)

2. Belief system: We chose a Christian preschool at a local church that shares the same beliefs we do. It is amazing to watch my little one's spiritual development as well as her intellectual development.

3. Price: not just the dollar amount, but what is your dollar getting you? Are you paying a lot of money each month and still having to shell out more for each little activity they do? What is included? What else should you be aware of that you will pay?

Make sure the place is set up for the child to learn through play. Paint/blocks/dress up area/etc..

Nuturing staff. Kind and gentle. Where my kids went, they learned how to use their words, communicate with one another, work out arguments - not the teacher telling the children "work it out" but the teachers teaching them the language to use with one another. The teachers also led by example.

Our school was all day, so food (healthy food) was important. No processed stuff like "chicken" nuggets, corn dogs, pizza. Our food is homemade and the kids get fruit at both snacks.

Out door play. Trikes, jumpropes, balls, climbing equipment, sandbox, etc..

Bathroom set up - do they have a hygeine routine? Where is the bathroom located?

Teacher to child ratio.

If all day - nap? Both our preschool rooms get naps and trust me - even the parents who say, "my kid will not nap" nap. Of course it depends on the preschool but again, ours had a great nap time routine and the kids looked forward to it.

Lastly - you might gasp at an all day preschool. I did. I signed my daughter up for preschool at 4 ( my son started when he was 3) and on my daughters first day, I showed up at noon to pick her up. That is when I learned the program was all day and half day wasn't an option. (I'm sure they mentioned this, I just didn't hear it). I could pick her up at noon if I wanted but I'd still pay for all day. Well, I LOVED the school but there was no way I was going to have her in all day. That last about a week. It ended up being the perfect program, I voluntered a lot so I saw it first hand and now that both kids have been through 3 years at this school (preschool 2yrs/kindergarten 1yr) I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Sorry to be so long winded. I remember shopping for a preschool. So many things to think about. Hope this helps!

You want to make sure that the preschool has a solid core value system that reflect the belief that children learn through interactions, play and exploring... not worksheets! Preschool is a place where children "learn how to learn", so you want to see basic school structures in place like centers, morning meeting (or circle) with concepts like "line up" and "inside voices" being taught explicity and through practice.

Early literacy is a primary focus of preschool, along with language development. Your child does not need to come to Kindergarten knowing how to read and write, but he should be able to differentiate b/w letters and numbers, have a sense of narrative and basic "text concepts" solidified. They will teach all of this in Kindergarten, but children who attend preschools typically have these skills more solidified than others.

Text concepts...
- Title
- Author
- Illustrator
- Books go left-to-right/ top-to-bottom/ front-to-back
- Page number
- Basic story retells

Preschool children should have ample time to interact and develop social skills with adult facilitation to address conflicts and social questions. Lots of pretend play and "stations" to facilitate... kitchen area, dress-up, dolls/puppets, art supplies, blocks of varying shapes/sizes, etc.

My number one suggestion... if it seems like the kids are doing worksheets... run the other way! Preschoolers should be doing paper-pencil tasks, but the curriculum should not be paper-based.

I'll agree with previous suggestions, and also add that as a preschool teacher myself, I believe strongly in a play-based environment. This means that while there are 'invitations' for literacy, numeracy, science play, etc., that the kids aren't being drilled for comprehension, but rather, are allowed to discover the answers on their own, with support from the teacher.

How might this look? In my classroom, we have 'mailboxes' for each child, so the children can leave pictures and messages (sometimes they dictate it to me, and through watching my writing their words, they are interested and motivated to practice writing letters when they are ready). We have jobs each day which may ask a child to "count how many people are eating snack today" and then to gather that amount of napkins or placemats and set them out, which gives counting a purpose, instead of abstract rote number recitation (which is fine, but they need a purpose for numbers to understand what they mean). I would want to see teachers sitting close to the children and gently adding to the play by noticing things: "Trevor, you used all square blocks to make your tower, and Suzie is using the rectangles" without *directing* their play too much. Closeness and focus is also appropriate for providing social support to the children, because young children need a lot of coaching/scripting when it comes to conflict resolution/taking turns, etc. The biggest things children learn at preschool is how to get along in the group community, how to follow them through the daily routines and rhythms, and how to trust teachers and take direction from them.

Are teachers patient with the children as they work to get dressed for outside play (and there should be at least 30 minutes of outside play for every 4 hours attended, IMO), and are children encouraged to dress themselves to the best of their ability and then helped, or are the teachers impatiently doing it all for the kids? This is important to me, because this is something that slows Kindergarten teachers down in their teaching day. Self-help skills should be encouraged, so ask what happens when kids have accidents (they should be asked to help change themselves, but not to clean up urine or feces).

I personally also want to know what their discipline styles are, and if they are reliant on punishments/rewards to correct behavior, or if they are more intuitive, giving upset children space to play alone until they are ready to come back into the group, or a quiet chair to sit in if uncooperative, but out of the flow of the activity, so that the child can recover themselves and not be humiliated? Me personally, I've found out that too much reliance on time-out can create a poor classroom dynamic with more repeat offences than a more "working with" approach.

Are the teachers happy to see the kids, and do you get the sense that they like what they do? Important!

A more specific question: what sorts of toys/props are they offering? A lot of places have non-functioning noise toys, or toys that aren't well-cared for/broken, or 'character toys' which can really impede imaginative play. Toys ideally should be multi-purpose, so that the child can use them for different ideas/stories and in good condition. Likewise, the library area: books should be clean, without rips or writing, and hopefully not media-oriented. How a school keeps their classroom says a lot about how they esteem the child.

Overall, you are hopefully going to find a play that feels engaging, warm and inviting for your family. The best way to tell this is to ask to observe the classrooms in action. Happy, busy tones should be more present than the sad/upset ones. Teachers will speak respectfully to the children, and not make them the butt of jokes/sarcasm. Music might be on, but it's not the local radio station blaring over the kids, which can be disturbing and rattle little senses; instead, a more mellow cd is on. Adult conversation is appropriate to the setting and doesn't trump the child's needs for attention.
Kids who aren't quite ready to join the bigger group activities (say, sharing at circle/gathering times, or singing all the songs/fingerplays) are encouraged without a lot of fuss, and allowed to come up with answers or ideas on their own instead of teacher taking over. In short, that the kids have the environment which allows them to take chances intellectually and socially and that they receive the empathy and support young children need from their teachers.

I know this was long. Use your intuition and you'll likely be fine.

You have some very good stuff here already. Here is what I have to add. When you first start looking, it can be really difficult to grasp the whole thing. It's very overwhelming. But try to just relax. LOOK around. TALK to the director/administrators and the teachers for "your" classroom. The biggest thing for me is being able to communicate with the people who will be caring for my child. You need to know they will take the necessary time and steps to talk to you about what they see and experience with your child and they ABSOLUTELY MUST be willing take input from you. No, you cannot dictate the way everything is done, but they should be willing to take reasonable steps to reinforce your parenting and meet your expectations. It is a matter of "going with your gut" to a large extent, but that is much easier after you've done preschool for a little while. If you can get recommendations from other parents, that is very helpful. But what's right for their child/family may not be right for yours.

With a preschooler, I think enough space to play and multiple areas within the classroom to move between and play/learn in are very important. There should be room for sit down activities like eating and being read to. But there should also be activity centers for them to explore. And a well-maintained, fun outdoor area is critical too. Know what is important to you. Somethings can be worked around (like bringing your child's lunch if you don't like what they offer-we pack her lunch 4 days per week). But some things are what they are and can't be changed. Don't be shy about asking questions. How much TV do they watch? Do the children get candy? What is their daily schedule? How do I volunteer in the classroom? How many fundraisers will you be expected to participate in and what are they? Try to never assume that certain things are done in a way that's acceptable to you. You would be shocked to know how some of these places operate.

If they don't like all your questions, move on to another school! A good school will welcome parents who really care about their child and their environment. They know that parents who invest in their kids lead to better behaved kids (well, most of the time). They will want you to work with them and they should be more than willing to work with you.

Oh, and make sure the space is age appropriate. Are the bathroom facilities accessible for a 3 year old? Can they wash their own hands? Do the toys, outdoor areas, etc., challenge your child while still being safe and appropriate?

It's very stressful and you may not find the "perfect" place, but you should feel good about dropping your child off there and know that they care about your child almost as much as you do. Good luck!!