What "Extras" Does Your Preschool Offer? (P/T Conferences? Programs? Etc.)

Hi J.,

My son attends a morning preschool program which is situated in a lovely finished basement. (It doesn't look like a home program.. it is a legit preschool with an art/cloak room and a main room.) I love going into the space... this morning there will be a fire in the fireplace. Mmmm...

The teachers are great and we have conferences twice a year. They do regular phone calls home at least once every month or so to check in with us, plus a daily hello and goodbye and notes sent home frequently. And a newsletter. I feel like I know what's going on at preschool.

No PTO/PTA. No report cards-- (I've never seen them in my work with this age, either) No programs or concerts. We have two large family gathering potlucks each year: one at beginning, one at end. We have two family-invited events: 2 stone soup days and 2 parent appreciation teas, so that kid have one guest each day, and to ensure that all the kids have at least one day in which to enjoy the activity. Many kids don't attend the full week.

I love that there are plenty of 'extras' intrinsic to the program, the curriculum is rich and educates the whole child. In regard to rates, we send our son 3 mornings a week and pay $487 a month for tuition. It's more expensive than some schools, but it's also a very high-quality program with loving, experienced teachers. I'm very happy with it.

Oh, and to add: there are usually 13-14 kids per day and always two teachers out of the three: the lead teacher is there daily. For the first two weeks, they also staff with all three teachers just to help the kids. And there was a parent information night at the beginning of the year when they go through the entire handbook and answer questions regarding what to expect. I imagine that the director has decided not to do 'holiday programs' because so often that means keeping kids up way past their bedtimes in order to accommodate the schedules of working parents, and she understands that most of her families have either younger or older siblings, so those performances often end up with tired, cranky kids.:)

preschool is playschool. social skills, taking turns, playing with others, being independent, separating from mom.. those are preschool skills.

we did a school based preschool $12 per 3 hour day. we did 2 parent teacher conferences per year. a progress report and a portfolio fo their work. holiday parties for halloween, xmas, easter valentines end of school.. some were in the evening some were during the school day with parent helpers.

30 kids in the room. 3 teachers. no parent volunteers.. BUT for 1.5 hours of the 3 hours.. they separated the groups and took 1/2 the kids to another room.. there were only 30 kids in the room for large group and snack and free play. It really worked quite well with that many kids.

Is your child happy there ? does he have friends to play with? are the teachers nice and attentive to the kids?? that is what is important. If he can learn his letters at home or at preschool that is good.. but kindergarden will teach him letters if he doesnt know them.

I think expecting "report cards" is a bit much for preschool level. And I've never heard of a preschool having regular, formal parent-teacher conferences unless there was a problem to address. Maybe your background working with elementary students has you thinking more in elementary-school terms of what to expect, as opposed to preschool terms.

Our preschool (which is a few years ago now, but still there and thriving) made it easy for parents to meet with teachers and/or the director as needed. If a parent wanted an update on a child's behavior or progress, the parent just asked and it would be set up. A preschool should be small enough and flexible enough that it can do that. Have you just asked the teacher if you can get some weekly reports, since your child was put in a class different from what you anticipated? That's a good reason to ask, and she should say yes to that (if she says no, I'd want to know why). But the reports do not have to be written; you could arrange with her, for instance, that every Friday you get your daughter last so the teacher can talk with you for 10 minutes after pickup (and other parents aren't waiting).

As for "extra social things" or "after school family nights" as you called them, there will be SO much of that once she's in elementary school. I'm not sure what you're looking for there, but families with preschool age kids and usually a few younger toddler siblings in tow, like your own family, often are just too busy and tired to do a lot of extra social stuff surrounding preschool -- especially at night or on weekends. The idea of parent coffee times during the preschool hours is fine but I would not expect to have those kinds of events very often, with parents having jobs and/or other kids. Again, the expectation sounds more like an elementary school expectation.

Your idea about getting to know the teachers' backgrounds etc. is a good one. It's possible that the new director just lost the idea in the rush of getting the school year going etc. I am surprised there was nothing like an open house/meet-the-teacher/orientation, though. Our preschool had the teachers visit the children at the children's homes before they ever came to the preschool, and then there was an initial week of one-hour visits for the kids in their preschool classrooms. Some form of orientation or teacher "greeting" is a good idea for new preschoolers.

Our preschool had events such as the Christmas "concert" where the kids sang some songs they'd learned; a Mother's Day tea in the classrooms, where the moms turned up and had teatime with the kids and got lovely little gifts they'd made us; a Father's Day tea along the same lines -- those were most of the events for parents.

We also were fortunate to have some extras like an "after-preschool" program where some kids (those who signed up and yes, paid extra) could stay an extra hour one day a week for a special themed program (horses or big trucks and trains or whatever); a music teacher who came in and did music lessons; a science teacher who came in once a week for an age-appropriate and hands-on science lesson; and a speech therapist who came in most weeks and worked with the whole class on stories and words, and who through that identified any kids who might have speech issues to address (the preschool didn't offer actual therapy but parents could pursue it privately if they wanted). Yes, that's a LOT and it was all great. But the key thing is that preschool's for socialization and learning through play!

My son attends a special needs prek thru the district. I am quite pleased, thus far we have had a successful parent teacher conference where we went over the goals set for my son based on his evaluation, where he is on those goals now and how ready for kindergarden he is. He is one of 10 with two teachers, some classes have three teachers depending on the needs of the kids in the class. No program of any type is done due to the kid's we have many with sensory issues - would not work well. We have TONS of school family activity nights, we have a T.O.T.S. (togetherness offers total support) program that is much like a PTA and I am an officer on it. We do Scholastic Book Fairs (2/yr), an Art Show in the spring, Mall in the Hall (craft fair) in the winter, and an end of the school year family night thing too. Our TOTS program also has monthly reading logs where if they are filled out (read 10 books to your kids a month) then the child is sent home with a free book from us. My son attends 5days a week and it's free thru the district. We are also invited to the classroom to do activities with the kids about once a month, there are dress up days like "red pajama day" to go with the reading theme of "Llama Llama Red Pajama" and scholastic donated 330 books so each kid could take a copy of it home! Also instead of halloween we did "green monster day" and read a book "Go Away Green Monster" and had each room set up with different activities and the kids got to have a wonderful day and parents could come that day and join in the activities. Tomorrow I am going to build a gingerbread house with my son in his class.

My son will be starting in Jan. But I know that the program is good. Yes there will be parent teacher confs. I know that they have a Christmas program, Not sure what else yet. my son is only 3.

My 4yo is in a full week pre-k program in our day care facility.
We had a "back to school" pre-k round up and have p/t meetings every six months scheduled and more if we want to meet one-on-one.
No report cards, per se. Just daily discussions, etc. I don't believe report cards are standard at pre-k as their goal is to get child ready for school and school routine, working together, circle time, baisc counting and letters. My son now knows how to write his first and last name, basic word spellings and basic addition. My center uses High/Scope Curriculum model.
We have a quarterly after hours family event planned by the staff (our parent group hasn't really taken off yet). We also have special things for our kiddos in Pre-K like field trips to library, the pumpkin patch and a visit from the firefighters, etc. I pay about $150 a week (I work full time so he is there from about 7:30 - 4). Plus an annualy $75 fee for supplies. Breakfast, lunch and one snack are included and they do a lot of fun, service learning projects too (food drive, adopt a family, etc).
Each teacher in my son's classroom provided a write up about themselves, their education, special credentials and why they love working with children.
I feel soo blessed.
If you need some more/better references, contact your local Resource and Referral agency. I don't know details for Indiana, but google NACCRRA and do a search. They typically have a service wehre you tell them what you want/are looking for and they give you 5-7 leads to check out (you could include curriculum, price, part time,e tc).
Sorry - that was A LOT of info. sounds like your daughter deserves a little more from this place:)
Best!

My daughter only went to preschool when she was four for two morning per week. This program was through my city, Miss Claudia and Miss Becky were awesome!

My daughter is 18 no so the cost wouldn't be close, plus it was for seven hours per week.

We had an orientation night, A Halloween parade, a think a minimized Christmas party, a Mother's day program for the Moms and Grandma's, something with the dads and grandpas (maybe drinks and donuts or something) and a "graduation" at the park.

No report cards, no parent teacher conferences (we always had an opportunity to talk if necessary), no PTO/PTA. This was preschool, I would have been a little surprised if those things were present. I never thought that anything was missing but I wasn't signing her up for Harvard prep, just something to do with her friends from dance class before K.

At this age, I felt responsible for most of the academic/fun learning (she could read at this point) and there were enough programs, conferences, PTA, sports and volunteering in my future.

I would love to know your expectations and what type of program your child is in.

Wow. The school district is running the school?

My daughter went to a private pre-school that had a school board made up of the founders who are early child psychologists.

The pre-school did not have a daycare program. It ran from 9 a.m. to noon. No lunch. (I think you could sign up for something, but we chose not to). The day was run like school, and the boundaries were well defined.

The report card was a narrative about my daughter's typical moments including how she learned and how she interacted with others. It included several photos of my daughter in action.

There were two conferences a year. We discussed separation anxiety, speech progress, interpersonal communication, artistic ability and how she spent her day.

There were parent meetings at night about every two weeks.

There were monthly art nights or other gathering nights.

There were "volunteer" days to help with the raking of leaves.

There were weekly updates via email. The daily schedule of what occurred was posted at the classroom door so that parents could know what songs were sung and what stories were read.

The school had 6 kids per teacher, though the law in Michigan is 12 kids (I think.)

There was a silent auction fundraiser and dinner held annually. One could work for it or just attend.

There was a PTO of some sort that worked on fund raising.

One teacher was an arts coordinator who taught the kids art history, how to do art, movement and music and other things. She also sent home reports with photos about once a quarter.

There was a graduation where the kids sang songs and had a ceremony.

There were some pot luck lunches together.

There really weren't any programs the kids put on. Perhaps that was too much for three and four-year-olds. On the art nights, we got to see the kids in action doing a project they might do during the daytime.

It cost money, but I was pleased.

The local gymnastics studio would bring the bus without seats and do gymnastics once per week during the day(instead of after) so we didn't do it.
They also had a Spanish teacher come once a week during the afternoon.
I did not pay for either because I was already paying for preschool.

My son goes to a an autism preschool classroom that is in one of our local elementary schools. This program is specifically for anywhere between 6-9 children with autism spectrum disorders or other neurological disorders. Children like my son attend for free. They also have 5-6 peer models(typical children)of preschool age. Those children's parents must undergo several interviews and pay tuition for their children to attend. My son's class has 13 children total this year.

There is one head teacher that has over 20 years of experience and advanced training working with special needs children. The two aides have been working with special needs children for over 10 years respectively and have undergone years of training. There are also two therapists that my son sees(speech and occupational)each of which are at least five years into their respective fields.

My son attends the typical 5 day school week from 9-1:30 so on district half days he does not attend. We do receive conferences at least two times a year and can of course call everyone to conference if we feel the need. He does receive report cards, however his report cards are NOT the typical elementary school report cards. They are focused more on his abilities and emerging skills rather than subject grading. Next year, upon entering kindergarten they will be but he will still receive the same report cards he currently gets as well.

The class has several family nights, but they are usually family events during the school day. The school of course does have a PTA but the special needs preschool does not partake in any of the PTA fundraisers or events. We are of course invited to attend, however it is not something that would suit my child's interests.

I realize our situation is different than most but wanted to throw in our experience on the topic.

What type of preschool does your child attend? (in a church? daycare? within the school district? other?) My son is 3 1/2 and he is in a preschool at one of the elementary schools in our district.

Do you get "report cards" of any type? How often? What do they include? We get daily reports in his calendar/folder. Then every 6 weeks we get an e-mail update of his progress.

Do you have parent/teacher conferences? How often? We have conferences in the spring and in the fall, and can schedule a conference as needed.

Do the kids put on a program of any type? How often? They did a Thanksgiving program, will have a Christmas one, and a spring one.

Are there any after school family nights or activities? They have had a Fall Fair, Donuts for Dads, Muffins for Mom, and have a Christmas party next week. Not sure about in the spring yet.

How many kids are in the room? How many adults? There are 12 students, 3 adults in the morning , and 3 in the afternoon.

Is there a PTO/PTA that orchestrates any of this? There is a PTA

How often does your kiddo attend and what do you pay (if you don't mind me asking)? My son goes M-F from 7am to 4:30 pm. We pay $50/month, but this is a reduced rate offered to teachers in the district. The program isn't open enrollment, you must teach in the district to have your child attend.

We are lucky with this program, and we do know it, but it did make us look more critically at programs for our daughter when we were getting ready to start her in a program.

We are very lucky. Our school offers parent orientation before school, 3 or 4 parent education nights, plus group meetings with the classroom teachers, and 1 home visit early in the year from one of the classroom teachers. And the teachers are readily available for any questions via email, and welcome parents/grandparents, etc. to visit and see the child in action/interacting with other kids. We have lucked into a truly awesome program. It is affiliated with the local Unitarian Universalist church, and is called the School For Young Children. If they'd let me, I'd sign my son up for every day of the week!

At a church
Report cards for the classes every quarter, (twice a year for the day care) what is on them depends on the age of the child . Day care they focused on the skills like zipping a zipper, cutting with scissors that were age appropriate. They were a form card that the teacher marked how they were doing with each skill. For the Preschool they focus on the things they are supposed to achieve through the year, can count to 20, penmen ship, knowing the sounds they are learning and things like that.

Parent teacher conferences are twice a yeay (1st quarter, and 3rd quarter)

They put on two programs a Christmas one and a spring sing.

Family night other than the programs is after the spring sing they have all the halls and gym decorated with an art show from the year. There is also a back to school night but this is parents only. The parents are also invited to all the classroom parties.

Ratios depend on the age Pre k is 1 adult to 14 kids Day care was one adult to 7 kids and it is lower for the baby room 1-3 i think

We have no PTA

5 mornings 2.5 hours at 145, next year for k witll be 5 days 6.5hours at 350

If you have no interaction with the teacher and no way of knowing where your child is falling short and needs help I would look for a different place. You need to know the thigns they schould be learning and how they are doing. Like we were using flash card to teach my son the sounds they were working on and we thought he had them then he comes home with an evaluation that showed he did not know most of them. We disscovered that he was cheating and looking at the pictures on them and getting the sound off of that. Problems solved. With out knowing what is going on in the class room you will never know how to help them at home. Thatt is just my two cents. I look for accountability. Also at pick up if there is something that happend his teacher tells me (good or bad) wwhat was doine and the reward or penlty.