All of this is going to be very school specific- but, these are the things that really made my kid's preschool experience so beautiful (and worth the $$$$$).
The school is in a gorgeous (adapted) historic home, with a huge play yard with chickens (in a coop), rabbits (in a hutch) and various gardens (butterfly, veggie, herb). They had the same very well educated, amazing teachers the entire time we were there (6 straight years) and they're still there- they reach out every now and then to ask about the kids. They had a bi-weekly yoga class (and a yoga room for non-class days), a weekly "tumbling" teacher, and a daily music class for the full day kids (twice a week for the little ones).
They washed their own dishes and utensils daily, cleaned up their eating area, and composted uneaten food. The student population was racially and religiously diverse (though not very socially or economically varied- this, again, is pretty school specific). They celebrated holidays from around the world and had tons of great guest speakers. They could paint on easels on the deck under the oak trees, use modeling wax or pastels to create art inside, and made tons of illustrated yarn bound books about the things they learned. The kindergartners went on fantastic field trips. The whole school (including the small elementary) held performances in the winter and the spring (before summer break).
It was awesome for our kids and our family. Ultimately, we decided that they should be in a public neighborhood school for elementary, with true diversity- and we haven't regretted that choice (much- ha- public education in FL is a war).
This thread has made me realize I don't really know what my kid does at daycare all day. I mean, I know he eats, naps plays outside and does art, but that's about it....
Same here! I can't imagine what he is doing for 8-9 hours... or frankly how the daycare staff can handle being around him for that long! Kid never stops moving or talking.
We only have 2 church preschools in my town that are both part time, and one preschool at the local college which I'm sure is $$$, so this discussion of all these options is interesting.
Thank you for the explanations. It helped me understand a bit more about the structure of the classes and gave me a million more questions about whether or not that would be the right place for us. I’ll definitely schedule some in person visits.
We did PT Montessori for both kids at that age, and I would highly recommend it for children that age. It is play-based, with a high focus on self-care and being self-sufficient. I love our Montessori school and both our kids went there (DS still attends and will through August before he goes to PS K).
I know almost NOTHING about Montessori, so this might be a stupid question - is it as unstructured as I think it is? Like, they can truly just do whatever they want? Cause other kids are going to learn and my kid will sit there and play with the same truck toy for the whole 3 hours he's there.
In our experience, no, it's not completely unstructured. Both kids do a morning intro with the class (singing, stretching, discussing the morning question, etc.), then a morning work cycle. They choose their activities themselves, though I know their teachers encourage them to do things they don't typically gravitate toward. They do the work they've chosen (could be puzzles, building blocks, coloring, workbooks, working on letters/numbers through various methods, etc.), put it back, get something else. There are two or three work cycles in a day for DS1.
DS1 is like yours and will play with vehicles all damn day. They definitely don't allow him to do that. I have lots of pictures of the various work he does, including life skills things, like screwing lids onto jars, putting keys in locks, putting a toy car together with a wrench and screwdriver, etc.
The focus is on allowing them enough independence to make choices for themselves, self-sufficiency with cleaning up after themselves and the classroom, and learning skills for K-12 through play.
I am late to the party on this thread. First, I think it's a good idea to keep in mind what PPS said about making sure you have something that works for your family, caring teachers etc. That really is the most important, and your kid isn't going to be set on the wrong path by picking the "wrong" preschool.
Our DD goes to a francophone preschool 2 half days a week. I would prefer it to be more, but this is the school's programme and her age group is only set at that frequency since it's a small school. It is not close to where we live, but the language is a priority for us, so my H doesn't mind the drive. It is technically also a Christian preschool, and neither of us are religious, but since it is in a United Church with pride flag painted staircases, we weren't worried about that. Most of her newsletters come home with notices like "This month we encourage each other in kindness" for the religious education. They have a semi structured environment - free play at different stations in the morning, with various art projects they can also work on, and life skill stuff (jars, Keys etc). Then snack, outside to play, songs and stories. The songs and stories are really important for the language development since not all kids come from francophone homes.
We love it BUT none of this would matter if it weren't for her wonderful teachers. They are what make her preschool great, and if we weren't happy with them, we would definitely move her, even if it had to be to an English school.
The independent and franchise places here all offer PT and FT options but they offer one option for each - it’s not really a design-your-own kind of deal for PT. Obviously you could choose to send less but you’d pay for the standard PT program regardless. The religious programs only offer PT. We toured Goddard and rejected it since ours doesn’t have a kitchen and it’s the most expensive. The school itself seemed great though. The Montessori operates just like the public elementary school - same hours, same holidays. We live in an area where there is a plethora of options, and all so different in how they operate. Even the franchises vary so much.
I don’t think it hurts to think about this now. It can be a lot of competing information!
My DD went to Goddard part time for years starting from 20 months when she dropped to one nap. She started at 3 days/wk and moved to 5 days by 30 months. Part time meant 7 - 1 or 9 - 3 for 2 to 5 days/wk. I picked the 7 - 1 time slot but sent her from 9 - 1. She would come home to eat lunch and nap. The 9 - 3 kids napped at school from 1 - 3. She started full time for the first time this year at their Kindergarten. She learned all kinds of good stuff for years without much effort from me.
Would you consider sending your second child at the same time? I started DS at the same school at 6 months but he goes full time because I don’t have the energy to manage him like I did with DD. However he could have also gone part time. I’ve loved almost everything about both of their experiences. Well except that small period when the infant teacher was counting the days until DS moved up right before his first birthday and started practicing to transition him from when he turned a mere 10 months. But you wouldn’t have to deal with that and she just had it in her to move his super mobile baby self on out from the snuggly stationary babies.
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think pre-school, especially at 3/4 is at least (if not more) about what works for your family than actual structured learning. yes, it is generally important to socialize, adjust to a school/classroom setting, etc.
but if you can find a place that works for your schedule, is convenient and has good, caring teachers and a safe environment that makes you comfortable, I would put those things above just about all else.
You're smart and always right. I've been steering away from church-based schools, but in looking at them, most claim to be non-denominational and just happen to be in a church so they might not be off the table like I thought.
I run into this a lot and I’m in Texas so definitely ask what curriculum they use. You might be surprised!
Post by HitchedIn2006 on May 21, 2019 8:56:50 GMT -5
We used a city parks and rec program at age 3 and a church preschool at age 4. I really wanted something with more structure than the park program, and the church program was the best in the area. Our state offers universal pre-k, so there may be a program for that as well at the Y or elementary school. Our local community College has a preschool program (students do lots of observation hours).
We aren’t in a crazy metro area, simple Midwest life, but some programs fill up by February. It really kind depends on how many kids were born that year!