ADVICE RATING |
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choosing a preschool |
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by BebeBuzz  (August 2006) (rank 500+) |
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I can not believe the day has already come that I begin to interview preschools for my 16 month old. She will be turning 2 years old in the later half of the year. She’s just a baby in our eyes, but in our area, the Northeast, it
is very common to send your child to preschool when they are 2 years old. On Sunday, the day before my first interview, my friend Jaymee came over. She is a former nursery school teacher and is also in the process of interviewing preschools for her daughter Mia. She asked me what questions I was planning to ask at my informational interview to which I replied “I had no idea you were supposed to have questions prepared”. She said it’s important to know what to look for and what to know about each school so that you can find the right one for your child. Each child has different needs and each family feels that different things are important factors in theirs child’s early education. She gave me a list of questions that she felt were important and that would give me a good understanding of the program I was going to see. After having my meeting, I realized that if I had not had these questions prepared ahead of time, I would have walked out having a good overview of the general program but now I was completely prepared and well informed to make a great decision between several programs and have enough detailed information to make an educated choice. The questions really helped me, a parent who wants only the best for my child, but also a parent with no prior knowledge of what is involved in the pre-school process. I am sure that it is way more common for parents to be in my shoes than Jaymee’s shoes. She is in a unique position to know so much about this process without having gone through it already as a parent. I considered myself lucky to have been able to use her expertise. Hopefully you will find her questions as helpful as I did.
Questions to ask when choosing a preschool:
- What is your philosophy? Play or educational centered?
- What is the structure of the day?
- Does the teacher send home a newsletter? If yes, is it weekly or monthly?
- What snacks do you provide? Is it a peanut-free school?
- How do you deal with potty training?
- Do you celebrate birthdays? If yes, what is done to celebrate?
- Is further assistance/evaluations provided should you child need special services like occupational therapy. How is it then dealt with in the classroom?
- Do you do movement and music?
- Are home visits done before the school year so that the students get a chance to meet the teachers ahead of time?
- Do you have an indoor gym facility in addition to an outdoor playground for cold/rainy days?
- Do you do parent/teacher conferences? How many per year?
- What is your phase-in schedule? (this means how is parent separation dealt with at the beginning of the school year)
- Do you provide diapers or are the children required to arrive at school each day with them?
- What is the teacher/child ratio?
- Are there student teachers?
- What is the policy on picking up students? Is it strictly who the parents write down on a list or it it more lax?
It is important to note that there is no right or wrong answer to these questions. They are simply to allow you to have a better understanding of the school and its specific program. You may have specific requirements and these questions will help find out if the program meets them.
Karen White (BebeBuzz) is a mother of two and the Founder/President of Bebebuzz.com. She also runs an online baby boutique at http://boutique.bebebuzz.com, featuring unique and trendy baby gifts that any savvy new parent would be excited to receive.
BebeBuzz.com is a site built in response to the tons of questions that the baby books just don't cover. Filled with tips tricks and advice for surviving pregnancy and motherhood.
“Please visit my site, and keep the Minti feedback coming.” ~Karen
