There comes a day when it's time to trust your child to strangers by sending them to preschool or daycare. The choice of which preschool can be overwhelming to parents. Do you send them to a commercial center or in someones house? Do you pick the Montessori preschool or the private one at your church? There are certainly a lot of choices and not every preschool is the right fit for every family.
When picking the school or daycare you need to consider how long/how many days a week, cost and location before you even go to look at the school. After you find a couple centers in your price range with the hours you need it's time to schedule a visit and go see the schools in person.
On the day you tour the school or daycare you should come with a list of questions for the person showing you around. You are going to trust these people with the most precious possession you own, don't be afraid to ask a million questions. If you don't know where to start questioning I will give you a few things to ask or at least consider asking before picking a place.
When touring the school poke around a bit. Does it look clean and well organized? Is the bathroom clean and kid friendly? Are there lots of toys? Is it designed for children i.e. small tables and chairs and everything low for a child? Is there a playground outside? Does it look well kept or run down? Is the staff friendly and smiling or do they look tired and grumpy?
If you still want to know more ask if can come in during business hours and observe the staff interacting with the kids or ask if your child can come for a day or a week to see how he or she likes the school.
My suggestion is to introduce your child to the idea of preschool slowly especially if he or she is used to a nanny or being watched by someone at home. I would start the child off with half day two or three days a week and from there eventually build up to more days/longer days depending on if you plan to send your child to full day or half day kindergarten. For daycare you don't usually have the option of introducing your child slowly, put you can still make the experience postive by talking up how great it is.
Preschool is a wonderful time in a child's life when they get to develop a social life and make friends outside of who their parents pick for them. It is their first real taste of freedom and look into how wonderful school will be. Putting them in the right mindset now will help cultivate a love of school.
When picking the school or daycare you need to consider how long/how many days a week, cost and location before you even go to look at the school. After you find a couple centers in your price range with the hours you need it's time to schedule a visit and go see the schools in person.
On the day you tour the school or daycare you should come with a list of questions for the person showing you around. You are going to trust these people with the most precious possession you own, don't be afraid to ask a million questions. If you don't know where to start questioning I will give you a few things to ask or at least consider asking before picking a place.
- What is the child to adult ratio?
- How do you discipline a child?
- What does a typical day look like here?
- How much time do they spend outside in a day?
- What do you feed the children for snack and or meals?
- Do they serve organic foods?
- Do they clean with chemicals or are they eco-friendly?
- Do you do evaluations of the children to let me know how they are developing?
- Will you let me know if my child has areas he or she needs to work on?
- What if my child gets hurt? Do you send home boo-boo reports?
- How many field trips do the children take a year?
- How are you going to prepare my child for kindergarten?
When touring the school poke around a bit. Does it look clean and well organized? Is the bathroom clean and kid friendly? Are there lots of toys? Is it designed for children i.e. small tables and chairs and everything low for a child? Is there a playground outside? Does it look well kept or run down? Is the staff friendly and smiling or do they look tired and grumpy?
If you still want to know more ask if can come in during business hours and observe the staff interacting with the kids or ask if your child can come for a day or a week to see how he or she likes the school.
My suggestion is to introduce your child to the idea of preschool slowly especially if he or she is used to a nanny or being watched by someone at home. I would start the child off with half day two or three days a week and from there eventually build up to more days/longer days depending on if you plan to send your child to full day or half day kindergarten. For daycare you don't usually have the option of introducing your child slowly, put you can still make the experience postive by talking up how great it is.
Preschool is a wonderful time in a child's life when they get to develop a social life and make friends outside of who their parents pick for them. It is their first real taste of freedom and look into how wonderful school will be. Putting them in the right mindset now will help cultivate a love of school.
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