It's been a while since I've talked about what's going on in the parenting world part of my life lately, so I want to share a little bit about applying to pre-school. I didn't want to go all "crazy mom" and get stressed about this process. But I did. I got stressed, I made a crazy spreadsheet comparing all the pre-schools we were looking at for Ruby, and I was up at night worrying about if she'd get into any of them. And at the end of the day, it all worked out how it was supposed to.
Just as a foreword to this post, I am fully aware that the process of applying to pre-school isn't as competitive everywhere as it is here in Los Angeles. In many parts of the country (and even outside of the U.S.), you just fill out an application, put down a deposit, and your child gets to go to wherever you want him or her to. But here in LA (and other large cities like New York and San Francisco), applying to pre-school can feel like the second coming of college applications. There are limited spots and a small percentage of the applicants actually get in. It can be super competitive. You're going up against kids of actors and astronauts and parents who all have really cool jobs.
For the privacy of my family and our community, I won't be talking specifically about where we applied or where Ruby is going to pre-school, but I thought the process was so fascinating that I wanted to share few tips with those of you who might be approaching this subject in your lives in the near future…
1. Decide what kind of school environment makes sense for your child and your family. Some parents want their kids to run free and enjoy playing while they can. Some parents want structure. There are play-based schools, Montessori schools, Waldorf schools, and schools that are a combination of them all. Some schools split up the kids by age and some mix them all together. During the process of touring schools, we decided early on that we wanted Ruby to have a mix of play and learning. We wanted her to go into kindergarten with a good comprehension of her letters and words, and be on her way to reading. And we wanted a school that would offer her inspiration and ways of learning that we wouldn't be able to provide on our own.
2. Tour a few schools and watch how the kids interact with the teachers and with each other. Do the kids at the school seem interested and engaged? How do the teachers engage them? The biggest turn-off for us was when we visited a school and saw that a child was bored and sitting in the corner by him or herself, or playing in a patch of dirt when there were plenty of other things to do. You want your child to love going there and to constantly feel engaged.
3. Think about the most important factors for you. It's sort of like any other life decision—what's most important to you if you can't get everything you want? Location? Cost? Style of learning? Schedule? For us, it was about the style of learning, a school that offered early drop-off hours, and the location (something within 10-15 minutes of our offices or our home).
4. Participate in Parent & Me classes if available. Some schools offer Parent & Me classes where, for a couple hours each week, you can experience a sampling of what the school has to offer. It gets your child familiar with a more formal school set-up, and you get to know the teachers and their style of instruction better. And, in my opinion, it really helps when you're applying to a school if the staff already knows you and your child. It always helps your application and can never hurt your chances. Plus, that way, the school can make its decision based on how well your child would fit into the school and not just based on what your family looks like on paper.
5. You don't have to sign-up at birth. When we were pregnant, people asked us if we were going to start looking at pre-schools and we were blown away. I hear some people do put their unborn children on pre-school waitlists, but I had no desire to do that not knowing what Ruby's personality would be like. It was much better that we waited until she was an actual toddler. We started looking at pre-schools soon after Ruby turned two, a few months before all the deadlines for that school year. We looked at five schools, applied to three, and she got into two of them. We honestly loved all the schools we applied to, but chose the final one based on Ruby's personality now and where we thought she'd flourish the most.
At the end of the day, your kids will turn out fine no matter where they go. The pre-school your child goes to doesn't dictate if they'll go to Harvard. I went to very ordinary pre-school and turned out fine. However, I wasn't the best traditional learner as a kid, and did best when learning visually, so it really made me want to give her additional opportunities that I didn't have. I think if you have choices, it's worth researching what's best for your family and your child. It can only enrich your child's learning and imagination.
If you have pre-school aged kids, did you guys have to go through this crazy process, too? Anything else you learned in your experience?
{Top photo by Bob Cho. Bottom photo by Casey Brodley.}
thank you for this useful advice! it’s great to hear what mom’s are saying with kids just a little older than our little one. we’ll be doing this research this year too.
thank you so much for this! my son is 18 months and i overhear mamas talking at the park about pre-school for their kiddos the same age and i had no idea it was this soon! i really need to start looking more in to it. i really like the parent & me class idea. hopefully some pre-schools out here in the south bay have that too!
We definitely didn’t want to go through all the hoops of the LA preschool search and tried our best the avoid it! Luckily, we found an amazing home-based preschool in Echo Park (we’re in Silver Lake)that didn’t care about all the Hollywood stuff, has a diverse kid/family population, and meshed well with our little guy’s personality. He is three now and can already read and write, in addition to learning amazing communication and social skills, with lots of play and music and dance and yoga and painting to boot! There was a wait-list but it was well worth the wait. The families are all interesting people from all kinds of industries, from creatives, to health care providers,to lawyers, to journalists etc., people whose paths may not have otherwised crossed in regular life. Our lives are definitely richer as a result of the choice we made 🙂
We are part of a play-based co-op in BayArea and I have to mention that our kids do not start kindergarten with a learning deficit. I’m slightly annoyed at myself for feeling I needed to justify that! That’s why the whole process is difficult. You can’t help but take your child’s educational path seriously, which can quickly verge on the edge of ludicrous. 🙂 Having a big 4 birthday this weekend and we are decked out in OhJoy for target goodies :)!
Totally! I often found some of the play-based schools here specifically said they didnt focus on letters or reading and thats what we avoided. But many of them incorporated it where the kids learn in a play-based setting.
And hooray for your little 4 year old! Thank you!
Joy
Some really great pointers here. Something else to consider, at least in my part of the country (South), when we were choosing a Montessori Toddler program for our lil man, a lot of the school would tell us that there was a waiting list when there really wasn’t. I can only assume this is a tactic to put pressure on parents to sign up? I guess the moral of the story is to ask around and really do your research even after you have your shortlist.
Have a wonderful weekend!!
V
Life+1
I am a mom of three under the age of five. The first is in kinder and her sister’s are in the same preschool/daycare. I find it interesting how we search for schools based on the first child. I am guilty of it too! but how about my other two girl’s? Would I pick a different school for each. Not likely. In the end the experience that I had in choosing schools for my girl’s was that the most important thing was to choose a place that had our values. What place would imitate more of what we do at home but at the same time expand their views. By choosing a school this way I wasn’t just picking it because it worked for baby #1 but because it worked for our whole family. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Great pointers, I think you covered exactly the points we went through with our now 2.5 year old. A couple things I would reiterate:
1) Choose a place for your child, not you. In LA it’s so easy to get caught up in philosophies and research and what we think is best for our child’s future but when we started to look at the schools through our toddler’s eyes it was easy to see where she would flourish.
2) That said, pick a place you would want to spend all day. When you look forward to going to the school whether for visits, drop off, welcome events, your toddler will pick up on that and think of school as a safe place to go everyday and look forward to. If the anything in the environment makes you nervous, bored, question, etc, they will just blow up to larger concerns in the future.
Preschool is such a short time but it’s their first exposure to learning outside of the home so it’s an exciting time too. Sounds like you made a great choice for Ruby, hope she loves it!
We live in the LA area (Glendale). I got the questions about preschool while I was pregnant too. I stopped working to become a stay at home mom so preschool want a high priority since we were invved in so many great play groups. At 3 I started to consider it and by the time my son was 3 1/2 I started. By that time I had friends who already had their children in schools so I was able to see what was working for them and make my decision on that.
I just went through the stress of kinder enrollment. Luckily for us Glendale had some really great programs (language immersion, technology magnets and a visual and performing arts school) My son just got into the visual and performing arts school which I am thrilled for!
When I got pregnant we were living in a beautiful bungalow overlooking silver lake but it was t very kid friendly so we moved to Glendale (which I was a little sad about) but now seeing the benefits of a good school district I am happy we are here. We also were trying for over a year to buy bit just recently gave up and rented a gorgeous house
Love the pictures! So cute!
Greetings from Germany and a wonderful weekend to you:
http://lasagnolove.blogspot.com.es/2014/03/have-wonderful-weekend_21.html
Bambi
We’re going through this process right now, and I can’t believe how stressful it is! To the point where it gave me anxiety just reading this post. But thank you so much for sharing your experience, its great to hear.
Ha! I was really interested in play based preschools since I felt I could teach our child letters and numbers, but my husband insisted our child’s preschool be within a 5 minute triangle of our house and his work and his parent’s house since he would be the one doing most of the drop off and pick up. As you can imagine, that really limited our choices! Our daughter says she likes her school, so I guess it all worked out.
Thank you so much Joy!! This info will be very valuable to me, since I need to start searching for a pre-school for my little boy.
xo
I think YOUR job is super cool…!!
We are in the middle of this for our older daughter, who is a few months older than Ruby. I got really caught up in philosophies and wanted an expensive Montessori school. My husband talked me out of it, pointing out that our child already does lots of solo learning activities, and has extended focus abilities. Also I decided to work less, making the whole price tag out of our reach.
At the end of the day, we listened to her-she wants to play with friends!
Now, we are starting her this summer in a play-based farm school where she will learn cooperation, group skills, etc through work and play with animals and others 3-5. It’s all outside all the time! Animals are her passion so we feel it is the best choice for her. We are also going to do a few days at our district public preschool.
We don’t live anywhere preschool is competitive, but my husband and I both have backgrounds in psychology and education so we freaked a little!
I’ve been receiving your blogs for a while now and although I am past finding preschools for children I enjoyed this entry. I don’t know how you get through this process without feeling stressed. However, I really believe that what you said about your own personal experience with preschool and ultimately turning out just fine is true. Preschool is just the beginning of a long journey. You do your honest best to make a good choice for your child — what more can you do? I hope you’re able to take a deep breath now.
Thank you! Yes, definitely able to take a deep breath now! 😉
Joy
I live in Portland and found choosing a preschool so much more stressful/competitive than I thought it would be! I made a spreadsheet of each school’s pros and cons and kept chatting with other moms about where on the wait lists our kids were – my husband thought I was nuts the entire time! We chose a play based co-op where the teachers make a point of checking in with the kindergarten teachers in the neighborhood to keep the little ones on track. One tip about choosing a co-op school, talk with the other parents at the open houses and tours. Since it’s a co-op you will be spending lots of time working with the other parents so how comfortable you feel with them is important.
Great tips! We just went through this process last year and I too was surprised how early you have to sign up for preschools and I live in the suburbs of Minneapolis! We signed our boy up for a learn and play style at first and found he wasn’t challenged enough so we recently switched him over to a Montessori which I’ve been really pleased with so far. Location was a big one for us as well as I didn’t want to spend all my time driving him back and forth so we tried to find one close to our home. I hope Ruby likes her new school, it’s fun to see your kids go to school and start learning from someone other than yourself.
That’s great that you were able to find the perfect fit for Ruby. As a certified early childhood teacher, I just wanted to weigh in a bit on play-based preschools. Don’t necessarily count them out on the basis of “numbers and letters” learning. I know that all schools are unique, but usually play-based preschools should be incorporating these skills as well. They just approach them in a different way. Instead of structured learning, a teacher might utilize letter and number games or set up play environments that encourage number use, letter recognition, kid writing, etc. (i.e. pretending to shop, restaurant scenarios, playing “house”). Teacher will often circulate during play and observe and encourage children in order to make the play meaningful and full of teachable moments. It is well known in the early childhood ed field that play is essential in developing social skills, early literacy skills, gross and fine motor skills… the list goes on. So if you’re finding that you think your child will fit best in a play-based program but are concerned about their preparedness for kindergarten, definitely take a closer look because often play-based programs involve a lot more than first meets the eye. Of course there are many other factors to consider, like if you think your child needs a bit more structure, or want a combo of structure and play in order to prepare them for the elementary school environment, etc. We all have different wants and needs, but just thought I would give a little more info about play-based 🙂
Perfect timing! We just got waitlisted at the preschool we really want to send our son to. I was/am crushed. It’s so frustrating to find the perfect school and not even get in. Hate how competitive things are (we’re in Seattle).
My daughter currently attends the nearby church-based preschool here in Pasadena. I didn’t do any research and I just enrolled her there because a few friends had recommended it (who also did no research). When other friends started asking me about why I chose that school, the school’s philosophy, etc. etc., I freaked out because I realized that I just enrolled her there by default without going through some pseudo-college process. Major mom guilt! I started researching other preschools and started to see things that were “better” than my daughter’s school (organic snacks, newer toys, better reputation, etc).
After calming down, I decided to keep her at her school because she’s really happy there and has really bonded with everyone. And I love it, too. But I think it was scary to feel confident about loving something without having gone through a research-fueled process, and for a school that was not part of the elite preschool set. In LA, it is easy to get sucked into this kind of mentality. And I think it’s much worse in NYC. Check out the documentary- Nursery University. Scary!
It’s really a stressful choice and it begins so early, then there could be the decision whether to wait a year for elementary school if you have a child who is on the birthday borderline. Nevers get easier so just settle in. I will say I agonized over the elementary school decision and decided to wait a year. What I thought was an introverted shyness back then, whereupon I made my decision for my child to wait a year, turned out to be a very thoughtful, deep thinker and leader who ended up at MIT and graduated with a perfect GPA and is now getting a PhD. The moral is – it all works out in spite of our best decisions. It wouldn’t have made any difference what year he started school. I really believe we have the experiences in life we’re supposed to have. Wishing Ruby the best. 🙂
Hey Joy! So happy you found a school for Ruby you’re happy with! Yay! The whole process can be overwhelming, especially when people ask you about it and you’re only a few months pregnant! Our process literally went like this: We met a neighbor’s kid who is totally rad. We asked his parents what preschool he went to and they raved about it. We took a tour and completely fell in love and turned in an application after the tour. We literally only applied to one school. The school is all about diversity in every way so I knew we’d get in (Asian!). Ha! Our school is play-based with some structure (I think it’s called emergent curriculum where they incorporate other methods like Montessori into the curriculum based on the children) and it’s been awesome for Lucas. I used to think, play? That’s all they do? But realized later, like Emily above said, that kids this age learn so much from play and all the “academic” stuff is approached in a different way. I totally love what you said about turning out fine wherever they go. It’s so true! The tours are super key too. You should love how the school makes you feel and hopefully Ruby will not want to leave. 😉 And after having Lucas in school for the past two years now, a couple of other things I found to be super important in the search are teacher retention and parent/community involvement. I think the main thing to take from all this is what school is a good fit for your child (i.e. I think Lucas would get kicked out of a Waldorf school.) Ha! Miss you!
Coincidentally, I just sent my friends a list of day cares and “things to consider” last night as they are expecting their first child this summer. Fortunately, we have some very good day cares and preschools in our area, but my friend in SF just submitted a 5 page application, family photo and background questionnaire for her 2 year old pre-school screening. I couldn’t believe it! It really is competitive, and feels like you are applying to college. Good luck. I hope Ruby gets into the pre-school of your choice!
We went through the process at the end of 2012 in preparation for the 2013-14 school year. In Chicago you have to apply the year prior to your child’s anticipated school year. Chicago is also very competitive, on the private school front, and we’re talking age 3 as the ideal entry point. We found the Progressive model best for our daughter and she’s really enjoying her experience.
Best of luck to your family!
Hi! I loved this entry because we went through the same thing with our daughter who is one month older than Ruby. Even though we live in Long Beach, CA people here tried freaking me out when I was 6 months pregnant! Determined not to be sucked into the void, we started looking at 22 months and after touring 8 schools found the one that just “felt right”. I had friends whose children were going to other great places but I couldn’t see my daughter liking it there. You are spot on in saying to look for a place for your child’s personality. Just to make sure I also participated in the Mommy & Me program and found that my instincts were correct. The parents, teachers & environment of the JCC were amazing, just as I had felt during our walk through. Our daughter loves her school!
Hope your family is just as happy with your decision & feeling relieved!
Congrats on surviving, Joy! Sounds like Ruby has a wonderful place to begin her educational journey! We just went through the process in SF and it sure was stressful and all consuming. We felt very fortunate to be admitted to three of our top choices including our first choice! But before you breathe a sigh of relief, I have heard that the kindergarten process is far worse…yikes!
I thought all day about this topic because I don’t typically comment. But I did want to weigh in regarding play based preschools because I believe there is a little bit of misinformation out there. I am glad that Emily also spoke up.
We looked at many schools with varying teaching philosophies. Based on the research I did leading up to the application process (I read articles, papers, books), I found that play based schools (or at least the ones we looked at) were focusing on cultivating life skills such as emotional self regulation, conflict resolution, and empathy. Essentially the idea is that if your child is emotionally intelligent, they will be more ready to learn all of the traditional academic stuff. I know plenty of adults who cannot express their emotions in a healthy manner- so it seemed important to me that my daughter learn from a young age how to disagree respectfully or how to deal with disappointment for example. Hopefully, as a result, your child will not be having tantrums about getting the wrong color pencil in Kindergarten and will instead be able to focus on writing ABC’s!
In addition, these schools often offer emergent curriculums where the students and teachers develop the curriculum based on the collective interests of the class (with the teacher’s careful guidance and direction of course!). This gives the children a wonderful sense of ownership, confidence, and responsibility. The teachers often ask open ended questions to stimulate rich conversations about all aspects of a topic. The children are challenged to think critically. If a class notices that the trees near the school are sick, then the teacher might ask them to brainstorm reasons why they might be sick…what makes the children feel better when they are sick…and then how to they might help the trees feel better…they might enlist the help of a tree doctor…and then form committees to tackle the various things that may be making the trees sick, and so on and so forth. This also challenges the teachers to constantly think of new ways to teach- no school year is alike. Keeps it interesting!
Like Emily said, though they are “playing” for most of the day, the teachers do also interweave natural academic lessons into the day. While I was observing class at our future preschool, I witnessed one teacher help a boy locate cars for his newly constructed block maze. He said “you have one car and there are three in that bin…when you have all of them how many will you have?” And he coaxed the boy into realizing that 1+3=4.
At the end of the day, I also just wanted my little girl to be able to truly enjoy this very fleeting and magical time in her life. With the crazy amounts of pressure to achieve these days (school, extra curricular activities, etc), I knew her future would be filled with endless “traditional” learning. My husband and I are both products of very traditional, somewhat tiger mom upbringings (nerd camps, Ivy League schools, etc). So I wasn’t as concerned that my daughter would learn her ABC’s.
At the end of the day, it’s just preschool and there shouldn’t be this ridiculous amount of focus on it (clearly I am guilty of spending a lot of time focusing on it..) but I did want to write in case this helps anyone understand why someone might opt for a play based school. And frankly most kids will flourish in any nurturing preschool environment! It is totally a family to family, kid to kid decision so play based might be perfect for you or it might not be (and different schools have different approaches that all fall under “play based”). But I wouldn’t worry that your child will automatically be academically stunted if they attend a play based program. My nephew attended a play based program and is doing multiplication in 1st grade (on his own just bc he was interested…no, his very traditional classroom has not gotten there yet)!!
Thanks for the discussion- I think your post will definitely help parents who are going through the process! And if you’re wondering why I am writing this at 4am it is because I have a newborn- gave me something to do while nursing!
Here in Montreal, Canada, you have to put your name on a list before your baby is born. It is super crazy! I’m actually pregnant with my 1st baby and I had to choose a few pre-schools already! I just went with what made more sense to me but it felt so weird!
Your post is supper cool!!!!…
http://www.80sfashion.org
Kindergarten was a much bigger decision… and so stressful. We have 2 lottery schools in our district with completely different approaches. I wasn’t interested in our home school, and was considering homeschooling my children. But my daughter got into the lottery school we wanted and it’s walking distance. I’ll be in the classroom lots. I’m relieved. It was so stressful.
she’s gorgeous – goodluck! Im currently applying to highschools for my 11yr old son, just as competitive and confusing for this mum!
Wonderful calm post – especially when it’s your first, it can be super stressful, but the most special kind of stress is the preschool drop-off here your so-excited-for-school kiddo turns into a hysteric cannot-pry-off-with-a-crowbar mess. This too will pass.
Hello everyone! I read your comments and Joy’s post with interest but at the same time felling so far away from your world. I live in France and here preschool is yet part of shool.
You do not need to look for a special school unless you can pay for it and want some religious or special educationnal type of school.
Here from 3 to 5 years old, the kids go to school for free within your living area. The positive point is that cultural and social mixity is something they learn to live with from an early age.
In a way I am so happy of the way it works here because I think you all start to worry so early about how to get the best education for your kids.
That is amazing!
Joy
who knew you had to start worrying about their education at 3 or 4. They love it though and as a mom of a preschooler I love it too, a little free time is so nice. I have a sneaky suspicion you will love the holiday parties for the kiddies, so cute.
love your blog!
i like your point of view, Joann. There is a great deal of misconception about ‘play curriculum’. I think that a thoughtful play based environment, when it is paired with an emergent curriculum approach, does stimulate critical thinking, intellectual curiosity and a more ‘global’ intelligence, if I may say, because children’s learning happens in relation to their environment. These are things that the traditional approach does not necessarily achieve.
As another early childhood educator, I second what Emily has said. Look closely at the curriculum and understand what a play-based, whole child curriculum entails. Play-based — my bias, of course — does not mean that that school is not concerned about kindergarten preparedness. (Which, don’t get me started. The tests, the hot-housing–it’s ridiculous.)
Also, don’t be swayed by buzz words — pre-schools use all sorts of jargon to impress parents.
Thirding Joann and Dina’s comments!
oh boy, oh joy! as a new yorker and on a pathetically low income, there was only one factor which came into play in our choice of preschool – cost. we know people who are paying the same monthly price as college tuition for their tiny kids to be schooled – it would have been impossible for us to afford it. thankfully i feel we lucked out in finding a really decently priced learning environment for our son which hold daycare hours and is close to home. he seems to be thriving there, thank goodness. roll on september when he starts kindergarten at public school (though of course the cost of after-school is still going to bleed us dry!)
I think parents can get competitive with each other.Where your kids go for preschool is almost a bragging right among a certain group of parents.I think parents should choose a preschool based on their children’s personality and the needs of their child.My eldest went to a Montessori preschool with a learning program that worked for her.My youngest went to the public preschool that worked for her.She loved it,she made friends,went on field trips and learned to write her full name and the whole alphabet.On the other hand my very dear friend runs a preschool that caters to the rich.You do not want to be around when it’s time for the kids to enroll kindergarten.Her phone rings off the hook with calls from private schools and parents seeking the very best references for their little darlings.I can only imagine the pressure on both sides.Bottom line think about the kiddies and do what’s right for them,not your ego.
Wow, this was intriguing. I’m from France, and most kids just go to regular public preschool/kindergarden which is offered from ages 3-5 (and is free). There is no application process and no choosing your preschool philosophy etc (although I know a few people who went to private Montessori preschool).
I’m pretty shocked by how complex the process sounds! But I’m glad you’ve found a good choice for Ruby. It’s always interesting to learn that the things we take for granted aren’t necessarily the same everywhere.
I’m also an LA Mom and have experienced the pre-school craze already even though my little one is only 16 months. Having close friends that are those “astronauts” and Harvard grads with fancy jobs you speak of, we felt the pressure early on from our social circle to get her on the waiting list and into a pre-school. But like you, we wanted to wait until we got a chance to experience her little personality so we opted for a nanny for the early years and will soon revisit the crazy world of pre-school tours and waitlists. But I’m certain we’ll end up somewhere wonderful because we have lots of great options close by.
I live in the SF Valley and work at one of the studios. My oldest was lucky enough to attend my company’s privately subsidized preschool from age 5 months until she was ready for kindergarten. My youngest is now in the same preschool and we intend for him to “graduate” from there unless my employment situation dictates otherwise (knock on wood). It is a loving, supportive environment and we are very fortunate to have experienced it thus far. I must say the preschool application process pales in comparison to that of elementary school, however if I were to suddenly need a preschool I would certainly feel overwhelmed. I also want to reiterate your Harvard comment, my brother graduated from there and he’s not a multi-millionaire, business mogul, hot shot lawyer or some otherwise exceptional employee at a Fortune 500 company – despite fine grades and plenty of extracurricular participation. He is a special education teacher living on a modest income (and we are very proud of him!). So even if a preschool were to somehow guarantee a Harvard acceptance, a Harvard education is no guarantee of “mega success” from the traditionally viewed financial or career standpoint. Our children will someday be adults and will make their own decisions despite our best wishes and wildest dreams for them. Expectations are best left to the individual, otherwise you may be disappointed!
Well done! You have mentioned some amazing pointers here. At some point in life, parents have to be in the situation of getting their child enrolled in an excellent preschool. I always wanted to get my daughter enrolled in a preschool, which could value her individuality and can give the right direction to the curriculum. Preschools have also become important as most of the private K-12 school recruits from these reputed preschools. And yes, I do agree that the whole procedure takes a lot of time. I toured almost every school in New York City and my finally my hunt ended at Williamsburg Northside Preschool. They had some amazing preschool programs to offer for children and importantly, the school is inspired by Reggio Emilia approach. More details are here
Hi Mar, thank you for your post! I know this was a couple years ago… we live in Glendale, close to Pasadena, and are not really interested in the competitive, chic-chic preschools! We just want something play-based where our son will have fun 🙂 Yours sounds right up our alley. Can I ask, which preschool you guys chose? Many thanks! – Laura
I think it is important to understand what kind of experience your children will be having when considering which school to take them to. My wife always likes to meet some of the parents of the other classmates, talk with the teachers, and actually attend a class or two to make sure that it is a good environment for them. I never really knew that location played such a role in a child’s development. Thanks again!
I just wanted to thank you for going over some tips to think about when looking for a pre-school. I’m glad that you mentioned that you should see a few different schools and see how the kids and teachers interact, especially to see if your child will like going there. Not only that, but it seems like a great opportunity to ask them any questions you may have, even if it can help you learn more about the school.
These are some of the helpful tips that you have mentioned. Play school must be chosen carefully as it is the first step of our child to enter the outside world. I sent my kid to the Rathinam’s Kiddie Cove which was excellent in handling the kids. I’m mentioning it here because those who read my comment would also get benefitted from it. Keep posting such wonderful articles. Cheers!
It’s great that you provided some helpful tips on how to apply for a preschool program. My son is turning five this September, and I want to enroll him in one. In order to narrow down my choices and find the best one, I shall then follow your advice to tour a few schools and observe the environment and hoe teachers and kids interact with each other.