How to choose preschool?

Question

My daughter will start preschool next year. She is 20 mo and knows the alphabets, counting till 20 and has a vocab of 250+ words and can talk in sentences in english and knows and can speak another language and knows a few words and use those of a third language. All this when we never forced her to learn anything. She picked this up from her home based day care where the day care lady teaches the older kids in a fun way and my daughter just picked up by sitting with them. At home, I read a lot to my daughter but never against her wishes.

I am confused whether I should send her to a preschool with a structured curriculum or where the kids are free to explore on their own pace. Considering that I enjoy and will always be a part of my daughter's day to day learnings and have time and energy to invest into it, do you think a partcular kind of preschool will be better for her? I want her to enjoy school and not look at it as work.

Answer 1

The big thing it to decide how mnay years of preschool you want her to have, prior to them starting K.  For working paretns or people who don't have any other social outlets for thisr kids, more might be better, but for paretns who have those things, 1 year might be all you want.  K is a shocker for kids; being in that big building w/all those people, public potties they have to manage on thier own, lining up, taking turns, etc.  I am so glad I sent mine to (one year) of preschool.  My daughter was confident and we had already dealt w/that sepeartion stuff.  It broke my heart to see kids that were just lost.  Visit the various schools, church ones and montessory.  Some of the montessory stuff is just hype, but you may find that it is exactly what you think is best for her. But be careful about getting trying to keep her moving ahead of kids her age if she will go to public school for K;  they are going to start w/the basics, no matter how advanced she is. Keep in mind, she may be well ahead of the game now, but this may slow down over the years to where she is just slightly ahead of the other kids her age.  Go w/your gut instinct...that will be the right choice.

Answer 2

I think that because you are very involved with your child's day, you have more freedom to pick whatever feels right. I would recommend that you put her in a school with more free play so that she can start learning the social aspect of being with her peers. You can continue her academics at home, and when she starts school (kindergarten) she'll be able to handle both!

God bless.

Answer 3

You've already received some good advice here, so I'm just going to add a couple of things.

Please understand that a program "where the kids are free to explore at their own pace" can still have a structured curriculum.  I think what you're asking here is: Is it better to send her to a program with a structured routine or is it better to send her to a program with more time for free choice?

In my opinion, it's better to send her to a program with more time for free choice, particularly since you don't want your daughter to look at school as work.  Many preschools tend to move the children through the day as a "herd", if you will - everyone has circle, then everyone has a story, then everyone has a craft, then... you get the picture.  I don't believe this is the best way for children to learn.

Children who are exploring at their own pace often look like children who are "just playing", when this environment actually supports a carefully orchestrated curriculum - IF it's a quality facility.  (Some facilities actually do have a free-for-all kind of program and staff do little more than traffic control.)  The children think they're playing when they're really learning.  They have a lot of choice, but the choices offered are programmed by the teacher.  I hope that makes sense.  Montessori schools do a good job of this, but so do many others.

In addition to the questions listed above, I would also ask how often observations and assessments are conducted on the children, how the observations or assessments are used to benefit the children, how often you can expect parent/teacher conferences, etc.  In a NAEYC accredited facility, all of these things should be occuring.  By the way, home-based daycare providers can also be accredited through NAFCC.  You might let your caregiver know about this program.  Even if she chooses not to become accredited, the NAFCC is a great resource!

Answer 4

I feel that children learn best when they can explore and develop at their own pace.  A good quality preschool program will have that as the center of their philosphy and their curriculum will coincide.  Definately a NAEYC accredited program will be a great program.

Now maybe I'll also mention that considering she is not even two years old and knows what she does... keep in mind that she is most probably not going to develop much more "cognitively" in a preschool program since most programs focus on the "social" part of a child's development.  If you would like her to continue taking steps forward in the cogntive area, you'll have to do what I do with my son and teach him at home after school.  :-)  I definately send him for the social part of school.  I also want to comment that maybe you wish to keep her where she's at.  It sure sounds like you have a great home-based child care teacher there!  Just weigh the two... As a family child care provider myself I know and make sure the parents know that there are some aspects of "preschool" that I can not provide.  However on the other hand...there are things I can provide that an actually preschool classroom with 18 children, can not provide.  Good luck in your decision making!

Answer 5

seeing that you and your child enjoy her learning in a "fun" manner, i would suggest the more losely formed curriculum. there are plenty of other things you should take into consideration before choosing a day care though. if you have friends with kids, ask for advice. find one that is conveniently located. call the center for fees, hours, and license info. also visit the center; a quality center will have: low staff-turnover, low staff-to-child ratio, sufficient space, safe sanitary conditions, equipment, well-balanced meals and snacks, well planned balanced schedule, activities that encourage child independence, staff helps develop emotional/social skills. also what it comes down to is how YOU feel about the center.

also check to see if they are NAEYC accredited. if they are, this is a good sign of a good quality center.

Good Luck!!

Answer 6

If it isn't broken, don't try to fix it.