This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Learning Care Group. The opinions and text are all mine.
I remember how stressful it was to figure out a preschool for my kids. It wasn’t just finding the right preschool, it was also getting into it. The costs varied widely too so that was another consideration. And finally, the hours. Preschools had widely divergent operating hours that didn’t necessarily reflect in their pricing. In fact, some of the schools that were the most expensive had the shortest hours.
Because we lived in Boston with my oldest and moved to the suburbs when my second was a toddler, we were in quite a few preschools.
What to Consider When Choosing a Preschool
We started at a corporate daycare. My advice: watch for staff turnover and though the daycare company may have many locations, your daycare director will be the most important person for you to feel comfortable with.
We moved to a school-year preschool at a church. My advice: is it first-come-first-serve or admission by interview? I find admission by interview to be a stress I’d rather incur when my child is applying to college.
We tried a year-round preschool/daycare when we moved to the suburbs. My advice: Ask about the adult-to-child ratio and find out what role each teacher has in the classroom.
My younger kids went to a cooperative nursery school. My advice: Consider what administrative role you will have to take on besides the classroom assistance.
Do you have a child who misses the kindergarten cutoff like my son? My advice: Ask about Transitional Kindergarten or Junior Kindergarten programs versus repeating the same year of preschool for those who need an extra year of preschool.
Does the preschool bring in programs? My advice: Ask about what specialists the preschool hires and how often they come in. Some of our preschools hired a Physical Education specialist to play fun athletic games indoors with the kids during the winter when we were stuck indoors.
Finding the right preschool is like finding the perfect house. There are many great choices but nothing is perfect. It will have to come down to how you prioritize your wants and needs for yourself and your family. For me, I wanted a program that engaged my child and made education fun. We, unfortunately, don’t have La Petite Academy in our area, but it would be an option that I would have gravitated towards:
La Petite Academy was established in 1968, with the purchase of seven university-sponsored schools. A pioneer in education-based care, La Petite Academy created the Journey® Curriculum, which sets the standard for early childhood education.
La Petite Academy offers a range of educational and care programs for children of all ages — from infants to school-age children who come to the Academy before and after school. By focusing on nurturing seven skill areas — an approach we call our Whole Child Education — we help children develop the critical-thinking skills and intellectual curiosity that fuel success in his or her kindergarten classroom and beyond.
As part of one of the nation’s largest educational child care companies, La Petite Academy Inc. operates more than 450 child care schools across the country.
How about you? How did you make your preschool decisions? It’s not easy, is it?!
p.s. Related posts:
Multicultural Starting School Books for Kids
Kindergarten Readiness FREE Printable Book: My Book About Me
Getting Kids Ready for Kindergarten
Cubetto: Coding Toy for Preschoolers!
Invented Spelling Necessary for Learning to Read: Froshus Dobrmn Pensr
Connecting Reading with Writing in Kindergarten
My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
