Questions to ask when touring preschools

[sharon]

What questions did you ask when you were touring, or calling, prospective preschools? What information did you find the most helpful?

[sharon]

Some questions I might suggest asking are:

What is your teacher/child ratio?
How do the children in your school spend their time?
How do you handle challenging behaviors?
How long has your newest teacher been on staff?
How many teachers do you have who have been on staff more that 10 years? 5 years?
How and when do the teachers plan and prep?

Also, if your child or family has particular needs, make sure you ask about it. Things like religion, holidays, food allergies, nutrition, diversity, and special needs, can be very particular to each family and a school may or may not be a match, but it's best to find that out upfront.

[JazzyMaxie]

Please ask for an outline of their curriculum.

I learned my lesson the hard way. When Langston was 3, I enrolled him in a private preschool. During our homevisit, the teacher advised me that their focus that year would be counting 1 - 5. I told her that Langston was already counting to 30, and asked if she could focus on 30 - 35. She said, "No, we focus on 1 - 5." I gave her until Christmas. She still wouldn't budge. I took him out of the school.

Hello...Differentiation? Ever heard of it, teacher lady?!? Check for it when looking at a preschool for your child. In all areas, check to make sure that they will be looking to meet your child's needs, and not just what they have set in their minds for kids to learn.

[supermommy]

I didn't ask much. Ds1 is in special needs preschool, it was the next step in his program and only one school to do it at so no choice on my part.

[aprilandy]

I think it is really important to visit and see the school at different times during the program. They may have their regular tour time, but seeing how things run through out the day is really important -- you will have an excellent idea on what the school is like through observation. The questions are also great, but seeing is believing.

[sharon]

Also, there are state early childhood standards. They aren't required to follow them, but since these are the things the state says kids should have experience with BEFORE entering K, it can be helpful.

[Sus]

ooooo GOOD idea for a thread Sharon!!!

Also, plan an impromtu visit...Such as April/andy says...

[sharon]

Yes! I'm surprised how few people do that IME.

[jess7882]

Thanks for this! We are going to start researching and looking. DD will be 3 next February but we will probably hold off to Fall '13 since she is pretty up there in development.

Do you think it is better to find a FT or PT preschool??

[sharon]

I think it really depends. Most preschools will have various options and some kids thrive full time and some part time. I do recommend going at least 3 days a week. IME kids who go 2 days a week have more difficulty adjusting and it just takes longer before they are having fun. This isn't true for all kids, but for the majority I have seen. In my school the kids who go 3 or 5 days a week are settled in and having fun by the 2nd week with only very rare exceptions. The 2 day kids are often still adjusting 6 weeks in.
Given the choice, I think 5 half days are often preferable to 3 full days, since having the same routine each day can be helpful.

Are you in the Twin Cities?

[jess7882]

We are in Hastings. I haven't heard a lot about the preschools around here(or lack of?). I just really want to find a good fit for our DD.

[sharon]

I don't know about schools in Hastings. Do you go to ECFE? That can be a good place to hear about good programs. You can also search online and just call places. Some areas have preschool fairs too, but then you only learn about the programs that are marketing themselves at the fair. Word of mouth is sometimes better.

[jess7882]

We do go to ECFE, and they have a preschool program. I have heard good things about so I am hoping to get into that program since it is close. Unless I hear about other good programs.