10 Signs of a Good Preschool

It's time for your little one to head off into the world and begin their life outside of your caring hands and watchful eye. Well, at least for eight hours a day Monday through Friday. They're not heading away to college at the tender age of three or four, I'm not nuts. Your kids are getting ready to head out to preschool though and parents need to make sure that they do all the research they can to find the best one imaginable. This is going to be the beginning of their academic careers and starting children out in a good preschool is exactly what is needed to prepare them for kindergarten and beyond.

Having been around to different schools this past year and seeing a number of them first-hand, it's come to my attention that the things you read on the internet or in little pamphlets are not just what you should go off of. The printed word is going to make every school look like Harvard because they want to suck you in and have your child attend their facility. Make sure that you don't fall into the traps and you plan lots and lots of visits to as many preschools as possible. Nothing can provide more proof then your own two eyes so keep them peeled and remember these ten signs when looking for a good preschool.

~ Good Reputation - This is one of the easiest ways to find out how good a preschool is. Ask around either to friends, family, or even strangers at church or work. See what they've heard or dealt with since just because a school looks good on paper, that doesn't mean it translates well to personal experience.

~ Different Zones - Every preschool should have different zones for the children to participate in throughout each school day. Make sure that you see a place for them to build things with blocks. Check around to locate an area that has a kitchen and play food so the kids can learn how to share and behave during lunch or dinner. There should also be an art zone where the kids can paint and draw and color. These different zones are truly necessary because it will allow them to not only learn different things but not have to do them all in one solitary location.

~ Facial Recognition - Here is something that you'll learn about right away with open houses and school visits. When you first step into a school, remember which teachers or assistants you spoke to. Even try to remember the name of the secretary because it makes this even more important. Now the next time you return to the school for a visit or even pre-registration, see who remembers you by face or even better, by name. There isn't a worse sign then those in charge of your child's school not ever remembering who comes in and out of those front doors.

~ Education, Not Just Fun - Yes, your children are very young and they don't need to know algebra of world history by the time they reach kindergarten, but they do need to learn something. Kindergarten classes are starting to require more and more from prospective students and it is up to the parents and the preschools to get this done. Check to see what the curriculum is for every preschool you visit. Find out if there is more then just a story time when they're read to and see if they are given the opportunities to read a little themselves. Ask if there are flashcard exercises to help your kids learn their letters and numbers. Children need to have fun during the day, but who says they can't learn a little something at the same time?

~ Teacher/Student Ratio - Signs point to there never being more then seven or eight kids per teacher and no more then twenty children total to a class. Chances are that you will not find many preschools that have only that few of children and there isn't much you can do about that, but you do have a big say in how many kids each teacher deals with. Seven or eight should be the cutoff point, but anymore then ten kids to one teacher and that's seriously pushing it. That just screams the fact that those children are not getting any one-on-one attention whatsoever and could possibly be missing out on the full process of learning. What happens if one child doesn't understand but the other nine do? That kid is going to get left behind or given really quick hints and tips, but that doesn't mean they'll comprehend. Check the ratios and if they seem high then make sure a teaching assistant or even another teacher will be a part of your kids' classroom or preschool.

~ Cleanliness - Nothing says "bad sign" of a preschool like seeing filth and grime when you walk into the rooms. You don't want to send your kids to a place that doesn't even know how to pick up scraps of paper or even worse, sweep up crumbs of food from snack time. They forget or don't bother to do that one day and that will turn into two days and then a week. In no time, your children are going to school everyday with not only their classmates but roaches and beetles. Any good preschool is going to not necessarily have a "spotless" facility, but you want it clean and disinfected so that no-one is getting sick. Germs spread easily enough between younger children. You don't need to speed up the process or chances of your kid getting sick because their preschool didn't bother to wipe off the doorknobs for a week.

~ A Caring Staff - Hard to tell if anything is more important then this, but it's a big one when deciding on a good preschool. Check out teachers, assistants, and everyone else working at the school too. If these people are at your child's school then they could be interacting with them at any time during any day and you want to make sure that they are caring, loving, compassionate, and attentive.

~ Safety - Just as you would at home, make sure that everywhere you look in your child's preschool shows signs of safety. Simply walk around the preschool, including the outside area, and start asking yourself some questions. Are countertops high enough so that kids can't grab things off of them? Is there a fence surrounding the playground so that children can't just run off and others can't just come in? Do the walls have rounded or sharp corners? Every preschool should be totally and completely safe from the most serious things such as having poison control numbers handy to the smallest things like having childproof/plastic scissors. These will be the people watching your children for eight hours a day, five days a week. Make sure they are just as safe in their surroundings as you are at home with yours.

~ Accredited or Licensed - Simple enough, make sure the preschool has the proper licenses needed and that they are all up to date. If they don't, then that's a sign that there could be a few problems. Did they just forget to renew them? If so, then what other little things could be slipping their mind with your kids? Is there a deeper reason as to why their license isn't up to date? If there is, then you need to either get to the bottom of it or just totally walk away. Preschools should have nothing to hide so their licenses should be valid and up to date at all times.

~ Chore Distribution - Going along with the learning aspect of preschool is that of delegating chores. Children are going to eventually be expected to do them at home and also in other grades as they move up each year so might as well learn now. It's a good idea to find a preschool that will put chores on a bit of a rotating schedule so that the kids learn different jobs and how they are all supposed to work. Maybe one week they'll clean up the art zone by putting away the paints and another week they'll be assigned to pick up the blocks at the end of the day. It teaches children responsibility and will even help out with their rooms at home which should make you, as parents, happy.

Now these may not be the only signs of a good preschool, but they are certainly a great place to start. The most important thing by far is to get involved in the selection of the preschool. Yes, I know you're going to be the one that makes the ultimate decision, but I'm talking about really getting involved. Do your research. Go to every open house. Ask every question you can think of. Drop in unexpectedly to prospective preschools sometime and see if they'll take you on a tour of the school. They should always be willing to find someone, given a few minutes, if it means that your child could attend their school soon. If they can't or simply don't want to, then what are they trying to hide? Are they not prepared? If they're not prepared to show you around on a random day then chances are they won't be prepared for your kids on a normal school day.

This is an important decision and you need to see the signs of a good preschool and make the best choice. The right choice.

Don't think that this takes away from any work you'll need to do, but check out http://www.savvysource.com/ for good ideas on which preschools to even go look at in the first place. On that site you'll find names, ratings, ratios, and more. It's a great tool to start with.