How to Find a Good Preschool

I started out working in Headstart when I was still in high school. I was a teacher's aide for a year. Then throughout the years, I worked as an aide in the daycares of whichever school I was attending at the time. Then I graduated to cooking and aiding in a private preschool. My next job, I went from aide to teacher of my first class with my own
aide. I've worked in daycares, preschool daycares and strictly preschools. I taught in the classroom for 12.5 years and 9 of it was in preschool and or daycare.

I went to school for this, although I wasn't certified before I left the profession. I worked in private schools where the certification wasn't required back then. I was one class short of certification when I decided to change my major to teach at a higher level.

When you go to check out the preschools that you are considering for your child, it would be good to make out a list of what you're looking for. Along with the basic legally required elements in a daycare or preschool there are other things that you need to consider, such as:

First of All:

The legal basics require that there is a mandated ratio between teacher/student count, the recommended is 2 teachers per 20-28 children above infant care. In infant care it's expected that the ratio would be around 1 teacher per 4 infants.

The school needs to be clean and well run, up to all building and fire codes and the children are well cared for and not endangered.

You will need to check in your area what the specifics are since they vary between jurisdictions and sometimes from school to school. They also can vary depending upon whether there are any children from AFDC families in the school. Some requirements are different for schools that don't take AFDC children and for those that do.

Inviting Environment:

You should see colorful posters, signs, word tags all over the walls. There should be examples of the student work on the walls, work that they've done themselves, not just teacher-guided worksheets. There needs to be a personal cubby for each child where they keep all of their personal items from home and projects to be taken home.

The rooms should have different areas set aside for different activities, such as an area for quiet reading, an instruction area which would include both individual and group time, a play area for both group and individual activities.

In two of the preschools I worked in they were a lot of fun for both the teacher and the students because of the way they were set up. One had their classrooms setup as multiple purpose rooms where the activities and toys were put away during instruction and put out in play-stations around the rooms during free time where the students were free to flow between the different areas. In the second school, the play-stations were permanently setup in different areas of the rooms, where the students could choose to participate as they chose.

Is the school well equipped with enough toys, games, puzzles, playground equipment, age-appropriate books, classroom materials and supplies? Are they in good repair and well maintained?

Curriculum:

Everything in a young child's life tends to be hands-on. That's how they learn best. But they also need to start learning to use their minds in a coherent fashion. Some schools will do a mixture between hands-on and academic application. But many schools will either tend to be more hands-on or to be more academic. This is something you will need to choose for your child and how that child tends to go. Some children
are more hands-on than others

I didn't use worksheets in my classrooms, except for the alphabet or numbers, which I hand drew. Then the students would draw around them on their own. I gave the students guided hints or questions which they used to dictate their own stories. Which I wrote out and posted on the walls. We did the same thing with their drawings. I had them tell me what they were and I labeled them. They always proudly directed their parents to the exhibits.

There tend to be two schools of thought about teaching. One is where the students are left to drive the direction of the creative projects. The other is where the teacher drives the creativity, most often with directions or worksheets. I did both in my classrooms. I found the children often confused and anxious over unguided projects during instruction. So during instruction, I'd direct the creative projects, giving them instruction on what to draw, not how to draw, but what. Then during free play, one of the play-stations was creative projects as they chose, because I believe that we need to learn both ways in order to learn cognitively and to learn to follow directions. It also stretches both sides of our brains. All of my students were usually reading by Christmas, every year.
http://education.preschoolrock.com/index.php/preschool_information_for_parents/signs_of_a_good_preschool

Balance:

The school needs to offer a balance between structured teaching and free-time, indoor and outdoor activities, noisy and quiet time, in-school and fieldtrips and special projects. There should be parental release forms issued for those occasions.

The special projects and fieldtrips are like educational mini-vacations which stir up the imagination and really drive home a learning experience. However, children do also need to start learning to sit for periods of time to learn to fit into a controlled group dynamic. There needs to be a balance between the structure and the free time.

A Good Teacher Who can Work With Your Child:

There are good teachers who are in their proper calling. Then there are those who should be doing something else instead of experimenting on our children.

Among the good teachers there are different types. Some who are compatible with your child and those who, no matter how much they try just don't understand your child. It's not just about finding a good teacher, but a teacher who will understand or seek to understand your child. This experience can break or make your child's future in school.

This section is about both types. When you visit the school, watch the teacher and how they interact with the children. Is there affection between the teacher and the children? Watch to see how the children are behaving. Are they overly rowdy or are they too quiet? Does there appear to be too much control or not enough control
in the classroom? Are the children wandering around the room or are they happily involved with projects? Do the students look well adjusted as if they are in a home-away-from-home environment?

How does the teacher interact well with your child? Is the teacher able to communicate comfortably with your child? Is your child encouraged by the teacher's attention? Does the teacher recognize the different learning levels of her students and accommodate for that?
http://www.thelaboroflove.com/forum/childcare/pretopten.html

Your Child's Fit Into a Particular School:

Check out the classroom and see what kind of children are in the classroom. Is there a mixture of types of personalities, culture and behavior types or is there a predominant type. One type isn't any better than the other, it's about what you're child will be able to fit into. This is not the age to start a cultural or social experimentation with your child. They're most likely already going to feel trauma over being separated from you.

It would be better to put them in a school that has a similar experience to what they're already accustomed to. Later, when they've grown into their new role as a student, then exposure to the unfamiliar could be an adventure.

The best barometer is your child's reaction to a school, how the other children behave toward your child and that inner voice that informs you on your child's welfare.

State-Licenses and Certificates:

The school is required to have their license posted in their office in plain sight. The same is true of any safety inspection certificates and the certification of the director and, possibly, the head teacher, if they have one. The classroom teacher can either be going for their certification or already have it.

You can also checkout the http://www.naccrra.org/ website to locate a local center, which should list the licensed schools in your area. You can also go on-line to http://www.rightchoiceforkids.org/ which is sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. There, you should be able to find quality preschools that are accredited by this organization.
http://school.familyeducation.com/school-selection/preschool/40737.html

Operating Philosophy:

Most schools have an operating philosophy. For some they state it and for others it's an underlying influence. It's important to know what that perspective is because it's going to direct the type of education and influence your child receives.

The schools divide into three basic types which are: 1. Religious, which can be either varying denominations of Christian faith or differing types of Non Christian faith or non-faith, which can be as influential as the others; 2. Educational philosophy, such as Montessori or cooperative; 3. Teaching style, which can be play based,
curriculum based or a mixture of both.
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Policies:

What does this particular school practice or expect? What is it's stand on discipline or parent involvement? Do they offer an orientation period where your child can come for a shorter period of time than you're planning to contract for until they're acclimated to the class? Can you accompany your child during this time? Are the parent teacher conferences informal or at appointed times? (In most of the schools I worked in, the conferences, if you want to call them that, were often daily conversations with the parents as we kept each other informed about how their child, my student was doing in both our spheres of influence. My parents and I were partners in the rearing
of their child.) What is their policy on sick or injured children? (They should have a parental release form in case of emergency.)

History:

Talk to other parents who know about the school and find out the turnover rate of the staff, if the school might have had any problems with their neighbors or with other parents and their children and what the problems were. Find out if the school has ever had any legal problems involving the children or the facility.

Particulars and Questions to Ask:

What is the school's daily schedule, and does it include a naptime or a quiet-time? What do they serve for meals and snacks? Do they accommodate for food allergies and special medications? What programs do they offer? What are their hours of operation? What are their payment policies and fees and are there different fees for multiple siblings at the same school and for parttime versus fultime? What is the school's holiday or vacation schedule? Do they close or do they offer extended daycare during those times? Do they offer an after school program for their families with grade school siblings? Do they accommodate for students with disabilities?

Personal Visits and Tour:

When you first go to visit a prospective school, reserve enough time to do this. Don't have another appointment lined up that you need to race off to.

Your first visit should be by appointment. If at all possible take your child on this particular visit. Take your list of questions, ask them and note down anything that you want to have on hand. Ask for their literature to take home to look over later. Also ask if they have any forms that you can look at to see what is involved.

Take your time interviewing the director and make sure that you get a complete tour of the facility, except perhaps the infant center unless your child would be in there. Take your time going through the school. Take the time to observe. Ask if you can sit in on the class your child would be in and also on the playground during outside playtime. Give your child the opportunity to interact with the other children. Watch how they behave with the other children and the teacher.

Then, if you are still interested in a particular school, make a point of showing up unannounced at another time, and go in and observe how things are going in the classes and on the playground to see if this is still where you want your child to go.

I realize that this is a lot to look for and you most likely won't be able to cover all of this or won't have the opportunity to observe all of these situations. But I tried to include as much information as possible so that you can make an informed decision. I also included what I did because not everyone's situation is the same. Some of these points will apply to your particular situation and some won't.

I didn't know all of this in the beginning. I learned this over the years as I worked in the different schools and layered my experience on top of previous knowledge and education. So learn what you can as you go along. Because knowledge, in this case, can a great preventative measure for anything that may arise.

Sources:

http://education.preschoolrock.com/index.php/preschool_information_for_parents/signs_of_a_good_preschool

http://www.thelaboroflove.com/forum/childcare/pretopten.html

http://school.familyeducation.com/school-selection/preschool/40737.html

http://www.athensparent.com/articles/featuregen/choosingps.html