The newborn years are over, your child is just starting to get over toddling around, and suddenly it’s time for preschool! Where on earth did the time go? Were you supposed to be on a waiting list for the school before you were even pregnant? What does your child need to know and learn? What are classroom ratios? When it’s time to pick a preschool, a parent’s mind goes into overdrive. Good news — we at Breakie Bunch know all about selecting a preschool in Waterford. Below, we’ll go through what to look for when choosing the right preschool for your kiddo.
What’s Good for the Family
Deciding what is best for your family should be step one. Before looking at specific schools, curriculum implementation, and who has the best snacks, you have to first think about what works for you guys as a family. For example, what preschools are on your way to work? Would you rather the school be closer to home, or closer to your place of employment? Then there’s tuition. What preschools are in your budget? Once you get these things nailed down, then you can begin to make a list of what preschools may work for you and your family.
Preschool Type
Have you thought about what kind of preschool you’re looking for? A play-based curriculum is an excellent choice if we do say so ourselves. There’s also Montessori, Waldorf, and Reggio Emilia, to name a few. Researching is not as daunting as it may seem. There is a lot of information out there on all of them. Read up a little and see what fits your family philosophy best!
Class time
Once you have a couple of Waterford preschools on your list that you believe are a good fit for your child(ren), start looking into them a little deeper. Requesting a tour with all of them is a great idea, some even allow your child to shadow for a day to see if the school is a good fit. When on the tour, or checking out the preschool, take a look at classroom interactions. Are the kids playing? How are the relationships between teachers and staff and the children? Is there artwork everywhere? What does the environment look and feel like? Once you get a good feel of the classrooms and schools as a whole, you can start to put together a list of candidates for your final selection. And with that, a list of questions for each school you’re seriously considering.
Questions and Concerns
Don’t hold back on asking what you’d like to know about your select preschool. If you get a bad vibe, or they avoid some of your questions, take that school off your list. Not only is communication important as a whole, but your child will also be in their care during a part of the day, and you as a parent have the right to ask questions pertaining to your child and their potential classroom. Any hindrance to that is a potential red flag. While we linked above to a previous blog post on questions to ask, some additional things you may want to touch on are their security protocols, allergies, food regulations, and even outside playtime abilities. There are so many questions to ask when it comes to our kids!
Picking a preschool shouldn’t be difficult. Once you know the area you want, the curriculum you align with, and your budget, finding the right preschool is a breeze! We here at Breakie know and understand the stress of finding the right Waterford preschool for your little one. If there’s anything we can do to make that decision easier, please reach out to us at any time.