What do you look for in a preschool?
What impressions did you get right away?
How did you decide on the one you chose?

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OKay, this may sound bad, but I made several phone calls and spoke with the directors and asked lots of questions. One in particular sparked my interest and I liked the lady I spoke with, so I went and visited immediatly. After the visitation, we felt so loved and welcome that I signed him up and never visited another school. It was the best choice we ever made.

When my kids were small...the way I went about it was that I knew I wanted a co-op preschool that was accredited. So that, right away, narrowed it down and then I just visited schools, felt the 'vibe'...if you will. We were really interested in a play-based preschool. My guys actually ended up attending the preschool that I myself attended when I was small. It was kinda cool!

We were (are) thinking about putting DD in a one day, two hour program for 1 year olds. The socialization would be great for her. I work in a private school with a preschool program (we don't have 1 year olds), so I can get a lot of the inside scoop. We decided to get on the waiting list (we were really late deciding) at 2 schools. Here were the reasons we chose these 2:

1: We wanted a Christian environment
2. Small, small classes (smaller than the legal ratio)
3. We only wanted 1-2 days.
4. Loving staff.
5. Reputation, reputation, reputation.

Both are also very nice, clean, well equipped facilities with VERY well-trained staff.

If she doesn't get in either of these, I will just keep her home until next year. A good friend is the director at one of them and she will go to that one next year.

ETA: I know the teaching philosophy at both schools (very developmental based) and would be pleased with either school as she aged into the 3-4 year old programs as well.

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Sometimes I’d like to ask God why He allows poverty, famine and injustice in the world when He could do something about it. But I’m afraid God would ask me the same question.

I visited 3 different preschools before deciding where DS would go. DS has a speech delay so I really wanted an experienced teacher and a relaxed atmosphere but at the same time I was looking for a particular cirriculum. I sort of had my mind made up before visiting the schools but I went into it with an open mind.

1st school - when I asked about the cirriculum she said they print coloring and worksheets from the internet - not my idea of a preschool

2nd school - something just didn't feel right about it

3rd school - the teacher DS will have is a former kinder. teacher, they teach the cirriculum I was looking for, director offered to set up a meeting with me and teacher which went great, I was able to talk to the teacher about DS's speech delay, teacher asked me to give his speech therapist her phone number so the therapist and teacher could make sure they are both on the page. I knew this was the best place for DS and the bonus is its only 2 blocks from our home.

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DS-17
DD-14
DD-6
DS-4

These are the exact same reasons that DD is at the preschool that she is at. Her program is a 5 day a week Pre-K, but it's only 3 hours a day. If I decide to put DS there they have a 2 day a week program for the 2's and 3's. Their curriculum is one of my favorite ones and their staff is absolutely wonderful.

We found our preschool through a recommendation from our pastor at our church. His oldest granddaughter goes there and he had nothing but wonderful things to say about it. His next oldest grandchild actually started today with my DD.

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when my oldest ds went to preschool I visited 7 preschool some I was not impressed with at all. There were a couple that I liked. We ended up choosing a christian school it was worth every penny we paid. They did cultural field trips their staff even went and volunteered at local kindergarten class on the days there was no preschool in order to make sure they taught them everything they needed to know for when they started school plus they required you come and help in class once a month wich I think parent involvement is very important.

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SILENCE IS GOLDEN BUT DUCK TAPE IS SILVER.

This reminded me of something that happened when we went to orientation at our preschool. DD's teacher asked DH to volunteer instead of me. She told me that she always has lots of moms volunteer, but not many dads so whenever she has a dad come in and she can see their very involved with their children she invites them to volunteer in the classroom. She told us that she has had so much success with dads coming in and even spending just 30 minutes in the room. I thought it was neat because you don't see that a lot.

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What if you made your decision based on the visit and how it met your requirements, including the teachers you met the day of your visit, to find out that the teachers switched rooms and you have a different set?

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Our preschool has a wonderful staff so it is not a problem for us. The school has two classrooms for 3-5yr olds. My oldest was in Primary I and youngest is in Primary II.

Back to your original question, our preschool was recommended by a friend. We went to the open house and were extremely pleased so we didn't shop around. It is the only Montessori preschool in our area and we really liked it. I wouldn't change anything except the location. It is in a downtown area but the school is very secure. I love the fact that the administrator is very strict about security and is always on "patrol" when the doors are unlocked for drop off and dismissal.