The pre-school search is depressing me

DevonPow

It is insane here...the one I really want him to go to he is 100 kids down on the waitlist (for Fall fo 2010!), our second choice is done by lottery and very hard to get a spot, and the other one I was interested in and looked at this morning is great, but costs $15,500 a year for 3 days a week!

It is pre-school! Who would have thought it would be such a major PITA?

Chrisy-Wyobride

Oh man that sucks!!  I hope he gets in somewhere good.  My DD's preschool is pretty hard to get into--probably one of the hardest in town.  We got the last opening last year even though we were on the waitlist 2yrs & had priority.  It was so stressful waiting!  I knew I was in trouble when they took DD#2's name down for the waitlist at less than 1 mo old--LOL!

Hooray2005

I agree! I'm honestly afraid DS won't be able to go to preschool next year b/c I can't find a place w/o a super-long waiting list (we just moved here two months ago, and unfortunately finding a preschool was just *slightly* less important than finding a house to rent - LOL!), and now we've missed all the lottery cut-offs, too.

The cost for preschool is shocking to me, too!  Who knew we had it so good back in PA

AnneUCSB

I stressed pretty hard about the where's and when's of preschool for my boys and got on a few waiting list and got very caught up in the "you kid MUST go here" mentality.  But, after checking out some more low-key neighborhood/church preschools in addition to the "ivy league" preschools I decided in the long run- what does it matter where your kid goes to preschool?  As long as it is stimulating and safe and loving teachers, the kids really just need to learn how to cooperate on a playground, take turns, raise their hand when they have a question, etc.  The academic piece of Kinder readiness is something I have already instilled in them so I just want them to have a place to learn the social rules and get used to being independent a few hours a week.  We are so happy with the little church preschool we chose for Eric and will do the same for Kyle.  

Good luck in your decision making and try not to stress about it too much!  It probably won't be too important when he is in college where he went to preschool  

aprilmomtobe

have you considered the smaller, not so "prestigious" places?  I'm not saying that you are this way, but I think a lot of people get caught up in sending their kid to the "best" when really it's just preschool!  Like Anne said, it really just needs to be safe, caring and educational.  And if he can't speak Mandarin at the end, well, you can just get him a tutor

ccm1203

AnneUCSB:

I stressed pretty hard about the where's and when's of preschool for my boys and got on a few waiting list and got very caught up in the "you kid MUST go here" mentality.  But, after checking out some more low-key neighborhood/church preschools in addition to the "ivy league" preschools I decided in the long run- what does it matter where your kid goes to preschool?  As long as it is stimulating and safe and loving teachers, the kids really just need to learn how to cooperate on a playground, take turns, raise their hand when they have a question, etc.  The academic piece of Kinder readiness is something I have already instilled in them so I just want them to have a place to learn the social rules and get used to being independent a few hours a week.  We are so happy with the little church preschool we chose for Eric and will do the same for Kyle.  

Good luck in your decision making and try not to stress about it too much!  It probably won't be too important when he is in college where he went to preschool  

  Ditto this.  Evan is in a co-op nursery school and I couldn't be happier with it.