Honestly from my experience (my oldest entered formal pre-k in Aug and just finished his first year yesterday) if you get a well regarded, well recommended program that has a learning style in accordance to your beliefs I don't think too much grilling is involved.
I think the most important thing is research learning styles and ask for great recommendations. Some people for example love Montessori and others just HATE it. Once you know what you want I would visit and get a really strong feeling for the teacher. I observed a couple of times and just watched. I did ask important questions such as student/teacher ratio, potty training expectations, etc. But the most I got was from simply observing.
Mom to Harmon 1/17/08 and twins Rachel & Callum 8/28/09
Things that I wish I'd known about my PS before sending my kids there:
- how much the director cared/didn't care about safety. I think this comes from the top down and if the director doesn't take it seriously, the people working there won't
- if there is plenty of space for the kids to be active, even when the weather is bad. Is there time for the kids to be active too. I like school that go out 1-2x a day, depending on how long your DC is there
-how are they with socialization and what is their view on how to help children learn to socialize properly. Do they sit back and let the kids work it out themselves? Do they get involved and help guide the kids? Do they have programs for tackling big issues today like bullying (believe it or not, it starts young)?
- what do they teach and how do they teach it? how much of the day is devoted to teaching? Is it age appropriate? What is their view on homework and is it consistent with your feelings on homework at your DC's age? do they work with locals schools on KG readiness or are they out of the loop on what is expected of kids entering nearby schools?
Notice how academics are last on my list. In PS, I think other things are FAR more important. As long as they're teaching letter/number recognition, color recognition and beginning phonics, I think any kid going into KG will be fine. There is so much more that goes into being successful in KG, though, that some schools seem to miss.
I wish I had ask what areas a lot of the parents lived in. I thought, since the school was close to my house, it would be people from my community. It wasn't. It was a lot of people who drove from all over town to send their kids there. It made playdates a hassle and DD won't go to public school with any of the kids from there. I also wished I had known that there were very few SAHM, which made playdates even harder.
I'm glad I asked about outside play time. DD goes to school 3 days a week for 2 hours a day and they only do outside play time a few times during the school year which I am glad about. I have a friend whose daughter goes to a different preschool for 3 days/week, 2 hrs/day and they do outside time every single day. Even in winter. Can you imagine getting 15 kids in and out of snow suits every day. I bet 1/2 of their daily class time is spent on this. I would not want to pay for that. FWIW, DD's preschool does do movement activities every day so it's not like they just sit there.
I wish I would have known how horrible their communication with parents is. They rely on word of mouth for things like days off and programs. Just awful.
I don't know if you're going to have more children, but if you are then you might want to ask about the school's calendar. Logistics has always been a big factor for me because I have two children born 21 months apart. So in thinking about the future, it was important to me to imagine a time when I'd have both of them at the same school, then one in public school kindergarten and one still in preschool.
Our school has a car line which makes it convenient for moms with babies. You drive up to the front door and your older child is helped out of the car and is escorted to the classroom by staff, or they can walk by themselves to class if they're older.
Our preschool follows our public school district's calendar exactly. The school year for both my daughters' schools will start and end on the same dates and all holidays are the same. This will be very convenient in the fall once my 5yo transitions into kindergarten.
Also, find out what days/hours the toddlers attend versus the 2s, 3s and pre-K age children.
I'm glad I asked about outside play time. DD goes to school 3 days a week for 2 hours a day and they only do outside play time a few times during the school year which I am glad about. I have a friend whose daughter goes to a different preschool for 3 days/week, 2 hrs/day and they do outside time every single day. Even in winter. Can you imagine getting 15 kids in and out of snow suits every day. I bet 1/2 of their daily class time is spent on this. I would not want to pay for that. FWIW, DD's preschool does do movement activities every day so it's not like they just sit there.
I used to be a preschool teacher where we did go outside everyday. The kids were there for 3 hours/3 days a week. We went out the last 20 minutes or so. During the winter it depended on the weather, but most of the time they went out. Getting them ready was a lot of work, but only took about 5-10 minutes to get everyone ready. Of course it took longer at first, but it got easier. They had to learn to get ready by themselves. We made getting ready a learning experience. And we sometimes had planned activities outside.
Anyways, to answer OP, I would want to know how they handle discipline. And if they have evening programs (like concerts, open houses, etc), sometimes parents have a hard time attending because of work and bedtimes.
Re: preschool - what you wished you'd asked / known
Honestly from my experience (my oldest entered formal pre-k in Aug and just finished his first year yesterday) if you get a well regarded, well recommended program that has a learning style in accordance to your beliefs I don't think too much grilling is involved.
I think the most important thing is research learning styles and ask for great recommendations. Some people for example love Montessori and others just HATE it. Once you know what you want I would visit and get a really strong feeling for the teacher. I observed a couple of times and just watched. I did ask important questions such as student/teacher ratio, potty training expectations, etc. But the most I got was from simply observing.
Things that I wish I'd known about my PS before sending my kids there:
- how much the director cared/didn't care about safety. I think this comes from the top down and if the director doesn't take it seriously, the people working there won't
- if there is plenty of space for the kids to be active, even when the weather is bad. Is there time for the kids to be active too. I like school that go out 1-2x a day, depending on how long your DC is there
-how are they with socialization and what is their view on how to help children learn to socialize properly. Do they sit back and let the kids work it out themselves? Do they get involved and help guide the kids? Do they have programs for tackling big issues today like bullying (believe it or not, it starts young)?
- what do they teach and how do they teach it? how much of the day is devoted to teaching? Is it age appropriate? What is their view on homework and is it consistent with your feelings on homework at your DC's age? do they work with locals schools on KG readiness or are they out of the loop on what is expected of kids entering nearby schools?
Notice how academics are last on my list. In PS, I think other things are FAR more important. As long as they're teaching letter/number recognition, color recognition and beginning phonics, I think any kid going into KG will be fine. There is so much more that goes into being successful in KG, though, that some schools seem to miss.
I'm glad I asked about outside play time. DD goes to school 3 days a week for 2 hours a day and they only do outside play time a few times during the school year which I am glad about. I have a friend whose daughter goes to a different preschool for 3 days/week, 2 hrs/day and they do outside time every single day. Even in winter. Can you imagine getting 15 kids in and out of snow suits every day. I bet 1/2 of their daily class time is spent on this. I would not want to pay for that. FWIW, DD's preschool does do movement activities every day so it's not like they just sit there.
I wish I would have known how horrible their communication with parents is. They rely on word of mouth for things like days off and programs. Just awful.
I don't know if you're going to have more children, but if you are then you might want to ask about the school's calendar. Logistics has always been a big factor for me because I have two children born 21 months apart. So in thinking about the future, it was important to me to imagine a time when I'd have both of them at the same school, then one in public school kindergarten and one still in preschool.
Our school has a car line which makes it convenient for moms with babies. You drive up to the front door and your older child is helped out of the car and is escorted to the classroom by staff, or they can walk by themselves to class if they're older.
Our preschool follows our public school district's calendar exactly. The school year for both my daughters' schools will start and end on the same dates and all holidays are the same. This will be very convenient in the fall once my 5yo transitions into kindergarten.
Also, find out what days/hours the toddlers attend versus the 2s, 3s and pre-K age children.
Anyways, to answer OP, I would want to know how they handle discipline. And if they have evening programs (like concerts, open houses, etc), sometimes parents have a hard time attending because of work and bedtimes.