question about preschool experience

bbe13 · January 2012

hi there,

I spent time trying to pick out a preschool for my daughter (3 1/2 yo). Picked one that I was impressed with and she had her first day today. Now I am second guessing. It is a co-op so I spent the morning there. I was bothered by the small amount of teacher student interaction. I am wondering what your experience(s) have been in terms of preschool, I am not terribly concerned about any kind of academic focus but I was hoping for her to foster some kind of connection with her teachers, there didn't seem to be any kind of interaction from either teacher, there are two teachers and 12 other students. My daughter seemed to have a nice time but on Friday when I am not there I know she will have a difficult time and don't feel confident leaving her because she won't have an adult she has established any kind of connection with... hmmm thoughts, TIA.

kittylove · January 2012

That would bother me too. Is staying on Friday and mentioning something to the teacher a possability? Our co-op does home visits to establish a child-teacher relationship to ease you exact concern so this can't be the first time your school has heard this as a complaint. Good luck.

KathrynMD · January 2012

can you explain more what you mean by teacher-student interaction and what you expected?

DD's teachers "interact" with her and other students, but its definitely in a more authoritative/teacher role than a mothering/nurturing role. They aren't cold to the kids, but its not all hugs and cuddles either.

AgrippaRidesAgain · January 2012

KathrynMD:
can you explain more what you mean by teacher-student interaction and what you expected?

DD's teachers "interact" with her and other students, but its definitely in a more authoritative/teacher role than a mothering/nurturing role. They aren't cold to the kids, but its not all hugs and cuddles either.

I'm going with this too. DS loves school and his teachers, but there are 12 kids in his class, so there isn't exactly one on one time. But, we've got him in preschool for socialization purposes, not necessarily for connecting with adults.

CTJune06 · January 2012

DD just started preschool this week. She's going 2 mornings/week. She just turned 3 and the class if for young 3's. We observed 2 classes prior to her starting (one with DD and one without) and I got the impression that the teacher is very warm and attentive to the students. There are now 5 kiddo's in the class- and the max is 8. There is also a floating teacher that joins the class during various projects. If this was to be a full class (8 kids) there would be 2 teachers present at all times.

The kids all hugged the teacher and she was extremely attentive to their needs, questions, etc. I was really impressed.

I agree that I want DD to socialize with the other kids, but it was really nice (and comforting to me) to see her and the other kids connecting so well with the teacher.

Mrs Manners · January 2012

I follow a blog of a guy who runs a coop preschool. My impression of their philosophy is that the teachers are there to supervise, but that the kids learn mainly from interactions with each other and their environment. They seem very "learn through play and experiences and mistakes" rather than "let's have circle time and teach the alphabet and calendar". In fact, he seems to go out of his way to avoid "leading" the children. It's a much more free range philosophy than our daycare/preschool. His observations of their activities and how they learn from each other, from doing things, from making mistakes, ect is very interesting to me. I think my ds would do well in an environment like that but we unfortunately don't have any near us and I work full time so I couldn't meet the participation requirements anyway. Maybe you need to talk to the director more about the philosophy of their teaching methods to make sure it's a fit for you.

Wally3 · January 2012

DS doesn't go to a co-op preschool. But the teachers seem very attentive to the childrens needs. The teacher in the morning is alwaly holing and hugging welcome to a studnet. DS likes to hold her had for awhile when he arrives and she'll put a hand out for him even if she is holding another child or offer to involve him in what she is doing. They have free play on the playground during arrival.

bbe13 · January 2012

When I say interact I really mean just simple words being exchanged, there was very little said between the two teachers and any of the children not just my dd... it was so odd... not sure if my presence had something to do with it???

bbe13 · January 2012

I agree, my intent is for dd to go to preschool for socialization purposes but I don't feel comfortable leaving her in a situation with an adult who she doesn't really have familiarity with and I feel like had there been more interaction I would feel better about it...

bbe13 · January 2012

Thank you that is really helpful, would you mind sending me the link to the blog, I'd like to check it out... I'm certainly going to chat with the teachers tomorrow, I just don't want to come off in a negative way... just want dd to have a nice transition...

bbe13 · January 2012

thanks ladies your thoughts were helpful!

Mrs Manners · January 2012

Here's a link to his blog and a post this week that specifically mentions how they handle (or how he believes you should handle) interactions with kids:

Teacher Tom

riv08 · January 2012

If you are uncomfortable sending your child to that preschool, then I wouldn't send her. Most of the time your "gut feeling" is correct.

shellybird101 · January 2012

Do you know why there was no teacher/child interaction? Was the teacher busy with other children, was your child busy with you or other children that the teacher let her play, or was the teacher just not interacting with ALL the other students?

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