Pre-School

[LaurenLC]

Just for the heck of it, I started to look into pre-school for my daughter. My daughter is only 6 months old, so pre-school is not in our immediate future, but I was curious..... WOW! I had no idea what I would be looking into. When did pre-school become like going to college? The school that I really like actually suggested Sallie Mae loans for families! I had no idea that sending our daughter to nursery school would be like a second mortgage!

 

[dimimi]

Ask your friends who have older kids where their kids go to preschool and if they are happy with the preschool. Unless you are trying to enrol your child in a private kindergarten, it won't matter where she goes to preschool. You certainly want a good preschool, I always liked when they had the children arranged by age, for example all of the 3 year olds together and then 4 year olds together. This way, the year they are 4...or in pre-K, they spend the year preparing for Kindergarten.

Enjoy your baby and have fun, before you know it, she will be in Kindergarten! Also, remember, the kindergarten teacher will never know how old your child was when she had her last bottle, how old she was when she gave up her pacifier, and how old she was when she was potty trained. So, basically, don't sweat the small stuff...and Enjoy!

 

[monkeybug]

It can be like that where we live too. Crazy!
If I can just make a suggestion though? When it is time to choose one (and in competitive places that could be sooner than you might think) try not to get too wrapped up in some of the wackiness they offer. Preschool is for preparing for grade school, not college prep. They don't need violin lessons, or latin, or beginning algebra at 3 years old. They need to learn not to smash boogers into the playdough, to sit on the colorful rug "criss cross applesauce", and to listen to someone other than Mom and Dad for a few hours. Mostly it should be a fun happy place that gets them excited about school and learning.

 

[The 4 "Quay"balleros]

Just for the heck of it, I started to look into pre-school for my daughter. My daughter is only 6 months old, so pre-school is not in our immediate future, but I was curious..... WOW! I had no idea what I would be looking into. When did pre-school become like going to college? The school that I really like actually suggested Sallie Mae loans for families! I had no idea that sending our daughter to nursery school would be like a second mortgage!

My DS(5) first pre-school was at a JCC. It was good- highly recommended and an amazing building with lots of amenities. When second DS(3) came along, the tuition was going to be between $1500-1800 a month depending on how many weeks!! Let's just say that my mortgage was $1300 and I couldn't justify spending that much at that time.(As a side note though, we should have stayed there......)

 

[SaraJayne]

It isn't like that everywhere.

When DS and DD went to preschool here, it was $50 a month, 3x a week for two hours a day. They loved it and I loved it.

So preschool isn't competitive everywhere.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Even on Long Island there were inexpensive options. We sent our boys to one at a local church that did an awesome job - only $90/mo. Even if I had millions to burn, I would not have spent $1500/mo at that age.

 

[LuLuO]

I looked into a variety of preschools and some ran over $1000 a month and that was for 2-3 half days a week. So yeah, it can get expensive. We ended up choosing our public school district's preschool. It is a good fit for us, thank goodness, and we pay about $1200 a year for DD to go 2 half days a week. Next year when she goes 3 half days the tuition will be about $1750 [for the year]. The school relies a lot on parent involvement and fundraising so I think that helps to keep the cost down.

 

[mjkacmom]

Even on Long Island there were inexpensive options. We sent our boys to one at a local church that did an awesome job - only $90/mo. Even if I had millions to burn, I would not have spent $1500/mo at that age.

Wow - the cheapest options here were around $300 a month for 2 half days in a church basement! The average was $400 a month for 5 half days (3 hours).

 

[monkeybug]

Wow - the cheapest options here were around $300 a month for 2 half days in a church basement! The average was $400 a month for 5 half days (3 hours).

I pay about $400 a month for 4 days, 2 1/2 hours each day, and that was the cheapest I could find! It's a great little school, but when I taught preschool in Oregon, the most expensive preschool wasn't even that much!

 

[linnell]

Look into your school district too. My town has an integrated program (50% of kids with special needs, 50% typical) and the tuition for the typical kids is like $1800 for the entire school year.

 

[LaurenLC]

Thanks for all the thoughts..... We'd like her to start school right around the age of three, so I think we have a bit of time before we need to give it a ton of thought. My husband is a professor and the school I was REALLY excited about is affiliated with the university, so we would get a 50% discount, but even with that it would be over $10,000.00 a year! I just don't know if I can rationalize that for nursery school!

 

[marcyinPA]

It can be like that where we live too. Crazy!
If I can just make a suggestion though? When it is time to choose one (and in competitive places that could be sooner than you might think) try not to get too wrapped up in some of the wackiness they offer. Preschool is for preparing for grade school, not college prep. They don't need violin lessons, or latin, or beginning algebra at 3 years old. They need to learn not to smash boogers into the playdough, to sit on the colorful rug "criss cross applesauce", and to listen to someone other than Mom and Dad for a few hours. Mostly it should be a fun happy place that gets them excited about school and learning.

Preschool teacher here! And I totally, 100% agree with Monkeybug! I would be leery of a preschool that promises academic achievement at the age of 2 or 3....

At that age, they should be learning social skills and how to interact with people. How to separate from parents. How to wash their hands independently. How to sit in a circle, or line up at a door. How to take turns and wait their turn. That crayons are for paper, not for walls (or floors, or tables).

If they learn anything else (shapes, colors, numbers, letters, foreign languages), it's all gravy. But preschools that focus on that stuff solely...not great in my opinion!

 

[Kathi OD]

Do you have a YMCA in your town? Ours has 2, 3, & 5 day programs. All 3 of my kids went there and, while not as cheap as some of the options mentioned, it didn't break the bank either. DGD4 goes there now and the tuition is $196/month for the 3 day programs (1/2day). One day they have gym class, another they have swimming lessons.

IMO, a good option.