Private Pre-K and Prep Pre-K?

[AllyCatTapia]

This thread makes me happy I live in MICH

$8,000 for preschool.

And theres not many private Elementary schools around- only religious ones and they are actually sub-par (not enough $$ coming in), so we were done with tuition once Kindergarten started. Thank God!

 

[AllyCatTapia]

Dawn, I'm with you in theory, but I've never noticed the preschools or even the Kindergarten being academically "pushy" at all.

Preschool is very relaxed, exploratory (the ones that I know anyway) and Kindergarten seems to be a positive challenge for my daughter- IE she likes reading, LOVES reading, and I'm glad we gave her that gift early.

However, I would worry if it wasn't like this, and consider sending her elsewhere, like montessori, where they self-pace a little more.

 

[catherines_mama]

Being in the Charlotte area as well, I know our schools here and am still chosing to send my daughter to private.

I chose 4K because she was in daycare anyway. The 4K at First Assembly is relaxed and fun. They learn, and they do lessons but they also play a LOT.

Me, I cannot teach her, oh I try, I really do, but we are too much alike. She goes from 8:30 - 2:00 and from 2:00 - 5:00 (when I pick her up) she goes to After-school care which is all fun. For the same price I would pay in daycare, she's getting a Christ based education AND having tons of fun. Even though she's learning, I'm not looking at it to make her smarter, just to tune her into learning a little better. She's a numbers freak! LOVES math but isn't hip on the letters and reading. Its adding a level of familiarity that will only help her in later years.

I really think its to each his own. This works for me, but not for the people 2 doors down, so that's Okay! Public school here is just overcrowded and not for us, that's okay too!

 

[DawnM]

Oh, I certainly wasn't trying to start a debate on which kind of education is best. Each family has to choose what will work for them, etc...

I was just saying that with 3 kids, that tuition you mentioned would take up my whole salary and wouldn't be worth it to ME.

BTW: I am much more a city girl than DH. I feel like we live too far out of the city now! I miss CA a lot.

This next year my children will go to a part time private school. It has a very good reputation in this area and I will work there part time and get free tuition for my kids the hours I work there. For us, this is the best of both worlds. A little homeschooling and a little time at school. This school is unique as well because I can put them individually in each class according to thier levels. So my 3rd grader could take 2nd grade writing/reading and 4th grade math if I needed him to.

Dawn

Dawn, that's one of the reasons we have decided to stick to one kid! We don't want to move to the 'burbs for school, so that's just the way it is for us now. We could have kept him in his current day care, but I want to send him to this school for the elementary years and getting him in the PS3 class is the easiest way to ensure he's in!

ETA: I don't want to get in a homeschool debate, but it is important for both DH and me that he go to school - I don't think DH or I would be the best teacher for him. We're both better at earning the money for his tuition (and trips to WDW)!

 

[DawnM]

Well, I think it depends on the school.

My husband's brother has a child. They put him in a high academic preschool and K program. They bragged all the time about how "advanced" their son was, etc.... I found out later (from the mother privately to me) that the poor kid wet his pants daily from the stress of not being able to keep up. He would go to school (for K) for 7 hours of academics and be given 2 hours of homework a night! That was more than any 5 year old could handle!

I just want to advocate for a child being a child, that is all. I am sure there are very good preschools out there. My children went to preschool, but it was not overly academic.

Dawn

Dawn, I'm with you in theory, but I've never noticed the preschools or even the Kindergarten being academically "pushy" at all.

Preschool is very relaxed, exploratory (the ones that I know anyway) and Kindergarten seems to be a positive challenge for my daughter- IE she likes reading, LOVES reading, and I'm glad we gave her that gift early.

However, I would worry if it wasn't like this, and consider sending her elsewhere, like montessori, where they self-pace a little more.

 

[left210]

I chose 4K because she was in daycare anyway. The 4K at First Assembly is relaxed and fun. They learn, and they do lessons but they also play a LOT.

For the same price I would pay in daycare, she's getting a Christ based education AND having tons of fun.

This is the same scenario as us. I was paying the same thing to send my son to daycare as I am sending him for a Christ based education and it has been wonderful. He is in his second year of preschool because he started at age 3 and has learned so much. We were contemplating on whether to send him to public school or keep him in the private christian based school setting and have pretty much come to the conclusion that he will go to a private school. Especially after reading these posts, the cost of the private school here is not bad at all and he will have so many more learning opportunities and have the ability to express his faith. I have had friends who are christians and christian teachers try to persuade me to send him to public school because there needs to be good christian kids in public schools for the other kids who dont know Christ yet. I understand that theory but we have to look out for what is in our childs best interest and I think it is private school for us.

 

[DawnM]

This is the same scenario as us. I was paying the same thing to send my son to daycare as I am sending him for a Christ based education and it has been wonderful. He is in his second year of preschool because he started at age 3 and has learned so much. We were contemplating on whether to send him to public school or keep him in the private christian based school setting and have pretty much come to the conclusion that he will go to a private school. Especially after reading these posts, the cost of the private school here is not bad at all and he will have so many more learning opportunities and have the ability to express his faith. I have had friends who are christians and christian teachers try to persuade me to send him to public school because there needs to be good christian kids in public schools for the other kids who dont know Christ yet. I understand that theory but we have to look out for what is in our childs best interest and I think it is private school for us.

I think that is a flawed theory. As an adult you can make a choice to be "salt and light" but you can't make that choice for your own children. First they have to learn their faith and make it their own. I am NOT anti-ps. I just think that some kids will thrive in one environment and others will thrive in another.

Dawn

 

[carone0318]

Ok, ds goes to a private Pre-K (that's what it is, but I never thought of it that way) and it cost us just under $6000 for the year and this included their 5 week summer program, still need to put him somewhere for the month of August because we both work (that's taken care of already.) Next yr he will join his sister at the parochial school, essentially I am getting a raise since he will be out of private pre-k.

His pre-k is not prep though. There are a couple around here and they could run anywhere up to the $16k area, but considering it is the Princeton, NJ location need I say more!

Just remember that no matter where you put your child there are always other options if it doesn't work out for any reason.

I plan to keep my kids in parochial through 8th grade and then send them to the public high school, but I guess that could change as time goes by, we'll see, but that's my plan for now.

 

[Rowlf]

I have had friends who are christians and christian teachers try to persuade me to send him to public school because there needs to be good christian kids in public schools for the other kids who dont know Christ yet.

I'm trying to control myself, but this makes me very angry. And glad that I am going to send my son to an independent school that will not bring religion into the picture at all.

 

[lauritagoddess]

It's outrageous how pricey preschool can be. I'm in NYC and it's just horrific the prices. I don't even live in Manhattan, but the local Friends school, the one I'd love to send him to is over $20,000 for 4 year old pre-K. The half day program for the 3s is over $15,000. Right now he goes 4 half days per week at a daycare/preschool for only about $4000 a year. But it's a little place, nothing fancy. I'm sending him to full-time pre-K in September at catholic school where it will only cost me $3500 a year (parish member cost, $4400 if you're out of parish). It's just so ridiculous when this only pre-K.

 

[jme829]

WOW..is all I can say. My 2 dd's were in Catholic school last year and the tuition was $2600 total for both of them for full time.. (one was K one was in gr 6..) I felt that was too much for us so I pulled them (well among other reasons) and am now e-schooling them at home for free. All 3 of my kids attended private preschools that were no more than $800 for the year. My oldest dd has been straight A's since day 1 (she is now in gr 7) and my younger dd is also all A's ((now grade 1) my ds is only in preK now but he is just as smart if not smarter than the other 2 at that age.

Guess we won't be moving out west anytime soon!! LOL

 

[Rapunsel]

I feel so lucky to live in Western New York..

I pay $630 a year for 2 day 2.5 hours. My DS4 loves it. he comes home and spurts off all the stuff that he did. How the people from the electricity power palnt came.
The K9 drug dog, the firemen etc..
I couldn't be more pleased with his education. Where we are most Preschools are church run. Which is fine with me. I feel it makes a place more 'homey'.
There is the Universal pre-k, but they only accept 26 students. for both am and pm sessions. So it is a lottery draw for us.

ALso I chose to hold DS back because he has a late b-day. November.

I came from So. California where homeschooling is huge and am an advocate for it, but we have one of the best public schools around and I want me child to take advantage of that. Also a plus Grandmpa will be his bus driver..

So I say that it is the choices that we all chose to make.
I do have to be an advocate for high schoolers. My BF in High school was homeschooled and loved it, but her mom refused to teach them past 8th grade. As they said you can get so many experiences in High school, play sports, clubs, dances socail stuff that some kids don't get.

I also worked with Home schooled kids and some of them had no social life and couldn't talk with their peers. They had an even more difficult time in college. Putting them into a Dorm room with some one who is very outgoing etc..

So I feel as parents we do waht is best for our child and if they seem to be having a difficult time, talk with them..

I feel so bad about the posters who said the little boy was having accidents at school..


The only accidents that they need to have at that age is spilling the paint across the table and then everyone finger painting in it... Of course it happens on the day mommy is the classroom helper and gets her favorite jeans painted blue!

 

[allboyz]

Does anyone send their little ones to private pre/prep-pre school? I am moving to San Francisco and I was wondering what the average price aroung the country was?? I will be paying $8,500 for Pre-K. and $6,500 for Prep Pre-K. There was only a few in close to us, so not many options as far as $$. Let me know if I am getting "ripped off".

Sounds like you are talking about one of those preschools that they have in that movie with Diane Keaten. You know the one where a relative dies and leaves this career driven woman with a baby. I think it is called Baby Talk or something. Anyway, that is out of my league too. My son goes to a local pre-k and we pay $100 a month.

 

[Mom to Jordan]

I would love to hear more about prep-preschools. What is the teacher:child ratio? What type of phonic program do they use? What type of degrees do the teachers have? Do they teach French or Spanish? What type field trips do they take for 300.00?

It all seems so far removed from what is the norm in our area and I wonder if these school are really so different. I would also be glad to share about our small church program that runs about 100.00 a month.

 

[DawnM]

You must have been in a VERY different area of SoCal than we were. Where we lived there were not very many homeschoolers at all. I have now moved to the Charlotte, NC area and homeschooling is much more common. There are all sorts of activities, classes offered and such for homeschoolers here.

As for the HSers you met, I think that is not the norm any more. (although I am sure there are some!) HSing is becoming more mainstream. My kids are some of the most social kids you will ever meet. Now, that said, I will also say that after having worked in the ps for 17 years I met plenty of kids who just "didn't fit in."

You mentioned sports, socials, etc....My kids will start a part time school program next year. For us, this is the best of both worlds. They go to school part time and I get them part time. The school has 450 kids K-12 and they have actually won some regional competitions for soccer and baseball. They have field trips, prom, etc.... But, many hs groups are also offering group activities, sports and socials.

There are some really great charter school options out there too for some of you who aren't really sure about the local ps but may not be able to afford private with multiple children, etc.... There are choices many times, even within the ps system. Sometimes you will have to put your children's names into a lottery system. Even if you don't think you have a shot, if you are interested in that school DO IT! My friend got a call in the middle of her oldest son's K year and he got in mid-year because someone moved. Now all her kids will have the chance to go there.

Ok, sorry, I am rambling again. There are just so many choices in education these days and we have to really look at what is best for each of our children.

Dawn

I feel so lucky to live in Western New York..

I pay $630 a year for 2 day 2.5 hours. My DS4 loves it. he comes home and spurts off all the stuff that he did. How the people from the electricity power palnt came.
The K9 drug dog, the firemen etc..
I couldn't be more pleased with his education. Where we are most Preschools are church run. Which is fine with me. I feel it makes a place more 'homey'.
There is the Universal pre-k, but they only accept 26 students. for both am and pm sessions. So it is a lottery draw for us.

ALso I chose to hold DS back because he has a late b-day. November.

I came from So. California where homeschooling is huge and am an advocate for it, but we have one of the best public schools around and I want me child to take advantage of that. Also a plus Grandmpa will be his bus driver..

So I say that it is the choices that we all chose to make.
I do have to be an advocate for high schoolers. My BF in High school was homeschooled and loved it, but her mom refused to teach them past 8th grade. As they said you can get so many experiences in High school, play sports, clubs, dances socail stuff that some kids don't get.

I also worked with Home schooled kids and some of them had no social life and couldn't talk with their peers. They had an even more difficult time in college. Putting them into a Dorm room with some one who is very outgoing etc..

So I feel as parents we do waht is best for our child and if they seem to be having a difficult time, talk with them..

I feel so bad about the posters who said the little boy was having accidents at school..


The only accidents that they need to have at that age is spilling the paint across the table and then everyone finger painting in it... Of course it happens on the day mommy is the classroom helper and gets her favorite jeans painted blue!

 

[Rowlf]

I would love to hear more about prep-preschools. What is the teacher:child ratio? What type of phonic program do they use? What type of degrees do the teachers have? Do they teach French or Spanish? What type field trips do they take for 300.00?

It all seems so far removed from what is the norm in our area and I wonder if these school are really so different. I would also be glad to share about our small church program that runs about 100.00 a month.

Even the 3 day/3 hour programs run at least $700 a month here - that's just the way it is, unfortunately. The school I'll be sending DS to in the fall has a 6:1 student to teacher ratio, with most of the teachers having masters degrees. They also have daily French lessons with a native French speaking teacher.

 

[sara74]

Well, I don't know if I qualify to post as our DKs are in daycare but DD4 is in the PreK program there. Our childcare center (they care for children, not days as they will tell you!) has a part time PreS and PreK program which I guess is the private programs that people are referring to, which are 2 mornings or 3 mornings a week. I don't know those costs.

Our DD is in PreK 3 days a week all day in the separate PreK room for all day kids. Our cost for her program is $151 a week, with snacks included. They have a formal curriculum with weekly themes, in house field trips (Mad Science, singers, etc) and are NAEYC accredited. This totals $7852 for a whole year. Her teachers have college degrees and are both mothers, there are 20 kids in the room with 2 teachers. Love the program, love the place although they will be getting all our $ this fall when we add another DS to the enrollment of the childcare! DS who is almost 2 is in his own toddler classroom that follows the same themes but with age appropriate changes. He is already counting to 18! Not because they push academics so hard but because they just use education in every aspect of the day, so there is lots of singing, they do calendar every day, they talk about the shapes and colors of toys as they play with the kids. DDs class is more formal but still relaxed too!

OTOH, we have private schools here that seems to be the CT equivalent of what New Yorkers have to go through. Renbrook or the Cobb School (Montessori) are the expensive alternatives! Check them out at www.renbrook.org or cobbschool.org Renbrook would cost us between 15,000 and 20,000/year for PreK varying depending on your need for afterschool care, Cobb School doesn't post tuition/aftercare costs on its website.

 

[justhat]

I would love to hear more about prep-preschools. What is the teacher:child ratio? What type of phonic program do they use? What type of degrees do the teachers have? Do they teach French or Spanish? What type field trips do they take for 300.00?

It all seems so far removed from what is the norm in our area and I wonder if these school are really so different. I would also be glad to share about our small church program that runs about 100.00 a month.

I don't know if you'd call my daughter's preschool a 'prep-preschool' or not (cause I've never heard that term), but since it's a lot of money like the one you're talking about I thought I'd give my answer. She started at 18 months and her tuition for this year was close to $11,000 and next year will be $11,500. This is for a little over 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. The child:teacher ratio is 4:1, her head teacher has a masters degree in infant/toddler education (there is 1 head teacher and 2 assistants in each class and that is how each class is at a minimum), and they teach Spanish starting at age 3, French and Chinese starting at age 5. All of these language classes are taught by native speakers. Not sure on the field trips (though we don't pay a yearly fee like that for them, it's a per field trip basis) cause they don't start till the kids are in the 3yo class and my daughter won't start there till next January.

And her school runs from early September to mid-June and the kids can only stay for 3 hours a day until age 3, no option of extended care for working parents. Also no summer camp options so we'll be paying almost $1400 for her to go to camp this summer for 7 weeks, 4 hours a day and I provide her lunch (and this is a church based summer camp).

Oh, and I live in Washington, DC, so pretty close to Rowlf and another poster who lives in MD outside DC from the 1st page, so I can agree that these prices are pretty much the norm for just regular preschool programs. Her school does have an elementary school, but nothing extraordinary, at least for the DC area, and it stops at 6th grade so we'd need to find a jr. high/high school for her if she stays there anyway (which may not be an issue since we might move out of state in 2010 anyway).

 

[catherines_mama]

I'm trying to control myself, but this makes me very angry. And glad that I am going to send my son to an independent school that will not bring religion into the picture at all.

But see, thats okay, you can have your own views and choices. That is what makes the world go round right. I think nothing negative of people who don't send their kids to private school, secular or not. But I DO want religion brought into my daughters school, so I chose to send her there. Its my choice and I certainly pay for it. There are non-secular private schools and public for those who dont. Its just the the choice to attend church or not, its your choice, and not my role to tell you what to do or how to raise your children. We all chose to raise our children how we best see fit for them. Like Dawn said, children thrive in different environments. I wholey agree with that statement. After yrs of large center daycares, I've learned that this environment is the best for my daughter. She's a much happier child about school / daycare this year then she's ever been. It makes me proud of my choice.

I believe this post was how much it costs to attend Private school across the country and I think its gone a bit off topic.

Mom to Jordan: To the question about child:teacher. At my daughters school it is 1:15, but I've never witnessed chaos or disorderly behavior on my pop-ins SO it works great for them. Her teacher is a teacher. She's been there 30 yrs and is wonderful! In the daycare enviroment we had college kids a lot, and turnover was pretty frequent.

School itself M-F 8:30 - 2:00 is $428/month. They learn their letters, number, shapes, colors, blends, and are learning to read. They have a Bible lesson each day. They go to Chapel on Monday, Library on Tuesday, and Music on Wednesday. They play outside each day for 1 hr before lunch (weather permitting). This price includes a morning snack (at 9am) and lunch every day. They are not learning Spanish, but she did at her old daycare (which was $700/mos). I pay $100/mos for aftershool care where they play and do lots of arts & crafts.

 

[deedeetoo]

My ds is in pre-K at a daycare center (I work three days/wk). He goes all 5 days but short days on the two that I don't work. I pay $253/wk and it is a year round program so its $13k for a year. Starting in Sept he will be going to public school full day kindergarten. This costs $2000 per year. On three days a week he will stay for the extended day program at the school which runs $164/month. Half day kindergarten is free but not many people choose it. I think the split in our town is about 80% full day 20% half day. There is a tuition assistance for those who want full day but can't afford it.