How did you choose a Pre-K?

My DD is in MDO right now. It's going better, by the way. Next year, however, I would like to put her in a more academic program. I am unbelievably picky, but want to stick to a budget. I definitely have what it takes to home school, but my DD desperately needs to interact with other kids. I am bilingual, and have been occassionally teaching my dd, which is a shame since I used to speak to her in Spanish all the time when I was teaching. Her first words were words in Spanish. I don't want to home school b/c I REALLY need the time to work as I will be writing next year. Again, I have to stress that my DD desperately needs social interaction. She is very much an only child. How did you all choose? ARe you happy with your decision? My dream plan would be to do a co-op with other parents and trade off based on our strengths, but I wouldn't know how to get that off the ground. Is anyone doing something like this? Or are you in love with your child's school enough it doesn't matter? Suggestions? Sorry if this seems disjointed.

i wouldn't worry much more about learning to recognize the letters and their sounds and cases in pre-k. but if you are planning to stick with private schools the following year, you might want to keep an eye on those class sizes, tuition fees and curriculums in the older grades.

you know i love st marks in mesquite. another one you might like is lakewood presbyterian. it's more of a co-op environment, but it's got regular teachers and classrooms. it also goes up to 12th grade.

Is your kid's school having an open house this winter?

they will have one in spring, but it's mostly geared toward parents who are already there. a little music show, classroom time to show off what they've been doing and then snacks for everyone. you'd be welcome, but calling and making an appointment to sit in on a class or talk to the director and teacher would probably give you a better idea of what the school is like. there are 2 pre-k classes up there, and both of the teachers have been there for years and are very patient.

I agree that preK is not much of an indicator for future academics. But I do understand that you want your child to be challenged.

My DD went to a Lutheran school near us. I wanted religion to play some part in her academics at an early age to give a moral basis. I think it has been beneficial. THe issue with my dd is that she was born 9/4..........the cut-off for K is 9/1. So she has an entire "extra" year! I didn't want her to repeat what she did last year...she technically graduated from PreK. So for her I found a immersion program at the Spanish Schoolhouse (Frisco - and coming in Jan to Coppell). They speak totally in spanish. I do drive quite a ways for this novelty, but being that my husband is bilingual we definitely feel strongly that it is such an advantage :)

Last year was more "academic" her teacher was really great, she played letter bingo, they watched butterflies from cocoon to butterfly and then set them free, they did a lot of scientific projects and basic Math by playing grocery store. She was wonderful.

The Spanish Schoolhouse seems to be more about having fun (while speaking spanish) - Movement, art, music.........just not as academic as I would like, but since Lauren has an extra year I didn't want her to get bored in Kindergarten (she will be repeating the letter, number recognition next year).

Ian is obviously going to a PPCD program BUT you may want to check into your ISD run PreK. This school is set up like an elementary school, so clean, so organized, so many ammenities and supplies available......wonderful library. THey have regular, tuition preK available there. You could check into the one near your home probably via the Rockwall ISD website.

Sounds like your dd would benefit from Montessori. They group children ages 3-6. That is the think I like most from Montessori, plus I think it's very beneficial if you have a self-motivated child. I do not have self-motivated kiddos, so it would not be beneficial to them as they would not challenge themselves outside of their box. I think it's awesome for "creative" types. Be sure that they ARE of one of the Montessori Associations. Some just call themselves Montessori, but do not use the actual method of child lead teaching.

Waldorf schools are similar to Montessori, very creative cirriculum. A lot of emphasis on languages. They are few and far between so you may want to look into what is in your area.

If there is enthusiasm about school and a smile on her face when you pick her up, that should be the best indicator that she is excited about learning.

I think summer schools, a week here, a week there are a great way to "sample" different preK's for the fall semester.

Good luck with your hunt!

Is there a recommended search engine or site to find reputable montessori schools?

http://www.montessori-ami.org/ami.htm

I would think if they were AMI certified. There aren't many that are w/ AMI, so I'm sure they will talk that up if they are certified and their teachers are AMI trained.

Thanks, I will look into that.

http://www.amshq.org/

Then there is AMS American Montessori Society, which is more common but they do require certification of their teachers.

Joseph is going to an early learning center at one of the Plano senior HS (there are three sr hs in Plano and they each have this program).
The morning program is for 3's and the afternoon is for 4's.
The teacher is a degreed, INCREDIBLE woman (this is Plano West, the one Joseph is at). The premise is that she teaches child development to the juniors and seniors in her class and the preschool is their lab school. There are about 12 kids in the class, the degreed teacher and 5 student teachers all the time.
The hours are short...the morning class goes from 8:45-11:15 and the afternoon is 12:45-3:15. You can choose two days or four days a week (M/W, T/TH, or M-Th...no class on Fridays).
It is an incredible bargain. $100 for two days a week and $200 for four days a week. She has never asked for any more money or anything to be donated...including kleenex. I have never seen anything run so well.
This is a different program than the one that Julia was talking about. This one is actually AT the high school.
Joseph gets a big kick that he goes to high school just like Alex.
We drive from McKinney to West Plano twice a week for this program. The afternoon was difficult on our schedule (the girls' still nap), so he cut back from the four days a week last year.
I plan on Libby going there next year. The following year, I am not sure what I will do because Libby would be in the pm and Caroline in the am...that is way to overwhelming!