A Teachers View - Getting your little one ready for Preschool!

I am blessed to live next to a elementary school teacher who loves my kids and we love her!! She has multiple education degrees and is the first person I run to when I am worried about speech, development or anything learning related!! She has agreed to write a weekly post for me on some common concerns involving little ones. If you have a topic that you would like to see addressed, please e-mail me at everythingmom@live.com

Preschool Part 3: Is My Kiddo Ready?

You’ve picked a preschool and your darling child is all registered and ready to go.

Congratulations! Here are a couple of tips for the weeks leading up to preschool.

Visit the school. Stop by while preschool is in session and let your child watch the other children playing outside. Build up your excitement – “I am so excited for you! Look how much fun you’re going to have! I can’t wait to see you go down that yellow slide/dig in the sand box/ swing on the tire swing.”

If you pass school in your daily lives, point it out. “That’s were Meredith is going to school!”
Read up on preschool. There’s a lot of great children’s literature about going to school. Some of my favorites: D.W.’s Guide to Preschool by Marc Brown (Arthur Books), We Love Preschool by Tim Warnes, Preschool to the Rescue by Judy Sierra, Little School by Beth Norling, and Little Bunny’s Preschool Countdown by Maribeth Boelts.

Start a routine. Just like school-agers, preschoolers need a schedule. Getting up, getting dressed, breakfast, out the door. Even if it’s just to run errands. You may want to make a picture chart to hang in your preschooler’s bedroom of your routine. Also helpful, the hanging “Days of the Week” shelves where you can store clothes for everyday and that stuffed dinosaur your child will need on Wednesday during “D” week.

On the first day of school, have a special breakfast. Resist the urge to cry.

As you’re driving to school on that first day, talk about all the fun your kiddo is going to have and tell them you’ll see them when school is over. Again, resist the urge to cry.

At school, take pictures, talk to the other moms and dads, hug and kiss your big kid one more time, and tell him you’ll be back soon and to have a great day. Don’t linger too long, especially if your child is crying. They’ll be ok, the teacher will make sure of that. Resist the urge to cry yourself.

Once you’re in the parking lot, let it out. Cry the whole way home, stopping at Starbucks on the way if necessary. My mom and a neighbor used to go to breakfast on the first day of school so they wouldn’t be home alone. They did this yearly until we were in college.

Pick up your preschooler and listen to them gush about all the fun they had and the friends they made. Ask questions and make them feel like they are a rock star. Have a special lunch or dinner to celebrate!

A Teachers View - Choosing a preschool!

I am blessed to live next to a elementary school teacher who loves my kids and we love her!! She has multiple education degrees and is the first person I run to when I am worried about speech, development or anything learning related!! She has agreed to write a weekly post for me on some common concerns involving little ones. If you have a topic that you would like to see addressed, please e-mail me at everythingmom@live.com

Preschool Part 2: Choosing a Preschool


So you’re ready to send junior off to the wonderful world of education. But which preschool should you choose??

Preschools, like kids, come is all kinds of shapes, sizes, and configurations. If you know what you’re looking for, you’re likely to find it. If you’re not, keep reading.

The Basics:

- Do you want a “traditional preschool” where kids go 2-3 hours 2-3 days a week or are you looking for more of a daycare, all day, everyday?

- Would you like a center that is church affiliated? School based?

- Are you looking for a lot of options such as kindergarten classes?

- Would your child do well in a classroom with child with special needs?

Questions Every Parent Should Ask:

- What is your staff training like?

- Are you NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) accredited?

- How often are the rooms cleaned/toys disinfected?

- Is a snack served? Do parents need to provide? What about food allergies or medical concerns?
- For an all day program – is lunch provided or do parents need to pack one? What is the rest time policy? Are mats provided? How often are they cleaned?

- What kind of academic program do you follow?

- Do the teachers keep portfolios? Behavior logs?

- What is your center’s discipline plan?

- What makes your center special?

When you have your choices narrowed down, visit the center. The first time, you may want to make an appointment to talk to the center’s director and take a tour. Take the tour and use that time to observe, observe, observe. (You may also want to stop by at a later date unannounced for another observation).

Things to keep in mind while you are observing:

- Does the room appear to be clean and organized? Are appropriate things within reach of the children?

- Is there enough space to everyone?

- Are the spaces defined? i.e. the dramatic play area, an art center, library/quiet area

- Is the staff interacting with the students? Is there enough staff?

- Is there evidence of parent-teacher communication? i.e. a parent bulletin board or copies of newsletters

- Is the staff consistent in their discipline? Do you like the interactions you are seeing?

- Does it appear that safety concerns have been met?

- If you can do so without intruding, ask the staff any questions you might have.

I happen to really like the school-based special education preschools where 4-5 typically developing children are in a classroom with 6-8 special needs children. The “typical” kids are peer models for the other kids, modeling things like using words, taking turns, and skills special education students may not have yet. In turn, the special needs children teach the peer models love, empathy, and patience. These types of settings are not right for all children and the waiting lists are usually a little long, but having taught in these schools I am a big advocate for them.

The Bottom Line: Choose the preschool that is right for your child and your family.

A Teachers View - The Case for Preschool

I am blessed to live next to a elementary school teacher who loves my kids and we love her!! She has multiple education degrees and is the first person I run to when I am worried about speech, development or anything learning related!! She has agreed to write a weekly post for me on some common concerns involving little ones. If you have a topic that you would like to see addressed, please e-mail me at everythingmom@live.com

Preschool Part 1: The Case for Preschool

As school winds down and summer starts, many parents start planning for next fall. If you have a small one, you may be thinking “How soon can I get them out of the house?!? They’re driving me crazy!” If you have a three or four year old or a five year old who isn’t old enough to go to kindergarten in the fall, preschool might be a great option for you.

Preschool is more than kids getting out of your hair to play with their friends for a couple of hours a couple of days a week. Preschool really does teach important skills. Preschool is about socialization and learning interpersonal skills as well as early reading, writing, math, and science skills. In a preschool setting children learn how to play with others, how to share and take turns, how to express their wants and needs with words. They also learn letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. They learn early math skills in counting, sorting, and sequencing. They use science skills to observe leaves for differences, see how much something weighs or how long a stick is. Early writing skills are developed by exploring with pencils, crayons, markers, and all kinds of other writing tools on paper, in sand, in chalk.

Preschoolers also learn how school “works”. They learn how to sit together and listen to a story. They learn to clean up when they make a mess (yea!). They learn to leave Mom and Dad and go into a classroom like the big kid they are (this is usually harder for Mom and Dad!). They learn seemingly smaller things like asking to use the restroom, lining up, and walking in a line.

In most preschools, you will find a staff who is more than happy to listen to your child’s fervent desire to be Batman for Halloween for the 500th time, who is willing to have their arms elbow deep is whatever wacky substance is in the sensory table, and most of all realizes that you just dropped off your most prized possession at their door. Tune in next time when we discuss choosing a preschool.