He got in! For those of you not familiar with east coast metropolitan insanity, getting a child into pre-school around here is like trying to get a great apartment in New York City. In May, we did a round of tours, put him on several waiting lists, and crossed our fingers for fall 2008. So, this September, Roan will have a place in the “2 Day 2’s” class at Govans Presbyterian (2 days a week with other 2 year olds for 3 hours at a time). This is an exciting new change, and we hope the transition goes smoothly.
For our fellow Baltimore parents who curl up in stress at the very thought of finding a pre-school (as I did), read on for some tips. Hopefully this rundown of our experience can help save you some confusion, stress, and lost time. If anyone else willingly reads on, you must be really bored at work today!
A) There’s no way around good old-fashioned networking. Use word of mouth to familiarize yourself with some of the choicer options, as it’s difficult to research preschools on the internet. Many pre-school web sites are inadequately informative or non-existent. I recommend getting your hands on “The Parent’s Pages” published by Baltimore’s Child. Circle all the daycare/pre-schools you learn about through friends who have already done the footwork or who already have kids in school, and start by calling those places to schedule a tour. You may want to initially narrow down choices by location (proximity to your home).
B) It’s a pain in the butt, but I suggest touring 4-5 schools. We had no idea what we were looking for in a pre-school when we began this process, and this is a fine way to start, because as long as you’re willing to do the footwork, your preferences, values, and concerns will become clear to you as you see how different the schools are in their:
- philosophies (e.g. free play vs. structured time)
- requirements (potty-training – yes or no)
- space/resources (run-down and dingy vs. sparkly vs. homey)
- general vibe (a little more loosy goosy vs. a little more formal, conservative)
- diversity of population
- cost $ (the places we visited ranged from $900 to $2800, for 2 year olds)
- program offerings (#days/wk, #hours/day, time of day, additional daycare hours)
- the role of religion (many pre-schools are affiliated with churches and vary in their approach, if any, to religious education. They also vary in their openness to other faiths and how they accomodate of children and families of other faiths)
Also, bring your child along with you on the tours. His/her reaction to the place will be informative and interesting. During our Tour de Pre-schools, Roan had a tantrum every time we left a site (he didn’t want to leave). While I knew he was fairly social in nature, that helped reassure me of his general readiness to attend school. In fact, I began to feel that were he to not get into a pre-school, he would be deprived of a real need to be around other kids and adults more often.
Finally, I recommend the blitz approach. Try to squeeze in your tours within a couple weeks time, rather than belabor your exploration. You might as well get it over with, and you may likely be looking at waiting lists.
C) Unfortunately, there’s no time for dilly dally. We thought we were getting a head start by touring schools in May for the coming fall. Wrong! Turns out, most parents apply at least 1 year in advance. And they probably conduct their tours a couple seasons prior to applying. Many people put their kids on multiple waiting lists.
But once you’re in, you’re in. Most places will extend priority enrollment to your child in subsequent years. That’s why you may want to consider a pre-school for your 2 year old, even if it’s not important to you that your child attend school prior to age 3, to ensure your child’s placement for a 3 yr old class. If you feel your child is not ready to attend pre-school at age 2, consider a mommy & me program (like at Brown Memorial) that will usher you into a 3 yr old program the following year.
Raising Roan 