Well, we made the decision. After talking to two neighbors - one who has her kid in Creative Beginnings and another who has her kid in Honey MacCallum plus talking to the directors again I decided that Creative Beginnings is the better school for Erik now. I could not get over the 30 kids in one classroom at Honey MacCallum.
Both neighbors were satisfied with the preschools their kids attend but the mom who has her kid in Honey MacCallum said that Creative Beginnings is supposed to be the favorite school in the area and if there was an opening that is where she would put her kid.
My concerns with that school were 1- lack of structure during the day 2- no focus on faith at all and 3-No 5 year old program.
The faith/church emphasis won't be there but there is more structure to the day than was first relayed to me. They have a theme every month -- this month is Libraries and Books. Each day they also have 3 scheduled activities -- circle time, movement/music, and art or cooking. The parents are given a calendar with the schedule of activities so you know what to ask your kid about.
I am not sure what we will do when Erik turns 5 for preschool as this program doesn't offer anything. I found one other preschool in the area that sounds better than any of the ones I looked at but it has a LONG wait list so it isn't an option now. I will probably tour it at some point and may switch him to that next fall if it is as impressive as it sounds. It has a program for 5 year old kids, is faith based, 90% of it's teachers have early childhood education degrees, limited class size to 16 with 2 teachers, has a curriculum that follows that State of Maryland's board of education recommendations, and has programs for kids 2-5. I think it sounds fantastic but haven't seen it and as I said it is not an option for this year.
Anyway-- I feel good about the school we picked for the rest of the year. I hope Erik loves it as well. I'll let you know. He will start after Thanksgiving on December 2nd. Thanks for all your input!
Here is a link to the school if interested.... Creative Beginnings
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Maybe you get on the really long waitlist for option #4 now, and they'll take Erik and Lainey next fall! :)
i'm glad you made a decision you feel good about! yay! 30 IS a big class, even in a gym. ;) from an early childhood standpoint, structured task learning at a desk/table is not that big a deal. kids' "job" is to play, which is how they learn. there are ways to incorporate early literacy, math concepts, visual-motor skills, science play, etc, within the environment for the children to explore with some gentle adult guidance. some schools do it with more structure, some with less. but given you and victor as parents, i don't think he'll be missing anything from his learning life! :) i think preschool is just that--pre-school. it's a nice exposure to concepts for kids who don't get them at home, and a backup on the same for kids who do, only with learning to interact with peers added to the mix. :) and i wouldn't feel badly about not having religion in the classroom--after all, you guys do that at home too. it sounds like you are thinking public school in the future so it would just be a side benefit to have religion in the classroom next year. i can't wait to hear about this fabled "other" preschool--wow!!! :D
Post a Comment