Finding a Great Preschool Does Not Have to Be Difficult

Your child’s future is, more than likely, very important to you. Many parents feel that it is their responsibility to ensure that their children have all of the tools that they need in order to succeed in the world. Of course, what your child does with those tools is ultimately up to them, but giving them the tools they need is the least they can do. If you and your co-parent (or just you on your own, no judgment for your situation.) have been saying to one another “I wish it was easier to find a great preschool near me.” you’re in the right place.

The trick to finding a good preschool program is to know where to look for it and how to look for it. Fortunately, there are a lot of resources available to help you find exactly what you’re looking for exactly when you need it. Whether this is your first child that you’re sending to preschool or you’ve already sent all of your other kids, there are always tricks that you can use to help you find the best preschool in your area without having to spend too much time on the search.

Finding a List of Good Preschools

You have more than one way to find good preschools in your area. There are some common ways and some less common ways to go about this, but all of them will help you get the information that you need so you can find a good program that will be sure to help your child succeed. The resources are out there, all you need to do is look for them. But where does one exactly start their search? We’ll be looking at a few common ways that people go about this. 

The most common way is to ask your local school district. Your school district has resources to help children succeed in school, and it’s to their benefit to help you. Schools get more funding based on how well the students do on annual tests, so it’s in their best interest to help you find a good preschool so your child can get an early start. In most cases, the school district will be able to point you to effective programs that fit well within your budget, no matter how tight your budget for this might be. 

Most of the preschools that the school district tells you about will be trustworthy. In fact, some school districts even have preschools that are run by the district. They’re probably one of the best resources for this kind of thing because the school district is already an entity that’s focused on education exclusively. Out of any resource available, they probably have the most information about the best programs near you, especially if you have a very tight budget to worry about. Whether you’re low-income, filthy rich, or anything in between, you can find something that works for you through the school district.

You can also check through some government websites. Most of these websites will have .gov domains so you can know that they’re trustworthy. These resources are also very good for ensuring that you can find something that works well for your budget and for your child. The government wants to help you make sure that your child has the best education available for them, so they will do just about anything they can to make sure that your child can be in a good preschool if that’s what you decide is best for them as their parent or guardian. 

How to Know if It’s a Good Preschool or Not

You may be concerned about the quality of the preschool that you send your child to. It’s only natural, after all, you’re sending them somewhere potentially five days a week for potentially a small fortune in fees. There are some preschool programs that cost more than a small apartment in your area per month, and whether or not you’re paying that much you want to be sure that you’re getting your time, effort, and money’s worth. But how do you know if the program is worth its salt? It can be hard to tell if you don’t know much about preschools. 

First thing’s first, let’s dispel some common misconceptions about preschools. The first and biggest one is that a preschool program is more expensive than another doesn’t always mean that it’s better. There are programs that cost thousands of dollars a month to babysit your child in a fancy room without teaching them anything and there are programs that are entirely subsidized by the government that will have your child ready for anything that the education system will have to throw at them. We felt it was important to mention this because some parents feel like they have to throw a lot of money at a preschool for it to be good. 

While there are also good expensive preschools and bad cheap ones, it’s good to note that just because there’s a high price tag doesn’t mean that you’re getting your money’s worth. There are plenty of people out there just looking to get a quick buck, and running a preschool that looks nice but lacks substance can definitely achieve that for certain people. We don’t condone those kinds of business practices because they’re pretty shady, but it’s good to know that you need to do some of your own investigations. 

The best way to see if a program is good is to actually go into the classroom and see how the teacher interacts with the children. You want to be able to see that the teacher has enough patience to work with kids and that they understand how to communicate effectively with kids. That involves not getting irritated with them and posturing themselves properly. One of the most effective ways to communicate with a child is to get down on their level, whether that’s by sitting, kneeling, or crouching. 

If the teacher doesn’t know how to properly control a classroom or interact with children they have no business with your children. Teachers that lose their temper only cause issues and potential trauma for the children. On the other hand, teachers that can get the kids to listen of their own volition are worth their weight in gold. Remember, children are people and they want to feel respected by the other people around them just like you do. If a teacher acts disrespectfully towards a class, odds are they’re going to get that attitude right back from the children. 

You can also look at the actual environment. The biggest green flag that you can look for is that the classroom looks like it’s designed for children. That means child-sized furniture, bright colors, short walls, the list goes on. As a good rule of thumb, whenever you enter a preschool classroom you should think to yourself “how would I feel about this room if I were a child?” and if the answer is anything less than “ecstatic” then it might not be a good fit. Children need a certain type of stimulation in order to learn, and it’s a lot harder for them to learn in an environment that isn’t made for them.

There should also be a few other things that you should be able to see. For example, small problem-solving puzzles. The best and most common example of this is how the toys are kept for the children. Toys should be somewhere that the children can access them without any adult interference. This allows the child to feel freer to play and a sense of accomplishment when they retrieve the toys. It also teaches your child basic problem-solving skills, and those kinds of skills are important for pretty much everything in life. 

Essentially, a good preschool classroom should feel like a short of controlled chaos. Kids are imaginative and creative, and the environment should reflect that. You should at least have a chance of walking into the classroom and not being able to understand what the kids are doing or why, and it’s actually better if you walk into a classroom during a more chaotic time because it allows you to get a look into how good of a teacher the teacher is. A good teacher will be able to explain everything that the kids are doing and why they have them doing them, while a less good teacher won’t have an explanation. 

Giving Your Child the Future They Deserve

Your child is probably your pride and joy, and as such you want to help them achieve anything they want to in life. It can be hard to make sure that you’re doing a good job, and that’s only natural. They say that it takes a village to raise a child, but that’s only part of the quote. It also takes a village to support the parents or guardians of said child. Finding a good preschool is a great way to make sure you’re doing your best and, who knows, maybe your kid will make a lifelong friend while they’re learning skills they’ll use for the rest of their life.