If you are a parent and looking for a good preschool that is a good fit for your child, then you are in for no easy task. Looking for the perfect preschool can be exciting as well as overwhelming. Parents are often confused regarding the most suitable pre-school for their children. To help them make the best choice here are some common questions to ask when choosing a preschool for your child.
1. What are the school’s philosophy and style?
A school’s philosophy and style refer to its guiding principles and beliefs about education, learning, and teaching. It is of utmost essential for parents to learn a bit about each school’s philosophy and style before they can decide which school might be the best fit for their child’s early childhood education. Every school is going to differ from one another in one way or the other regarding their approach to kids’ education.
Hence, as parents, you must be double sure that the philosophy and style of the preschool are in line with your values. The best way to do so is to collect information about the school’s educational approach for teaching skills, social aptitude, and overall development of the child.Apart from structured principles, you “should look for a preschool that offers opportunities for children to make choices about their learning."
2. What are the qualifications and experience of the teachers?
All schools are never the same when it comes to providing kids education, with the overall quality of education varying greatly. Some schools are better in terms of providing proper facilities, class sizes whereasothers may have better teachers, curriculums, and so on. So, it is necessary to ask about the qualifications and experience of the teachers since they are the ones who will be responsible for teaching and helping them learn new stuff foryour children. Teachers who have pursued Early Years Care and Education course will always have a good influence on your child’s development.
3. What is the learning environment of the school?
Children’s learning environment involves the social and physical environment that kindles a child’s growth and development as well as his education. Your child’s school environment plays a major role in their overall development and who they shape up to be in the future. Hence, it must be a safe, caring and enriching environment that will ensure their growth and overall learning.
For the effective development of a child's gross motor skills and optimum health and well-being, physical activities along with adequate table time areof absolute necessity. According to the author of From Rattles to Writing: A Parent's Guide to Hand Skills, Barbara Smith, "It's important that children have daily exposure to fine motor activities, such as stringing beads, snipping paper strips, and pre-writing activities such as scribbling in shaving cream. Regular exposure to these tasks develops the hand skills children will need in kindergarten.”
4. How will you supervise the child?
You can contact preschools and ask about the way they opt for supervision of each child. You must be well-aware of the approaches that the school follows to ensure the well-being of your child during school hours. As a parent, quite naturally, the safety of your children is the utmost important factor for you. Therefore collect enough knowledge on how teachers will take care of your child throughout the day in the classroom and also how they will monitor their activities. Always ensure that the preschool has adequate staff to take care ofeach student’s supervision requirements.
5. What is the daily schedule of kids?
To get a clear picture of how your child is going to spend the whole day at the pre-school, you need to be aware of the daily schedule of kids including a bunch of strategies or guidelines that is help a child in self-regulation during school hours as well as develop a sense of discipline inthem. The school might set several activities throughout the day; you need to learn how much time is given to children to perform each activity. This way, you will have a clear picture of how your child spends the whole day at preschool.
6. What is the curriculum like?
Parents must have some knowledge regarding the curriculum that the school follows so that they are informed of what their kidsare going to learn during preschool hours. All good preschools have a well-structured learning curriculum in place that aims to motivate the kids to grasp important skills and concepts. Young children find it easier to learn in an organized, purposeful manner through a structured curriculum. As an informed parent, you must be aware of the school and the class curriculum as the day-to-day educational curriculum may vary greatly from school to school and even classroom to classroom.
7. What are the disciplinary actions that the schools take for bad behavior from the children?
Most preschool learners tend to be quite naughty and seldom listen to their teachers in the class. Hence, the teachers have to handle many disciplinary situations and bad behavior. That is why as parents, you must ensure to ask a preschool teacher the approaches that they follow to teach children to behave in the classroom, so they can learn how to respect others and focus on their work.
Early Years Care and Education course is something that you can think of! “Parents should look for a positive philosophy that helps children understand what they can do as opposed to what they can't do." Usually, the best manner to handle such behavior from kids is positive redirection, with strategies such as a cool-down time to follow when redirection isn't successful.
Written By : Aditi Rao
