Finding a Great Preschool For Your Child

All parents are heavily invested in the education of their children, since a good education is the key to a child’s future. This certainly means finding great elementary, middle, and high schools for your child, and private schools are an appealing options for families who can afford the tuition there. In either case, parents of young children may in fact send their three, four, or five-year-old sons and daughters to preschool, and while preschool is not compulsory, a private preschool or even a public one can offer some advantages. Many parents are now sending their children to preschools and kids summer camps, and parents can find these schools online with a search such as “preschool in coral gables FL” to keep the results local. They can refine the search further, such as “private preschool in coral gables FL” or “preschool in coral gables with small class sizes.” How might this work?

On Preschools

The concept of preschool is not new, but statistics show that American parents are sending their children to preschool more than ever, to give their children a head-start on their education. For example, the percentages of three and four year olds enrolled in preschool programs in 2012, 14% and 66% respectively, was much higher than the same rates in 1990, at 33% and 56%, respectively. Trends also show that older kids are more likely to be sent to preschool than younger ones, and five year olds are more likely to be sent to a preschool than four or three year olds. Statistics have also revealed that different racial identities in the United States, such as non-Hispanic whites, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latin Americans send their young children to preschool at roughly similar rates, showing how popular this concept really is. Interested parents may look for quality preschools in their area with personal references if they have them, and an Internet search if need be.

Find A School

Parents of young children may look for preschools when they move to a new area or when their child first becomes old enough for their preprimary education. An Internet search for a good preschool may start with describing the desired school type and the city or town where the client lives, or even the ZIP code to keep the search local. A query such as “private preschools in Boston MA” or “preschool in coral gables” may work well, and a search like this may yield a whole list of results. The client may strike out preschools that aren’t even accepting new students, and strike out those deemed too far to visit. The parents may then visit the rest in person.

To evaluate a preschool, the parent(s) may visit a school on that list and also bring their young child with them. Parents may get an impression of the school and find out the programs and activities that it offers, as well as consult the staff. Parents may ask the teachers about their teaching methods, qualifications, certifications, feedback from parents of current and previous students, and more. The parents may also look into the school’s funding and ask about tuition, if it’s a private preschool. The client’s child, meanwhile, won’t ask anyone for their credentials but will form their own impression. A preschool may be a good candidate if the young child feels comfortable and at ease there, and gets along with the staff when they meet them. Parents may visit and evaluate several different preschools until they decide on one where they will enroll their child.

Middle and High Schools

A similar process may be used for finding elementary, middle, or high schools, and parents may do this when they move to a new area or if the student is transferring out of their current school for some reason. But this time, the student will be old enough to articulate his or her preferences in a school, and the parent-child team will visit a number of schools and evaluate them based on funding, graduation rates, teacher qualifications, and whether the school offers special programs such as art classes, a debate team, sports teams like soccer or basketball or even golf, and more. Parents who can afford it may send their children to private middle or high schools in particular.