3 Year Old and Preschool

I was lucky enought o stay with both my kids until they were 2. With my oldest, now 9, I didn't look at very many preschools and went with one that came very highly recommended that was very pricey. She had a horrible experience. She came home crying everyday and was miserable. After looking at numberous places we ended up putting her in a home daycare were she thrived. She come home singing a new song everyday. My son is 6 years younger. When we went looking for a preschool for him I interviewed every preschool in area. After looking for months a found Trinty Luthern Preschool in Walnut Creek. He has been going there for a little over a year and have had a great experience. He loves it and most days doesn't want to leave. When he is home for longer than 3 days he always asks when he gets to go back to school. Things I always look for in a preschool is that it has an open door policy. The preschool my daughter had a bad experience at did not have an open door policy and never took phone calls. My son's preschool lets me call whenever I want (which I do) and are always very helpful and supportive. Both of my children did well at the change especially when we found the best fit. My son had a harder time but the school was great about helping him. They even let him call me a couple times when he was having a very hard time. Good luck in finding the right preschool you will know if it not the right fit for you and your little one.

our situation was a little different: we have twins so wherever we sent them, they'd already know at least one student ;-), and we chose our preschool mostly because it was at our church (familiar environment for our kids, and they already knew two of their future classmates from church), we knew the director to be experienced, trustworthy, and someone who truly loves kids and has their best interests at heart (she and her husband are now working at an orphanage in India), and we also knew a couple of the teachers. Our girls were two months shy of their third birthday when they started and other than the occasional bouts of separation anxiety, they adjusted quite nicely. They loved having new/different things to play with (especially those messy preschool art projects that mom never had the nerve to try in the kitchen at home) and I think it was also good for them to hear other adults besides their parents telling them it's important to do things like wait your turn, clean up when you're done playing, etc. They went 2 days a week their first year of preschool and then 3 days a week teh following year.

Ditto... I wanted to make all the right decisions too when I realized that no one knows my child the way I do. I first eliminated schools that said he had to be potty trained by 2 yrs, then I interviewed several schools to see how the teachers interacted with the kids and what resources were available to the kids and was the place clean and have a locked door so kids couldn't walk out on their own or a stranger enter from the street. I finally fell in love with Danville Montessori. Again, you'll know when you have a good match. However, I made a mistake once - the school was great, but the teacher was a bad fit. I withdrew my son after one month because he and I communicate well and I wanted him to have a positive outlook on school. She was zapping the enthusiasm right out of him. You'll also be able to tell if you've made the right choice - trust yourself. It's obvious you are a well intentioned Mom!

My son started preschool last fall at 2 yrs/4mo. I enrolled him at Fremont Parents Nursery School a co-op preschool in Fremont. He enjoyed his first day of school and still does today. He goes twice a week T-Th from 9-11:30am with 14 other 2 years old. Because this is a co-op program parents are very much involed in running and promoting the school. For ex. all parents are required to come into class 1 day per week to help out the teacher and is assigned a task for the day such as preparing snacks for the kids, clean out the yard after play, etc... It's such a wonderful experience to be able to participate in my child's pre-school education and be part of his learning development. Although my mother goes with my son once a week to school on my behalf (I work full time), I do other volunteer programs and take part in the publicity committee. In addition, FPNS focuses on development program which is also based on play base structure and I notice the improvement in my son's behavior. He's become more confident, social and definitely trusting of other parents and kids. He always has lots of fun and for sure will be emotionally and mentally prepared going into kindergarten in the next few years.