I work at Toddler Time in Maineville and have been there for almost 9 years. We are like a family and many of us have been working there for more than 5 years. We are a Christian based center, which means we do have a prayer before eating and in preschool, we have a morning prayer as well.
My son has been coming to the center from 6 weeks on and I can't believe how much our almost 4 year old has learned! One misconception about preschool is that it is a daycare. This is not true for us. Toddler Time is a Learning Center where we encourage learning even in the infant room. Our Toddler rooms are split in two age groups.
The younger toddler room is for age 18 months to about 2 years. Here they start to become familiar with the calendar, weather, shapes, colors, large and small motor skills, and the potty when ready. The older toddler room is for age 2 to 3 years and is more involved with fine motor skills and potty training than the younger toddler room. They also learn to recognize their name in this class.
The Preschool room is broken into 3 age groups - 3, 4, 5 years of age. We have a Language Arts class, Math/ Manipulatives class, Circle Time class, and an Art class - each group spends 30 minutes in each class and moves together from class to class. This helps ensure the children get appropriate activities according to their age in each class.
I am obviously happy with the center and am amazed at how ready the children are for kindergarten when testing is presented. Our preschool curriculum is based on the kindergarten curriculum, which helps them grasp concepts more easily. My son can write his name, knows all shapes, colors, can recognize numbers and write some of them, knows letter sounds and is very interseted in what each word starts with. I am amazed at how much he has learned, even early on.
This may be quite a drive for you, but I would have a hard time going anywhere else. Also, check the ohio jobs and family services web page before you make your final decision. You can look at local state inspections and see what centers have been written up on and how many complaints they have had. It can sometimes help you have an inside view of the center. If there are a lot of write ups or complaints, there may be a problem. Maybe not, but it might help you make your final decision. You might find a closer center this way, too. Good luck! http://www.odjfs.state.oh.us/cdc/query.asp
M.