Pre School scholarships?????My Son Is 4 and Missing Out Cause We Can't Afford.

Dear J.,
Pre-school is becoming very regimented and even pushing on "standards." Personally I do not think children need this. They need time to develop socially, emotionally, and also in fine coordination before they are required to sit and letter and do dittos. I think you should see if their are some other mom's with kids his age in your area that don't go to pre-school and then get together...even "organize" a little group that you take turns doing activities such as play dough, letter recognition...in a fun way..like stringing Cheerios and talking about words that start with "O". Some schools are more nurturing and creative. Some parks have preschool setting. I would see if you can to find a preschool that has mothers volunteering as assistants (we took turns) and there is one credentialed teacher. We had one at a church near us.

Regardless of whether you son goes to pre-school, you will have to make sure he is ready for Kindergarten. Two of my three boys I kept back so they were 6 when they stated Kinder. (An Aug BD...but fine hand coordination was not in and I knew they pushed lettering) and (A June BD...he was a premie..very small for his age). I think it helps with maturity, especially in boys. I have worked in the school system and had to convince parents to retain and repeat Kindergarten so the child could mature.

Also just spending time at the park with other mom's and kids helps socially. Do hand coordination tasks with him at home...bead stringing, play dough, simple dot-to-dots, coloring. Read a lot to him...that is very important...he will learn to sit and listen...ask him questions so he will think about what you have read.

Do not fret not being able to afford preschool. Stay at home moms are the best for preschoolers. If he has to wait out one more year for kindergarten to mature, it might be a good thing for him.
H.
P.S. I read the other responses and my sons are now a professor in college, a doctor in a cardiology fellowship, and a financial analyst. If you want a good education, make sure they get to go to a private high school in prep for college. Preschool is not going to make much difference. All the Head Start program children where ahead until about 3rd or 4th grade and then fell behind. Genetics does play a role. My sons went through a Christian School system which we really liked, and yes, it was a sacrifice for tuition, but it was worth it.

I read all the responses and I have another suggestion to add. I participated in a co-op preschool in the city of Orange and I absolutely loved it. I could send my daughter 5 days a week (if I wanted to) and the cost was $30 per month. I know it sounds too good to be true, but I am being serious. The catch is that you are required to work to subsidize the cost. Basically the mommies cooperate together to put on a little school for their children. I met alot of great mommies who became wonderful friends and I also was involved in my daughter's education. I can't say enough about our experience.

The most important thing for your child is to learn and explore through play. Also he/she needs to learn how to function as an individual in a larger group setting (i.e. waiting turns, sharing etc. . .) These things can be taught at home, but I believe that children really benefit from a fun preschool environment (I know my kids did).

If you want some help finding a co-op preschool in your area, send me a personal message because I have already helped another mamasource mommy find a co-op in her area.

Best of luck to you and your child.

I have a friend who is a single mother who really wanted her daughter at a private preschool. Like you, it was really expensive for her income. She just spoke with the school and asked them directly if they had any special programs. They just reduced the tuition to half!

Moral of the story, it can't hurt to just ask!

I've been doing a lot of research on this as well lately - assistance programs are totally needs-based, so in a nutshell, you need to look VERY poor on paper (tax returns). What that means is under about 18K a year in income for 1 person, under 22K for two people, etc. If you can make that happen on paper, there are programs you can apply for. If not, join me in writing a check every month for $700 for it. A lot of mommies will say that it isn't worth it to pay that much for preschool...but I have a feeling you'd agree with me when I say, when our kids go off to Harvard as well-rounded and happy young-adults with high self-esteem, the expensive Waldorf-inspired education will have been worth it. :)

You'll find a way to pay for it - make it a priority.

If you can't afford pre-school, how do you plan to afford private school???!!! If your are really that poor, there is HEADSTART preschool that is FREE --- but it doesn't sound like you want your son in that setting, so I don't know what you are complaining about.

What to you think preschool will accomplish? Where is he now? If you stay home w/ him you can teach him most of what a preschool would (except how to handle large groups of kids). All those adds on TV about how preschool prepares kids for college, blah, blah, blah is really just directed to kids that don't know English or don't have parents who have taught them letters, numbers, and how to write their name.

You are right that CA public schools have gone hard core w/ the curriculum -- Algebra in 1st grade. Problem is many kids are not developmentally ready for this rigor. And yet I still get kids in high school that can't pass Algebra, not because they can't tell me the steps to do, but because they don't get fractions, decimals, and percents.

I struggled w/this when we lived in GG. Now we live in AH and it's a huge difference with the teachers (like night and day) and I've been really happy with the public schools here. Perhaps you could do an interdistrict transfer into a public school that's better than your local school? As far as scholarships, I think that's really up to the individual schools, so you probably won't find anything on the internet, you may have to call each school directly.

Good luck.

Hi J.
Have you thought about having a fundraiser to make some extra money. I'm not talking about selling candy bars in front stores although that would work. I'm an independant business owner and I would love to help you out I also have kids and my time is fast approching my kids are almost 3 and 1. Through my business I have Ribbon gift collection if you like you can host a party and I will bring all items needed for the party and I will donate 80% of the profits to you for your son's schooling. I have other items as well as the gift collections but with the holidays coming up this will be a fun way to make some extra money and make holiday shopping fun and stress free for your family and friends. If you think this will help you give me a call and we can get started.

Take care
D.
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I'm not sure what part of OC you're in, but I am in the Garden Grove/Stanton/Westminster area, and the preschool that my son goes to has a sliding scale for the tuition. Even though my Hubby makes more than they would normally give the lowest price marking to, because of our finacial situation, we are paying $36 for 2 full days a week. For the highest income, they charge $130 for 5 full days. That includes breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack. I don't think it is the BEST preschool in the world, but I do think they are okay. (If we could afford it, he would be in a Montessori Pre-School.) His class (he will be Pre-K next year) focuses mostly on learning through activity/arts. They do letter and number recognition, but they done STRESS it on them. The Pre-K group has a higher "ciriculum" based lesson plan.

If you want info on the school, PM me and I'll tell you more.

Instead of a waldorf school consider a Reggio Emilio school. Schools that fall under too much academic or that's why they are known, more likely wont truly prepare your child. their are schools for preschoolers that are free such as LAUP (Los Angeles Universal Preschool), Head Start, or contact your local Child Care resource Center and they can advice you. I know on my side of California, local parks have a great tuition cost of $200.00 a month for half the day, and $400.00 a month for full day. check your local recreational parks as well. I wouldn't make the judgement about public schools, each teacher is very individual and you can have unhappy miserable teachers in private school, where you spend $$$$$. To be a teacher is a hard job or else parents would be doing it themselves. Check out local schools including public and try open enrollment for the school you choose.

In regard to your son is missing out, The best thing he can learn right now is the families values.. and unless you are not teaching those to him, or taking him to the park, or other activities your missing out.
Good Luck

Hello,
I read your posting and thought maybe you could re-post on craig's list. It's free. Maybe someone in your area might come across it with some helpfull info. I understand your concern. I have two children myself. An 8yr old and a 2yr old. My sister in law lives in OC as well. She currently has 2 of her children in a private school and 2 in public school. I can ask her if she knows anything and let you know. If all else fails you might want to reconsider piblic school. Some are not as bad as you think. "Something is always better then nothing." Especially when it comes to your child education. Good luck. :)

I am not sure what part of OC you are in but you may want to look into Orange Coast College, Buy the time I found out about it my daughter was settled in another pre-school but I have heard good things about it. I think a lot of it is how the childs growth is supplemented at home. I don't have the illusion that all her needs will be met at school. One of the biggest reasons we had for enrolling her is that she is an only child and needed to learn to socalize with other children.
Good luck.
G.

I know that some preschools have a kind of sliding scale for payments. One that husband checked out is Step by Step Early Learning Enrichment Center in Costa Mesa. It's NAEYC accredited, which is a big bonus. (I used to work in a NAEYC accredited facility and it was wonderful.)
Also, there is a Waldorf style charter school in South Orange County. Their website is www.journeyschool.net
Because it is a public charter school it is free.
I hope that this information helps!