My son (turned 3 in May) has been going to a preschool one morning a week, because they had no more availability. He could never really get comfortable there because he goes so seldom. He started there because it was connected to my daughter's primary school (also not our first choice of schools, but we couldn't get her into our catchment school because her class is maxed out) and a couple staff there suggested the connecting pre-school (not really affiliated). The teachers at the preschool are very nice, and qualified, there are lots of choices (categorized) of play, and the ratio is good, but there seems to almost no structure at all other than attendance and a few songs on the carpet in the morning. One plus is that they just moved into a brand new building to make room for the primary school keeping an extra class starting in the fall. The other is that as long as my daughter goes to the adjoined primary school, it is quite convenient. He can go 15 hours in the fall, which is really the absolute most I would want him in anyway, unless I go back to work.
That being said, the preschool in our village can take him in the fall for as many hours as we want. They got a slightly better review from the local evaluating agency and have a good reputation in our village. We have visited a few times, and they have provided some little stay-and-play sessions for prospective fall students. My son has friends there from the village, and seems to like it more (although his criterion for favoring our village preschool is that it has lots of Thomas the Tank Engine characters). However, it would be a royal PITA to drop my daughter off and then drive back here to drop him off, and if he stayed all day, then pick her up and race back to get him in time. We are appealing to get her into our village school, but we may not know until after the school year has started, and it's not looking good.
So, my question is, based on all your mommy-of-preschooler experiences, if it were you, would you go for possibly temporary convenience, a newly constructed space, and familiar teachers, but slightly less "quality"; or a currently inconvenient, old, cramped space, but better structure/curriculum/student involvement with friends in the village? Let me know if you need any clarification.
Thanks Moms!
Thanks for all the feedback. As it turned out, we AMAZINGLY got our daughter into our village school by appeal, even though the class size is over their stated legal limit, and so by default our son will be going to our village preschool. Of course, I continue to doubt and second-guess the decision, but the successful appeal is like being hit on the head with a hammer and being told to switch!
I would have LOVED for our preschool to have had less 'structure' and more free play when DS was 3. I would not look at that as a down side at all. Children do most of their learning through play and it is so much more appropriate than schools that sit 3 year olds down to do flash cards and other rote memorization.
I would take him to the place that is most convenient for you, that has a curriculum that sounds good to you. Giving the 3-year old this decision is just a recipe for his dissatisfaction. He can make friends anywhere. Don't sign up for anything thing that is a royal PITA, that's my motto. :)
I have a different answer, as usual! Education is very important to me, as is structure, so I personally would go with the one that got better educational reviews. Education doesn't mean rote memorization at this age--it means learning songs that teach something (days of the week, months, counting, colors, etc.), reading stories, doing arts and crafts that are based on something they can learn about from the world around them.
You do need to consider the PITA problem, but you can also consider whether it is a PITA you can handle or not. If it feels manageable, go for it. If you envision yourself being crazy stressed out and irritable with your kids as a result of the back and forth, maybe keep him close to your daughter. Hope that helps.
Your run of the mill kid will transition very easily at this age. We are going from preschool to camp to kindergarten in 2 months - all different with different kids. My daughter adjusted to camp no problem and will likely do the same for K. So don't feel bad if you make one choice and have to switch.
I loved the curriculum at one school but the teacher was an old crabapple - so I switched her to a more loving environment. At 4 - a teacher who is loving is so important.
