10 Tips to select a perfect preschool for your child
Choosing a preschool for a child is such a difficult phase for most of the parents. Preschools are as diverse as our children themselves and the decision of when and where to send your kid is not one to be taken lightly. It should be based on a variety of factors that take into account the school itself and also the specific needs of your family and child. The key to selecting the best preschool also depends on the core idea of what you want your child to learn, experience, and what values you want your child to have. Follow this 10 Tips to select a perfect preschool for your child.
Here are few points to start-off with:
- Look for quality education and educators. The Teacher is most influencer’s personality on your child’s development. For this reason, the quality teacher must be your primary attention in the selection of school. The teacher spends a lot of time with your child to develop the social, emotional and creative skills.
- Curriculum. This area should be the focal point of your discussion with the preschool counsellor and teachers. Preschool curriculums are focussed around key domains such as Cognition, Personal Identity, Socio-Emotional, Motor skills, Executive skills, Language skills, Physical Development, Numeracy, etc.
- Consider your child’s unique needs. Every child is different, and some preschools are better equipped to handle those differences than others, for e.g., your child’s dependency on daily afternoon nap and mid-day lunch.
- Study students-to-teacher ratio. Make sure to inquire this. Good preschools make sure to limit the number of students in a class with one teacher, such that teaching becomes more profound and personalised attention can be given.
- Since children carry higher risk perception, as a parent you should fully assess preschools on security factors.
- Safety of your toddler. During your visit, assess how childproof are the interiors of the class, stairs, toilets and play areas. Safety should be embedded in the culture and therefore be mindful of the physical environment within the preschool facility.
- Accessible Location. The location should be an important consideration. For pre-schoolers, it is ideal if they are within 5-6 km of a parent, such that they can be reached to quickly.
- Visit the pre-school personally. Having references are good but you should visit the preschool personally with the kid and see how the kid reacts.
- Talk to existing students’ parents. Try to talk to other parents and know more about the school, its culture, teacher’s behaviour, hygiene, food, etc.
- For many new-age parents, their working hours often clash with school hours. However, preschools have ramped up their transportation to just fix this. Do check if the school has its own transportation. If yes, check if they have cameras as well as a female conductor.
Going to a preschool will be a very new experience for your child. In conclusion, it’s very important the child looks at this as an extension of learning that began at home and will now continue at school. The more they enjoy it, the better they will learn.
