Are Premium Preschools Worth the Extra Money?
Heidi has asked The Mom Crowd readers a question about preschools. Can you offer any help in regards to the cost of preschools? If you are in the San Antonio can you offer reviews of any of the schools in question?
Heidi’s question:
“I’m on the prowl for researching preschools in my area (1604 & O’Connor). I’ve inquired at Northern Hills (my top choice so far), Community Bible Church, Trinity Christian Academy, and San Antonio Christian Academy.
With registration beginning in 5 weeks at certain schools, I’m feeling overwhelmed because I’ve yet to visit a single site. Some locations are more costly than others, and makes me wonder if it’s worth it to pay the extra money.
Mothers, please help! Any recommendations or reviews would help me tremendously and save me tons of time and energy.”
Please share your responses in the comments. Thanks!
Preschool Bag of Link Goodies at Babycenter.com:
Intro to preschool
Signs of a good preschool
Preschool: How much will it cost?
How to find a good preschool
Share the fun: Email + Del.icio.us + Digg + Technorati
I think when you look for a preschool you need to learn what their program is. Some preschools are more play oriented and some are more academic oriented. I don’t live in SA anymore so I don’t know about the preschools you are asking about but it might be worth calling their director and ask some questions about their program. How long is it during the day, how many days a week? What kind of curriculum do they use if any? Over the course of the year what are their goals for the children to learn? If you are looking at a Christian preschool, how do they incorporate faith into their program? Do they do field trips? How are their teachers trained? Do they offer scholarships?
Another preschool option is Montessori but it is much pricier than other preschools. If you can afford it, it is a great learning environment.
We have our oldest, Ewan, in preschool and it has been great for him. We decided to put him in preschool because he would be a very young kindergartener next year and we thought it would be good for him to be in a school environment. We also thought it would be good for him to have some time away from his brother who is 14 months younger than him. It has given me extra time with my second and we have both enjoyed that. We are actually thinking about putting Ewan in their Jr. Kindergarten program next year and letting him mature one more year before starting school. The program he is in is very play oriented but he has learned his letters, numbers, and has started writing them too. His teacher does math games and they have lots of song singing and other learning games. It is 3 days a week for 2.5 hours each day. It has been perfect for him and we are very happy that they value playtime. I didn’t want Ewan to get burned out on school before he even started going! I hope you find the perfect place that meets your needs!
I would check out http://www.savvysource.com for information on preschools in SA. They also have a great article on the top five things you should look for when evaluating a preschool that was featured on the Today Show at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17931209/.
Good luck!
Hey Heidi!
As for preschools, I recomend Crown of Life Luthern School. They are off Stone Oak Parkway and Knights Cross. Last year, we sent our oldest son, Lee J., there and can’t say enough about them. They’re AWESOME!!! I think they may be a little higher in price then some others you will find but we thought it was worth it. We spent about $198.82 a month and he went 2 days a week from 9-2.
Lee J. is doing GREAT this year in Kinder and we know we have Crown of Life to thank! Next year, we hope to have his little brother, Garrett, attend there too.
Good Luck!
April
Hey Heidi,
Josh went to Trinity Christian Academy for preschool. We have had both good and bad experiences with them. We loved the preschool program they had while Josh was there and LOVED his teacher. Unfortunately that was her last year there. Josh is in 2nd grade now so obviously this was a few years back. We never had any bad experiences with them on the preschool side of the house. I think they used the A Beka program and that really helped Josh get a head start in reading. He went to Longs Creek Elementary for Kinder and part of 1st before we moved here and has always been above his grade level in reading. I give credit to both Trinity for laying the foundation but also to Longs Creek they did an AWESOME job!! My sister went to Trinity Christian Academy preschool program but the one on Blanco and 1604. What I do remember about that location was they did do more “Christian” related exercises. I think they actually memorized the 10 commandments and things like that. While the 1604 and Judson location did some “Christian” activities but it was more like story time and things of that nature.
But….Xavier did use their nursery while I was working full time and we had a horrible experience with them. So bad we pulled him out and switched him child cares. Josh was in their preschool program at the time and it was already half way into the year so we let him stay. Plus he adored his teacher and we had no complaints.
The other ladies had some awesome advise so I won’t repeat myself with the same info. But one question I would ask is about the teacher and how long has she been with them. They do have a high turnover rate but it always feels good knowing you have a teacher who has been with them for several years.
Good Luck with the search!
We’re obviously in a different situation because Darah’s preschool is provided for her because of her special needs, but she is attending a typical preschool program (and the typical developing kids pay to be there.) Her school is very very expensive, so I know we wouldn’t be able to afford it if she didn’t have a speech delay, however it has been absolutely amazing.
Part of me thinks, “kids have their whole lives ahead of them to be in school,” while another part of me really loves the independence and social skills preschool programs can provide for kids. Since Connor’s been born, I have been really bad about having playdates and socializing my kids, so school has helped me to provide that social need Darah has without the work and effort and scheduling of play dates. Academically, I think I could teach her everything she’s learning, but socially I could never what the school is giving her…at least not without a lot of work! I also love the time I have with Connor in the mornings that I wouldn’t have with Darah home.
All that being said…I couldn’t afford the pricey program she’s participating in right now, so if we were where you were at, I could see us doing a two or three day a week program as a compromise. Caleb is such a smart and sweet kid…he is going to be the teacher’s favorite when he gets to kinder, I have no doubt!
@ April-
Good to see you around! I’ve really missed you guys!!!
@Heidi-
One more thing about preschool…my Mother-in-law used to work at Northern Hills and really raves about their program. She now teaches 2nd grade at another school, but really thinks Northern Hills has a great preschool program with teachers who love being there!