Preschool Time

Today I finally got a chance to go visit a preschool that I have been wanting to look at for Annabelle. I'd like to send her a couple of days a week for half days for a few reasons... to get her used to playing with other kids, to start really building up her immune system, so that she can learn from other sources than me, to get a routine established, and to give me some time with just Corgan. I really liked the place that I visited today (and it has a barn theme... appropriate; huh?). It's a preschool rather than a daycare so they focus on learning, they have a librarian that comes in to read to the kids and teach sign language (one of the teachers is even partly deaf and teaches the kids to sign), they will assist with potty training if you want them too (the lady giving me the tour said that her son's teacher had him potty trained by 2.5), they have very small classes and they have enough kids that there is usually only about a 3 month age range in each class, they have a playground (of course), they aren't too expensive, and the kids there seemed pretty happy. They also have weekly themes and they do "cooking" and science projects that follow the theme.

Their "half day" is from 8:30 to 11:30am with an option to let them stay an extra hour or two for lunch and naptime. I really like that I can pick her up before naptime because I have been SO fortunate with Annabelle's naps (she usually naps between 3 and 4 hours, but it's later in the afternoon), and I don't want to mess that up with a quick 1 hour nap. Most of the rooms have half-doors so that you can see in, and they have 2 people working the front desk so that there's always someone there and always a floater to assist with the kids whenever they are needed. They also have a separate building (and playgrounds) for the older kids (3+) so that you don't have to worry about the little kids getting into the big kid stuff. The people at the front desk seemed to know all of the kids by name, so that was good too. Annabelle wouldn't be able to go to this place for half-days until after her 2nd birthday (they will only allow the youngest group, 18 month old kids, to go full time because of establishing a routine), but that's okay with me. They're supposed to call me about availability next week.

I still want to look at a couple of more places. Location is a priority for me since I won't really be on the way to anywhere when taking Belle to school, so I want someplace close. Also, if it's close, Keith could take her on his way to work. Of course, I'm not going to sacrifice quality for location, but I think I can find both. There's another place that's even closer than the one that I looked at today (practically right next to Keith's office) and a couple of church preschools that I want to look at too. Hopefully I'll make it out to do that in the next couple of weeks.

If you have any suggestions for things to look for in a preschool, please comment or email me. I'd love to hear it and have already learned a few things through talking to you other mommies and reading your blogs. Thanks!