Preschool

Now that Addison is turning 3, I figured I should finally look into preschools. I am going to wait until she is around 3 1/2, since there is no need for her to go sooner. For those of you who have not looked into them yet, whoa they are expensive. Everyone, well most anyone with a brain, knows that preschool is a necessary part of a child's life. With Addison, it has NOTHING to do with the education, and everything to do with the socialization, being away from home, learning classroom standards, etc. Even if you are a working parent, as long as you pay attention to your child, read to them, talk to them about everything...they learn. Addison has known her shapes, colors, counting to 20 (and beyond), counting down from 10 to 1, letter recognition, ABC's, number recognition, etc...forever! If it had to do with education, I wouldn't even bother putting her in. But, and the big but, is that EVERY child needs the socialization and direction that goes along with preschool, especially if they want to succeed in kindergarten. 

When I did my student teaching, I was lucky enough to start the school year in a kindergarten class. I had done so much substitute teaching in kindergarten classes, so it seemed like a perfect fit. It was. But, the one thing that was ALWAYS so obvious, were those kids who had not gone to preschool. They were the ones crying, holding onto their moms leg for dear life, not wanting to sit on the rug with the rest of the kids, etc. They were also the ones who got held back, and spent another year in kindergarten. These are things that kids deal with in preschool so that they can focus more on education and learning once kindergarten comes around, yet, there are still parents who won't send their kids to preschool. And no, I am not talking about a daycare preschool, I am talking about preschools that focus on following rules, structured activity, and integrating education into the daily activities.

I looked into a bunch of preschools in our area, including some of the bigger name schools that you find in just about every city. But, when I saw how much they were charging, I figured that I might as well look into the private preschools. With that, I also realized why a lot of parents don't send their kids to preschool...the cost! I also realized why there is an emphasis on free or low-cost preschool for children receiving therapies and services from the state, as well as those who are in low-income households. There are some kids who need preschool more than others, in which case, yes, it should be free.

After all of the research, and from my own experience, I think I have FINALLY narrowed it down to one of the least expensive church-based preschools I could find...only $3200 a year for two mornings (9-12) a week. Seriously?! And that is actually pretty reasonable (and even sort of cheap)! There goes all of my monthly shopping! Just kidding!