the Cost of Preschool at a Church

We enrolled our son in a church preschool three mornings a week. He attended M, W, F mornings from 9am-11:30. During his time at preschool he was engaged in learning his letters and numbers, he learned to write his name, and he listened to stories. Some of the content of the curriculum was Biblical, but much of it was more social and basic educational skills. He was in a classroom with one teacher, an aide, and 16 children age 3. His day was organized starting with circle time and learning the calendar and singing songs, then they had free play and worked in centers through out the classroom. They did one-on-one time with the teacher during centers and practiced writing their names. They had outside play time and a snack. Then they had another group time. It was a well-planned and effective use of time.

The preschool was great!! The teachers were trained in early childhood education and the staff was very friendly and well prepared. The building was clean, well-organized, and inviting. They kept the number of kids on the small size compared to some places we visited that had 24 preschoolers in a room.

When looking for a preschool program there are a lot of things that were important to us. We looked for a program that was licensed by the state. We asked for a roster of current families and called for references to see what parents currently using the program thought. The center should be clean, colorful, and inviting. It should be well organized and there should be a place where the children can go to have down time. Ask about their discipline procedures as well as the teachers educational background and experience Observe your child interacting with the children and teacher during your visit and go with your gut feeling--if you don't feel something is right then keep looking.