申請 preschool 的問題

申請 preschool

陽陽已經13個月了，要申請 preschool。聽朋友說我們附近的好的 preschools 要一兩年的 wait list。好嚇人！朋友推薦了兩個 montessori 學校，都有 $200 的報名費，還要等不知多久。我對 preschool 和 montessori 一點也不了解，不知要不要花 $400 報名排隊。還有一間教會的，和一間隔壁 school district 的（不是我們 district）。電話簿上還有好多好多學校。今天打算去參觀一間學校，可我真的不懂要看什麽，怎麽知道學校的好壞。要參觀多少學校才算合適？要不要等參觀幾間學校之後再花錢報名？怕再晚了更排不上了。

離我家最近的好像是最差的。我婆婆不喜歡。

真頭疼。

我看了 crazydog 寫的 how to find a good preschool，還是一頭霧水。大家有什麽經驗？

[午夜蝴蝶]

陽陽媽媽，如果這樣的話，也許可以試試Montessouri.母親和孩子的互動就像dancing partner.你要follow陽陽的lead,不要隨時介入他的活動，並希望他按照你的方式行動。在陽陽玩的時候，你可以在一邊觀察，並自己擺弄一些玩具，不一定要陽陽參與。如果他感興趣，他會注意你，也會試圖模仿你，甚至參與到你的遊戲中來。總之，陽陽自己應該initiate 活動,他也在這樣做。關鍵是父母怎樣follow 他。

陽陽是個很特別，很可愛的孩子！他對音樂的反應讓我覺得非常amazing.我也覺得他有你這樣sensitive 的媽媽，非常幸運。

隻是一點小建議而已。你已經做得非常好了！

[小花菜]

Thank you for your input. I have been visiting several preschools the last couple of weeks and I feel overwhelmed. I really cannot tell the difference between schools. I don't know much about Montessori either, but from what you describe, maybe Yangyang will fit in there. Yangyang is a very independent baby. Most of the time he just likes to play on his own, and if I initiate any activity, he is most likely to turn away and do his own thing. He tries to figure things out himself all the time. I cannot get him interested in anything unless he initiates himself.

We still have a few months so I will take my time to make the decision!

[午夜蝴蝶]

Personally, I do not recommend Montessouri. The main philosophy of Montessouri is children's self-initiated learning and teachers tend to be an observer. To fully practice its philosophy, Montessouri needs very high quality teachers and they need to know exactly when to support or interact with children and when to be a sensitive observer。 The fact is that many Montessouri teachers are not highly trained as expected. Then, the outcome is that children do not get enough support in learning. There is no solid research finding that Montessouri produces better child outcomes than other early childhood education models.

For Yangyang's age, I would suggest to go to regular preschools. He definitely needs adult's attention and interaction. Some nice family day care would work, too.

You can search some information on selecting preschools. Here are my two cents: (1）the overall climate of the school. Do you feel teachers and children have good relationship? Can you tell children are engaged in play, relaxed,feel comfortable, have enough activities to be involved with? (2) are teachers nice to every child? How do they greet parents and children? How does the program director greet parents and children? Do teachers have warm voice when they speak to children? (3) Is the classroom safe, clean, well-organized? Does the classroom have defined play areas (e.g., literacy, library, sand box, water box, drama play area, or areas that children can have some quiet time)? Does the classroom have enough resources (e.g., toys, books, puzzles，color papers, pens) and whether those resources are accessible to children (can they reach out those resources by themselves)? (4) How does the relationship between teachers and parents look like? Do they communicate when parents drop off or pick up children?

There are many other things, but the most important thing is that the teachers are warm, sensitive, responsive, responsible, confident, and they love children, having a positive relationship with children.

Be patient with the process and it worths the time since it will be one of the most critical experiences for Yangyang. When you have a list, I would suggest you to go there to do some observations and go with your intuition.