11 Tips for Choosing the Best Preschool for Your Child

Preschool Selection Checklist for Parents

1 # Start Preparing Yourself:

The First thing Parents need to do before they even think of sending their Little Tot to preschool, is to make them prepared from Mind and Soul. This is probably the first time you will let your kid stay away from you at a place that is not your home. You must train your mind and convince yourself that you have done all the preparations about the school, safety, food, etc. and there is not a tiny bit of a thing which needs to be checked again. Doing this will make you think about other more important things which need your attention.

2 # Make a list of all Questions that Need to be Answered:

All parents have their own priorities when it comes to choosing right preschool for their little ones, some have safety as their top priority, others may have a distance from home also many other things which count in preschool selection could be education style, academics, student to teacher ratio, school size, number of kids etc. Most important thing is to make a to-do list on paper or in your phone to ensure you have checked each and every aspect. At many times we tend to skip a very important point while discussing with Teachers in the pre-admission process, to avoid this you should tick all points in one go.

3 # Check Online Reviews:

Checking the reputation and credentials of any schools is easy these days, you can visit websites, publishing annual review and ratings of all schools. It will give you a correct idea about that school in question, but you need to be careful in understanding reviews as most of these reviews are paid and posted just to inflate the ranking of schools.

The Best way to check is by visiting personally and talking to parents in the morning or afternoon time they are dropping or picking their kids. Also, find parents in your friend circle which have their kids studying in the same school for fair feedback about that school

4 # Travelling Time between Home and School

The school has the shortest distance from your home should always stand on top of the chart while searching preschool for your kid. Short travel time to and from school makes your life easier.

It does not matter whether you’re working parent or stay-at-home parent. In both cases, parents should always consider the school nearest to their home.

As short distance gives you confidence that your kid is not too far from you can reach her in a couple of minutes at any emergencies. Also, you will always have all the time in the world to get your little one ready as almost all kids take a lot of extra time while getting ready in the morning

5# School Transportation

Do you know that some Preschool and Daycare center does not provide the Transportation Services, which can be a Major Roadblock, especially for Working Parents? Do check and confirm if the school has some sort of transportation services for picking and dropping kids. Also, you need to check what kind of security measures are being enforced for safe and secure transportation of your Kid’s Age School Van/Bus Type, Fire Safety, Kids Seats, Kids Belts, Temperature Controlled Environment, Driver’s Registration, and Teacher Availability in Bus, etc.

6# Child Teacher Ratio

These days all parents are very cautious about the student-teacher ratio, but do you really know the meaning and importance of the same? In layman’s terms, it is the ratio of the total number of students in class divided by the number of teachers in-class example, if a class is having 20 kids with 2 teachers than the ratio is 10:1.

Many countries and school chains have fixed this ratio, but most of the schools don’t have any standard so you should always check this from your school as anything more than 9:1 is not advisable as one teacher cannot take care of more than 9 kids in class alone. Especially in preschools as kids are very demanding and their hygiene, food, potty, and safety has to be ensured by the teacher only.

7#  School Timing

School timings are something which many new parents underestimate while choosing the right school for their babies, but this is one the most important point especially if both parents are working. Because you need to prepare your kid and get ready yourself and drop her at school before rushing to your office. This process has to be repeated every day so the timing of your office and kids’ school must sync with each other so make your own life easier

8# How is the Hygiene Level of the School

For Babies and Toddler, hygiene is the most important thing to consider while choosing a preschool. It’s crucial that the school follows strict hygiene policies like clean classrooms, staircases, toys, table washrooms, and pots. Plus, measures of preventing communicable diseases like cough, cold, fever by isolating infected kid from rest by putting him comfortably in the separate kid’s room. Also educating and instructing parents not to send their infected kids to school until they are perfectly fine and infection-free.

9#  Indoor and Outdoor Playing Area

Every kid loves to play sports and spend time in the playground. Sport is as important as education in your child’s life. Just like education, your child should take an interest in outdoor games too. This will allow them to use their full energy and will make them physically fit.

Many schools give more emphasis on academic and ignores sports activities in the child’s daily timetable, these schools should be avoided for your little ones. Best schools always strike a perfect balance between study and sports timing in their daily timetables

10 # CCTV surveillance:

Oh! Yes, this question is also as important as other above-mentioned points. This will make you more comfortable in leaving your kid in school as you are ensured that your kid is being monitored by multiple teachers and their safety and security are being monitored properly. Many schools provide links/apps to check live feeds of classrooms to their parents too so that they can also ensure that how their kids are spending time in school.

11 # Staircase Safety

These days, even preschools are very big with many structures inside them like indoor playgrounds in basements, swimming pools on top floors class on middle floors, and kids are required to climb up and down staircases. The parent should train their kids on how to climb up and down the staircase safely before sending their kids to preschool. Also, ensure what kind of safety precaution are deployed by schools in handling preschool kids on staircase e.g not more than 1 kid should be on one stair, they should always hold the railing while climbing up and down, always some attendant should be present while they are near the staircase etc