{"id":3008,"date":"2016-01-26T07:19:27","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T12:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisa.rushworth.us\/?p=3008"},"modified":"2018-03-21T07:34:33","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T12:34:33","slug":"interviewing-preschools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/?p=3008","title":{"rendered":"Interviewing Preschools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anya\u00a0really<\/em> wants to go to preschool. And, yeah, I know 99% of her desire is “Daniel Tiger goes to preschool, and I love Daniel Tiger. Ergo, I love preschool”. But learning to be around other people is one skill she cannot learn at home. So we’ve begun interviewing different preschools in the area.<\/p>\n

Philosophical:<\/strong>
\nWhat is educational philosophy? How is learning encouraged?
\nWhat is the learning style (indirect learning, academic based, blended?)
\nIf academics (reading, maths, etc) are introduced, how so and at what ages?\u00a0Letters and numbers should be introduced by her age. Especially the spelling of her name.<\/em>
\nHow are parents involved in the school? Are parents encouraged to volunteer in the classroom? For special events? Are there service requirements or\u00a0opportunities (and if requirements, what happens if parents are unable to meet requirements)?
\nIs there more focus on group or individual learning?\u00a0You will find the tendency is toward group learning.<\/em>
\nHow is discipline handled? What is the policy for children who cause injury to others (biting, etc)? How are repeat offenders addressed?
\nHow are problems resolved between students (kids work it out themselves, class meeting to discuss, teacher intervention)?
\nHow is growth measured and reported? With what frequency are parents informed of these results?
\nWhat is the educational success criterion (i.e. what should we expect kids learn in each level)?<\/p>\n

Staff:<\/strong>
\nAre teachers credentialed? BS\/MS? Child Development Associate?\u00a0Early Childhood Development degree required and should be what you look. Don\u2019t go for anything beyond early elementary because they are not taught how to effectively work\/deal with children of this age group.<\/em>
\nIs continuing education required or encouraged?\u00a0Like all professionals, it should be.<\/em>
\nHow many staff are trained in first aid? CPR certified? Additional medical training?
\nWhat is the turnover rate for teachers?<\/p>\n

Classes:<\/strong>
\nWhat is the class size (student:teacher ratio and child:adult ratio)?\u00a0Check out your state minimum requirements Ohio\u2019s requirements follow\u00a0<\/em>www.odjfs.state.oh.us\/forms\/file.as…<\/a><\/em>
\nAre classes age-specific or mixed?
\nHow is the day structured? What portion of the day is free play?
\nIs there a fixed schedule (if so, is a copy available)?
\nWhat indoor physical play facilities are available?
\nWhat outdoor physical play facilities are available?
\nSnacks – Are snacks provided by the parents or school? What dietary principals are followed? What accommodations made for special diets (vegetarian in our case, but in general too)?
\nAre there supplemental activities (trips)? If so, frequency & examples.
\nAre there outside parties coming into the classroom for supplemental activities? If so, frequency & examples.<\/p>\n

Policy:<\/strong>
\nIs enrollment rolling or fixed date? If fixed, what is the deadline.
\nWhat is the process for late arrival or pickups or early pickups?
\nAre any allergens prohibited in the school?
\nWhat is the dress code?<\/p>\n

Other:<\/strong>
\nWhat can we do to prepare Anya for preschool?
\nCan we schedule a time to observe a class?<\/p>\n

Class Observation:<\/strong>
\nAre the teachers getting down to the children\u2019s level to talk with them or yelling across the playground?
\nAre the rooms organized and show children\u2019s recent artwork? recent work?
\nAre there areas to play inside and outside?
\nAre there different activity stations in the classrooms? Are children interested in and using the stations? Ask if the stations varied throughout the year or are they static?
\nWhat is the general feel of the place? Ideally observe a full class day. If that is impossible, observe toward the end of class as that is when most classroom problems occur.)\u00a0<\/em>Are the students happy and busily engaged?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anya\u00a0really wants to go to preschool. And, yeah, I know 99% of her desire is “Daniel Tiger goes to preschool, and I love Daniel Tiger. Ergo, I love preschool”. But learning to be around other people is one skill she cannot learn at home. So we’ve begun interviewing different preschools in the area. Philosophical: What …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[507],"tags":[548,549],"class_list":["post-3008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting","tag-decisions","tag-questions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3008"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3009,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3008\/revisions\/3009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}