We picked a #preschool and Nolan starts next month! #kids #parenting #motherhood #school
If you haven't been following along in our Preschool journey for our youngest son, Nolan - age 3 years and 9 months, you can read all about the tours here:
Tour 1
Tour 2
Tour 3
Well, we did it, we picked a Preschool for Nolan!
Actually, it sort of picked us!
When we were waitlisted at the Montessori school that was our top choice, we reached out to the schools we toured last year (read tour 1 and tour 2 above). Our #1 choice emailed us back right away, letting us know that they "would be delighted to have Nolan" and that their "small" school was "a perfect fit for him". And we agreed! They take many approaches to learning and play but only accept 12 children each school year between the two teachers.
We had a few days to think on it, mainly discussing the following:
* Can we afford it with no notice?
It's nearly $1,000/month for Nolan to attend 4 half-days each week (7:30am-12:00pm), $785 for him to attend 3 half-days each week. I guess that's not really the question as we have the financial means to pay for Preschool, but more that feeling of being overwhelmed and unprepared to make such a huge financial change. Like when I needed a new car all of a sudden while I was a broke college student. Ugh. That was hard. Anyway, it took us some time to look at the budget and all our travel and goals for this year to determine that we could afford it and that we should just let it sink in, sleep on it, for a few days to come to terms with it.
* Should we enroll him for 3 days of 4 days?
This, most likely, is his only year of Preschool before Kindergarten so, would enrolling him to something closer to a Kindy schedule be best? Would going on every other day be hard to get him into a good routine if we chose only 3 days per week? We can enroll him in however many days we want now and there may be an opportunity come this fall when their next group of enrolled students is to start (Nolan would automatically have a spot) if one of them changes their schedules and/or moves or changes Preschools but there's no guarantee. I think we've decided it's better to just have him go 4 days now and not take that chance.
* Is this happening too soon? Should we wait and HOPE we get into the school we are waitlisted for? Would we regret passing on this spot?
We weren't planning on enrolling him in Preschool until THIS coming fall but this school has a year-round program and enrolls September thru August and we missed this year's enrollment when we passed on this spot last year. The only reason he is getting this spot now is because a child moved and Nolan has priority because they felt he was such a good fit (they do child/parent interviews, which we did last year). David and I agreed we would be devastated if he didn't get into the Montessori school AND we had passed on this spot so, we quickly agreed that taking this spot, even if just for now through August, is best. Should a spot at the Montessori school open up AND his current school not be the absolute best fit, we could always switch but we don't honestly see that happening as we LOVED this school so much last year and Nolan really enjoyed spending half a day with them.
* Is Nolan even ready for this so suddenly, we haven't even really talked about Preschool much?
We found the answer to this question rather quickly as we told him about it, reminded him of when we visited, drove by and showed the school to him to refresh his memory, read some books about Preschool and compared it to Emily going to school. His reaction was an overwhelmingly excited let's-go-now "yes"! And he continues to say "I'm going to Preschool, I can wear Pull-ups (we are still working on potty-training and it's school policy they wear them until they've gone a month without accidents), I have my backpack, I love to play with friends" over and over again for the last couple of days. When we get ready to go somewhere he asks me if we are going to Preschool. I think he's ready. The question of whether or not I'm ready has yet to be answered...
So, we are now waiting on an enrollment packet and to pay our deposit that will hold his spot until he starts, April 1, 2015.
He loves wearing his new backpack around the house and can't wait to start riding his scooter to school every morning!
Are in currently in the process of choosing a Preschool?
Have your children already gone through Preschool or did you forego Preschool?
What kinds of things helped you choose a Preschool?
Tour 1
Tour 2
Tour 3
Well, we did it, we picked a Preschool for Nolan!
Actually, it sort of picked us!
When we were waitlisted at the Montessori school that was our top choice, we reached out to the schools we toured last year (read tour 1 and tour 2 above). Our #1 choice emailed us back right away, letting us know that they "would be delighted to have Nolan" and that their "small" school was "a perfect fit for him". And we agreed! They take many approaches to learning and play but only accept 12 children each school year between the two teachers.
We had a few days to think on it, mainly discussing the following:
* Can we afford it with no notice?
It's nearly $1,000/month for Nolan to attend 4 half-days each week (7:30am-12:00pm), $785 for him to attend 3 half-days each week. I guess that's not really the question as we have the financial means to pay for Preschool, but more that feeling of being overwhelmed and unprepared to make such a huge financial change. Like when I needed a new car all of a sudden while I was a broke college student. Ugh. That was hard. Anyway, it took us some time to look at the budget and all our travel and goals for this year to determine that we could afford it and that we should just let it sink in, sleep on it, for a few days to come to terms with it.
* Should we enroll him for 3 days of 4 days?
This, most likely, is his only year of Preschool before Kindergarten so, would enrolling him to something closer to a Kindy schedule be best? Would going on every other day be hard to get him into a good routine if we chose only 3 days per week? We can enroll him in however many days we want now and there may be an opportunity come this fall when their next group of enrolled students is to start (Nolan would automatically have a spot) if one of them changes their schedules and/or moves or changes Preschools but there's no guarantee. I think we've decided it's better to just have him go 4 days now and not take that chance.
* Is this happening too soon? Should we wait and HOPE we get into the school we are waitlisted for? Would we regret passing on this spot?
We weren't planning on enrolling him in Preschool until THIS coming fall but this school has a year-round program and enrolls September thru August and we missed this year's enrollment when we passed on this spot last year. The only reason he is getting this spot now is because a child moved and Nolan has priority because they felt he was such a good fit (they do child/parent interviews, which we did last year). David and I agreed we would be devastated if he didn't get into the Montessori school AND we had passed on this spot so, we quickly agreed that taking this spot, even if just for now through August, is best. Should a spot at the Montessori school open up AND his current school not be the absolute best fit, we could always switch but we don't honestly see that happening as we LOVED this school so much last year and Nolan really enjoyed spending half a day with them.
* Is Nolan even ready for this so suddenly, we haven't even really talked about Preschool much?
We found the answer to this question rather quickly as we told him about it, reminded him of when we visited, drove by and showed the school to him to refresh his memory, read some books about Preschool and compared it to Emily going to school. His reaction was an overwhelmingly excited let's-go-now "yes"! And he continues to say "I'm going to Preschool, I can wear Pull-ups (we are still working on potty-training and it's school policy they wear them until they've gone a month without accidents), I have my backpack, I love to play with friends" over and over again for the last couple of days. When we get ready to go somewhere he asks me if we are going to Preschool. I think he's ready. The question of whether or not I'm ready has yet to be answered...
So, we are now waiting on an enrollment packet and to pay our deposit that will hold his spot until he starts, April 1, 2015.
He loves wearing his new backpack around the house and can't wait to start riding his scooter to school every morning!
Are in currently in the process of choosing a Preschool?
Have your children already gone through Preschool or did you forego Preschool?
What kinds of things helped you choose a Preschool?
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