Here’s What You Need to Keep in Mind When Looking for a Preschool for Your Child

A toddler leaves the comfort of his home when he joins a preschool or a daycare. Today as most people live in nuclear families in metro cities and both parents are working, sending children to preschools or daycare has become common. These days, parents send their children to preschools so that they can get an extended facility of babysitting in the school itself. Preschools prepare the kids for formal schooling. So it is better to start in a preschool and continue till LKG or UKG rather than enrolling them in a big school directly. Preschools usually have less number of kids in each class, so the teachers there are able to give each child the attention he or she requires.

If you have a toddler and you are considering to send him to a preschool, keep the following points in the mind.

1. Accessibility

If you are looking for a preschool for your child, make sure it is in close proximity either to your home or to one of the parent’s workplace. Initially, toddlers have separation anxiety so there can be emergency situations, so you must make sure that his school should be near.

2. Safety

When looking for a preschool for your child, make note of the safety parameters in the school. There should be CCTV cameras, school infrastructure should be good, and there should be no possibility of trespassing. These are some things you should consider. You should also check if the nannies or aunties in the school are multilingual or they only speak the local language. Toddlers can’t communicate properly with everyone and whatever they can, it should be understood by the helping staff of the school. The aunties should be well-versed with the official language as well. Nowadays, live streaming of your child’s day at school is also possible in many daycares and preschools. So you can choose such a school if you want.

3. Hygiene

Hygiene is one of the top priorities of toddlers. Toddlers are most likely to catch an infection or allergy. So make sure the school you enrol your child in has proper hygiene. Ask questions like, “Can I have a look at the washrooms or the diaper change areas?” or “Can I see the classrooms?”

Check whether the classrooms get ample sunlight and air. Clarify all your doubts when you go for an admission enquiry.

4. Curriculum

Curriculum may not seem important for a 1.5 or a 2-year-old but from nursery onwards definitely, but it counts. The curriculum should neither be very tough nor it should be below standard. You should see that in nursery classes the school prepare kids for writing. You can check for the following.

• Playgroups should prepare kids for reading and nursery should be for both reading and writing readiness.

• Activities for both gross and fine motor developments.

• The process of writing should be introduced gradually and not forced upon the child. There should not be too much writing before the LKG classes. Avoid such schools where they introduce two languages from playgroup or nursery itself.

• Trips to the neighbourhood like the post office, supermarkets, temples, churches, banks etc (according to the age of the kids) etc. Yearly one trip should be included in the curriculum.

• There should be 3 to 4 PTMS for parent-teacher interaction.

Apart from all these points, you should also see that the preschool is budget-friendly. But this solely depends on the earnings of the parents or their expenditure capacities. You should choose the preschool wisely so that your child gets adjusted smoothly and the separation anxiety is handled well. Your child should fall in love with the process of learning not to be scared of it.

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