what to look for in choosing a good pre-school-

[chozen]

i am having such a hard time with this, please remind me, what should i be looking for in a good pre-school. i think i am some how losing focus of that.

[SnuggleBuggles]

things I looked for:
Outside space
good teacher/ student ratio
steady teachers (not a lot of turn over...we've been lucky and all of our schools have well trained, happy employees and no turnover in ages!)
I don't specifically look for accreditation nor teachers to have degrees. I think you can have good programs and teachers w/o them.
easy parking or drop off line since the schools we looked at were in the city with frustrating parking
I prefer smaller classes (12 max)
I wanted a "play based" program
security may be something to think about- who has access to the building and kids

[chozen]

things I looked for:
Outside space
good teacher/ student ratio
steady teachers (not a lot of turn over...we've been lucky and all of our schools have well trained, happy employees and no turnover in ages!)
I don't specifically look for accreditation nor teachers to have degrees. I think you can have good programs and teachers w/o them.
easy parking or drop off line since the schools we looked at were in the city with frustrating parking
I prefer smaller classes (12 max)
I wanted a "play based" program
security may be something to think about- who has access to the building and kids

we went to open house today at a montessori school. as much as i wanted to love it for some reason my heart is not into it and i have no idea why.

[DrSally]

Agree with all of those. I was also looking for play based, good student/teacher ratio, outside playspace (although i ended up foregoing this for lower ratio, but you do want some physical time, low staff turnover, good allergen policy if that is of concern, how do they handle discipline/conflict, no tv, Cost, etc.

[maestramommy]

Clean (enough)
Adequate play space inside and out
decent teacher/child ratio
program (what do they do, what will they learn by K)
logistics - is pickup and drop off doable for me? Is it easily affordable?
Do I think my kid will have fun and do well there, whatever that means?

[zag95]

things I looked for:
Outside space
good teacher/ student ratio
steady teachers (not a lot of turn over...we've been lucky and all of our schools have well trained, happy employees and no turnover in ages!)
I don't specifically look for accreditation nor teachers to have degrees. I think you can have good programs and teachers w/o them.
easy parking or drop off line since the schools we looked at were in the city with frustrating parking
I prefer smaller classes (12 max)
I wanted a "play based" program
security may be something to think about- who has access to the building and kids
:yeahthat: the other thing was if they have a place to go for indoor play if the weather is crummy (we have lots of rain here- so kids go to the parochial school gym). Also if there are any extras (they take the kids to music in the main parochial school and have library time!) We love our preschool and DD has thrived there.

[Uno-Mom]

What do you all feel is a good ratio for preschool?

[KpbS]

I've been really happy with DS2 preschool class size--12 kids per class and two teachers. I also like preschools with some extra offerings, eg. ours has creative movement (dance) and music.

[maestramommy]

What do you all feel is a good ratio for preschool?

6-7 kid per adult is generally what I see here, and it seems to work pretty well.