Oaklee's Family Guide November/December/January 2017 | Page 15

Schools
Finding the right preschool
Metro Creative Services
Parents know that choosing a preschool
for their children is a decision not to be taken
lightly.
Preschools are often a child's first extensive
experience away from home,
See Schools and the right school can help
kids make that transition
listing
more smoothly.
Page 16
When looking for a
preschool for their kids,
parents may want to employ the following tips.
• Make preschool a priority. Procrastinating
with regard to finding a preschool carries
considerable risk. Many of the best preschools
have only a limited number of spots available,
and there ma y even be a waiting list for those
spots. So it behooves parents to begin their
search for a preschool as early as possible. Doing
so affords parents the time to visit various
facilities, speak with staff members and maybe
even observe a typical day at the school. Leaving
things until the last minute takes away that
flexibility, and parents may be forced to choose a
facility with which they are largely unfamiliar.
• Ask around. Fellow parents make for great
resources as parents look for a preschool for
their children. Ask parents of current preschool
children or even older kids who attended
preschool to share their impressions of a given
facility and share their insights as to a facility's
operations and its pros and cons.
• Take kids along on visits. Though parents
typically have a checklist of things they want to
find in a preschool facility, it pays to remember
that the kids will ultimately be the ones
spending time at the school. So take youngsters
along when visiting facilities, paying particular
attention to how kids react to each facility and
how well staff members engage your youngster
in the day's activities. Many kids take time to
adjust to preschool, but you can still learn a lot
about a facility by observing how your child
interacts with staff and how well the facility
meshes with your child's personality.
• Don't mistake cost with quality. The
cost of preschool can range from affordable
to exorbitant. But the costliest school is not
necessarily the best facility, nor the best fit for
your child. While an expensive preschool may
be well worth the investment, parents should
still consider all of their options before making
any commitments.
Oaklee’s Family Guide TM for Chicagoland
AMAZING STARTS HERE. ®
• INFANTS • BEFORE &
• TODDLERS AFTER SCHOOL
• PRESCHOOL • SUMMER CAMP
STEM:
an essential part of the
early learning equation
Kiddie Academy of Algonquin
[phone]
Kiddie Academy of Arlington Heights
[phone]
Kiddie Academy of Batavia
[phone]
Kiddie Academy of Bolingbrook
[phone]
Kiddie Academy of Carpentersville
[phone]
Kiddie Academy of Darien
[phone]
Kiddie Academy of Naperville
[phone]
Kiddie Academy of Oswego
[phone]
Kiddie Academy of Park Ridge
[phone]
Kiddie Academy of Plainfield
[phone]
Kiddie Academy of Streamwood
[phone]
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NOV-DEC 2017/JAN 2018