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PrintSelecting the Right Preschool
Choosing the right preschool for your child, experts say, is one of the most important things you can do to prepare your child for academic success.
“Public school has changed so much in past 10 years,” says Ginny Smith, coordinator for early childhood programs for Harford County Public Schools. “Kids are expected to be reading by kindergarten. It really is the new first grade.”
For many local parents, finding a preschool school that’s a great fit for their kids often trumps other considerations like location or cost.
“For me, the top thing was how the kids felt when we did a walk through,” says Kelly Snyder who chose My Second Home Early Education Center and preschool in Belcamp for her 4-year-old twins. Snyder, who is a school teacher, says often her children would cling to her leg when they visited a new school. But at My Second Home, she says, “They left me and ran into the room to play with everything and play with the other kids. I thought, ‘Wow, that never happened before.’”
Parents like Snyder also examine things like class size, curriculum and teaching philosophy when choosing a preschool.
The state of Maryland does not require students attend preschool, but it strongly recommends it. The Harford County school district offers a free pre-kindergarten program for children who will be 4-years-old by Sept. 1. But that program is only for children of families who fit the state’s guidelines for poverty, who are foster children or who are homeless. Applications for Harford County’s public pre-kindergarten program can be picked up at area elementary schools starting May 7.
The rest of the county’s families can choose from among the different varieties of area preschools, may of which are holding open houses at this time of year.
A curious child would do well at a Montessori school, says Mary Ellen Kelly, director of Monarch Montessori in Churchville.
“The children are allowed to make their own choices for a period of the day and they reveal themselves to us,” she says of her school where children of mixed ages learn together.
Pam Moore chose Monarch Montessori’s preschool for her daughter Marin, now 5 and in the school’s kindergarten program, at the suggestion of a friend who had recommended its nurturing environment.
“The younger kids aspire to what older kids do and the older kids help the younger kids,” says Moore. “They help each other with zippers at recess and one boy was crying at beginning of school and my daughter said, ‘I helped him out.’”
She says she’s been impressed with what her daughter has learned. She reading and writing and can easily recognize the flags of countries like Belize and Nicaragua.
At My Second Home in Belcamp, where Kelly’s children attend, creativity is emphasized, says owner Jeanne Berger.
“We put a lot value on social skills,” says Berger. “It’s all taught through play. The messages we use are positive. We don’t punish children, we redirect them. We teach children the proper way to behave with peers, how to get along in society.”
Parents looking for a program with a Christian emphasis might consider preschool programs like the one at Advent Lutheran Child Development Center in Forest Hill.
“We say grace before meals we’re always giving thanks,” says Diane Angone, director of the center. “We go for nature walks and tell the children look at the beautiful colors God gave us. Look at the beautiful leaves. we sing praises to God every day.”
For more information on the importance of early childhood education, visit:
Maryland Model For School Readiness
mdk12.org/instruction/ensure/MMSR/index.html
Maryland State Department of Education School Readiness Information
www.marylandpublicschools.org/msde/newsroom/publications/school_readiness
