Friday, June 26, 2009

Any Preschool Suggestions?

Ok, so I was going to post about the sad passing of the very talented, and at many times weird Michael Jackson. I absolutely love his music and rejoice in the fact that his songs can be listened to over and over on my ipod. It is sad, and he will be missed, I will never get to go to one of his sold out concerts. I will never get to ask him about his chimp named Bubbles. 

However, I am trying to find a decent preschool for Summer and it is way more important than a tribute to MJ right now. So, if any of you who are living or have lived in Houston, have any recommendations for preschool please share. I have looked at a few and plan to tour some, they all seem very expensive. I just want something that is affordable, and safe for my child while at the same time will provide a great learning environment. 

I did not realize how fast some preschools fill up, and now I have to be on waiting lists to get her in. 

Any suggestions at all would be great. Please don't suggest home schooling as I would be a poor teacher. Most of you know I have bad grammar and therefore Summer is probably picking up my bad habits. 

Please help if you know of a preschool for me to look into. 

7 comments:

Heather Ridge said...

MJ was awesome, well at least his music. Him as a person, I am indifferent on that....but at least his music will live forever.

Lyn Hunter, Audrey Kasallis, Emily Nolte I am sure could help you out as far as the public schools. I have been calling around to different private ones and they are pretty expensive. They do fill up fast, I have been told to start filling out applications for next fall 2010 now. Crazy huh!

Candy H said...

Tyler went to Willow Meadows (Baptist church on West Belfort)the year before Kindergarden. If Tammy is still there she was a great teacher. It was 4 days a week, (9:30-2:30)
Low key program.
Don't underestimate your talents, doing a home preschool with other moms is such a great option and there are lots of programs that can be purchased very reasonably. Look at the Joy School curriculum. It is great. And now there are so many ideas online. Kids grow up so fast they will be in school for the rest of their lives (it seems) so enjoy this last year together.
I did home preschool with all my other kids.

mo mcd said...

Definately look for one that doesn't push academics too hard, but encourages the child should she be interested. Many 4 year olds are NOT developmentally ready for some of the "preschool" shennanigans where they push children to a 1st or 2nd grade level. Social skills should be pretty high up on the curriculum list. Good luck!

emily said...

Have you heard of the Owl's Nest? It's a private pre-K housed in Lovett Elementary (over towards the church on S. Rice). I think the rates are pretty reasonable, but I've heard they already have waitlists for certain years. Good luck!

Bridget said...

I tried to do a preschool with a couple of my friends. 3 friends, 4 kids, and it lasted 3 weeks. Then it was 2 friends, 3 kids and that went another 3 months. After that, we just did play dates every so often. I think arranging to do something with friends "can" work...but didn't in our case. After a little bit of time, one of mine went to kindergarten and I put the other in a public school preschool program.

Maybe there are some of those in Houston, too? To give you a rate comparison: my school district's program (in WA) costs $200/month for a 3 hour/4 day a week program. If your child is developmentally delayed (needs speech therapy or doesn't talk or is super shy or has other issues) then it's free.

Bridget said...

One more comment. My boys (2,4,5) love love love the sight words series of videos. They are well worth it and it's amazing that my two year old recognizes words. Last Sunday in church when we were singing and he was antsy and pulling the hymn book away from me, I sat him on my lap and we identified sight words (be, and, or, etc.) in the song that we were supposed to be singing. It was a great way to keep him semi-focused on singing and he is always excited when he recognizes one of his sight words.

http://www.amazon.com/Meet-Sight-Words-1-Animation/dp/B000UIPJIK

Anonymous said...

I agree with Candy, I think kids should enjoy being home their last year. Ben did all day preschool last year, and it was too much. I fought with the school for half-day, because it's so much. I'm not going to put Alex in a preschool. I think going to playgroups and just getting together with other kids is enough at that age.
I think this especially if you'll be in Houston when Summer starts kindergarten, because it's all day. It's a lot of schooling for so young an age. As long as Summer knows how to write her name and can recognize the letters and sounds of the alphabet, she won't be behind when she starts kindergarten.