The Thought Process
Being that I taught for 7 years, from the moment Annemarie was born I started thinking about what preschool she would go to when that time came. What would our budget be? Where would she flourish the most? Would she attend the school I was teaching at? So many questions and little did I know that I would be able to stay with her after she turned one.
That changed things a little because then the questions turned into: Should I put her in school since I'm with her all day? Is she getting everything she needs from me? Am I getting so attached to her that I'm not letting her grow into her own? You get the idea.
Then I started thinking ... why did it have to be all or nothing? After speaking to my husband we decided to look for a super part-time program where I could select days and times. I wanted the program to be flexible and possibly around the area she would eventually transition into an elementary (feeder school).
So now that we had decided what we wanted, then we wondered - does this even exist? Luckily we asked around and were suggested some programs. Once we set up tours I wanted to compile a list of questions that I didn't want to forget to ask or observe when touring the schools. Thankfully I have amazing followers that suggested great questions and I was able to add them to my list.
The Tours
This was the interesting part for me. Like I mentioned before, I taught for 7 years, so I know to look for certain indicators that the presentation given is more like a song and dance versus the real deal.
We loved a couple of schools, but the first school we visited is actually the one we decided was a perfect fit (you can email/DM me if you want to know which I selected). It was inviting and met our "must haves" we were looking for - even a faith based program. I am able to select days, times and even arrange the schedule in the future if I want to.
But I have to say we did visit a school that literally left me feeling a little unsettled and concerned. The ratio was horrible, the teachers did not look well trained, the kids looked like they were not used to a routine and as you might have seen in my IG stories, several of the teachers were a little rough with the students. It just gave us an overall bad vibe and we decided the school was not a good fit for our family.
Checklist
As promised, I put together a little list that I hope will help anyone that is thinking about putting their little ones in school. Thank you for joining me on this journey and I can't wait to write about Annemarie's first day in August - I'm going to be a hot mess!
