Insights for Parents:
How do I evaluate a preschool?

There is very little correlation between how much a preschool charges for its services and how good a job it does at caring for and teaching your child.

Of course, the more expensive preschools may be in fancier buildings and have newer toys. But the two most important things in a preschool—the educational approach and the quality of the teachers—have nothing to do with fancy buildings, private playgrounds and brand-new computers. (Of course, one of the things that drives good teachers out of early education is the low salaries. I'd much rather see a school that invests its money in teachers than in décor.)

Here are some specific things you should look for when deciding whether a preschool is right for your child:

• How open is the preschool to visitors? This is a two-sided question. Preschools and kindergartens should welcome visitors—especially parents of prospective students—at all times. If the director of a preschool is hesitant to have you drop by, don't bother. That school isn't worth considering.
  
  At the same time, you should check the security of the school. What procedures do they take to prevent someone you haven't authorized from leaving with your child at the end of the day? Many preschools insist that you write down the names and addresses of anyone who might pick up your child in your stead. They'll ask for positive identification from anyone they're not used to seeing at the end of the day.
  
  Note: While parents sometimes worry about a stranger kidnapping their child, the vast majority of kidnappings of children this age are perpetrated by adults the child knows well, such as a divorced parent's ex-spouse. That's why preschools and child care providers are reluctant to hand over a child to someone they don't know, even if that child is yelling, "Daddy! Daddy!"

• Ideally, you should visit a preschool you're considering at least twice: once in the morning when parents are dropping off their children and again at the end of the day when parents are picking them up. Observe how the children and the teachers handle those transitions. (See The Preschool End-of-Day Frenzy for more about this.)
  
  The morning transition should not be chaotic. While the atmosphere may be charged with excitement, the children should know what's expected of them, such as putting their coats in their cubbies or asking for help with their boots. The teachers should greet each new arrival by name. They should be paying special attention to those children (and parents) who are having trouble separating.
  
  Stick around to see how the children move into morning activities. Again, it should be orderly but not rigid. The children should have some choices of what to do during the morning, within constraints set by the teachers. Watch how a teacher handles a problem, such as a child who doesn't want to sit with the rest of the group while a story is being read. Ask yourself if that's how you would like your child to be treated.

• Look into safety issues. Are there smoke detectors in every room? Are there emergency phone numbers, such as the local poison-control center, posted by every telephone. Are the cabinets containing possible poisons, such as cleaning fluids, locked? Are there caps on the electrical outlets? Are the fire exits open or blocked? Ask to see the first-aid kit to find out if it's well-stocked or a mere shadow of what it should be. Look around to see if anyone—including a visiting parent—is smoking. (A ban on smoking in and around a preschool should be strictly enforced, for reasons of both health and safety.)
  
  Ask to look at the written procedures for fire drills, actual fires, injuries, and missing children. Each of these should be in writing and available to you. If they're not, don't consider the preschool. You don't want teachers and administrators trying to figure out what to do in the heat of a crisis.

• Look for symbols of respect for the children. For example, are the classroom decorations up-to-date? If it's February, and Christmas decorations are still up, that's a bad sign. Also, at what height are the decorative posters and children's artwork hung on the walls? Many if not most of them should be a your child's eye level, not yours.

• Take a look at the floor plan of the classroom. Ideally, it should be divided into spaces that act as the functional equivalents of areas of a home. The dividers need not and probably should not be walls. They can even be stripes on the floor.
  
  There should be a specified area that acts like a kitchen, where children can play with water, paint, clay, and other potentially messy things. There should be a "family room," where children can gather around a teacher and listen to a story. There should be a library area, where books and puzzles are stored. There should be a "pretend space," in which children can use props and bits of costumes to help them imagine that they're someone else. There should be a bathroom, ideally with child-size toilets and small, low sinks so that children don't have to balance precariously on boxes or step stools. Finally, there should be a quiet area, where a child who's upset or who simply wants to be alone to look at a picture book or put together a puzzle can go without being disturbed.
  
  Some centers go well beyond this, offering everything from computer laboratories to make-believe kitchens. Just remember that while the room setup should be flexible, there should be predictable and defined spaces assigned to specific activities.

• Get references. Don't just ask for the names of a few parents. The teacher or center director will naturally try to put you in touch with those parents who are the happiest. Instead, ask for a list of all the parents of children in what will be your child's classroom. While you need not call them all, you're more likely to get a diversity of opinions—both compliments and brickbats—if you select people at random from the whole list.
  
  Talk to at least three parents of different children. Explain that you're considering the center for your child and would like their general opinion of it. Then ask some specific questions: How useful is the information they get about their children from the teachers? How often do teachers leave the school for other jobs? (If this school is having more trouble with this than other schools in your city, that's a sign of a larger problem.) Ask how responsive the teachers and the director have been to suggestions and complaints by parents.
  
  Find out if other parents have removed their children from the school recently. You may wish to contact these parents to find out if the reason had to do with something going on at the preschool.

• Finally, trust your instincts. You may sense that something wrong or that this isn't the right place for your child. You may also feel that it's a good match, even though some of the parents you speak to have unanswered complaints about the school. You should believe those gut feelings. They're usually pretty accurate, even if you can't put your underlying reasons into words.

  

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