Quality of a pre-School Matters...

Sometimes we wonder if the quality of a pre-school makes a difference. In my own experience, I think that quality does matter. I noticed much difference between my son and daughter. My daughter, who was born with special needs, was able to attend not one but two pre-schools that prepared her for Kindergarten. She attended headstart and a pre-school that was part of our school district. It was no wonder that when my daughter started kindergarten, she was well prepared to begin.

kids play in preschool

On the contrary, when my son turned three years old, I tried to register him in the same pre-schools. Headstart said I did not qualify because of my income, and the district pre-school said he did not qualify because he had no special needs. At that moment, I decided to register him for a local pre-school that was around my house. It seemed logical to do so because the school was right around the corner from our house, and a school bus would drop off my daughter from pre-school each day.

In comparing my kid's experiences, I can no say that my sons’ pre-school did not teach as well as my daughters' school. The one main difference was that my daughter's schools had certified teachers. At my son's preschool, the instruction did not seem as focused, and I could see much better progress in my daughter. It was then when I realized that I should have picked a different school for my son, but we were reaching the end of that school year. When he started Kindergarten, the in-class evaluations showed he was not ready for Kindergarten. Although he had learned the numbers up to 10, his reading abilities were not where they should have been. This was the most difficult way to confirm that I had paid for a preschool program that barely taught my child anything.

As parents, we may not realize on time what to do in certain situations. At that moment, I wish I had decided to switch my son out of that preschool. Today I am fully aware that the quality of a preschool makes a difference in our child's educational preparation. I am also aware that a good preschool may not be necessary for all kids, but it is clear to me that for my son, quality would have made a difference. Had I chosen differently, he would not have struggled as much in reading.