I am a young mother of a 4 year old boy. I am extremley concerned with the "education" my pre-schooler has been receiving from the Kyrene School District here in Chandler! He has been attending since September '07 & he hasn't learned anything! Other than what myself & his grandma has taught him here at home. I am disappointed & feel like we've been scammed! We pay a monthly tuition for my child to actually learn something, but that's not what is happening. I don't need to pay for daycare because I am a stay at home mom, but it feels as though that's what I'm doing. We will be relocating to the Mesa area & I need advice from moms who know about the Mesa schools. I'm considering Montessori or Catholic/Christian pre-school. I just don' t know where to start. All I hope is that I don't get stuck in the same situation like the one I'm in now....
*BeLLazBoYz*
My mom runs a montessori
My mom runs a montessori preschool/kindergarden in her home and has done so for the last 13 years or so. She is licensed by the state too. She has a 1 to 5 ratio and has morning, afternoon, and full day. She has just open up enrollment for the fall too!
Located in Chandler - at Price Rd & Warner.
www.sheilasacademy.com
Hopefully this helps!
Sarah
Bethany learning Center - it
Bethany learning Center - it is on the Mesa/Tempe border at Price/Guadelupe - it's part of Bethany Community Church. My son went to preschool and kindergarten there. He's in second grade in Christian school now and doing very well.
You should check into Bethany - they have an excellent program.
Hi, I would recommend Bright
Hi,
I would recommend Bright Begginnings in Chandler (Dobson and Ray - we drove from Queen Creek to attend there). By the time that my son completed preschool there, he was reading 25 site words, and obviously knew all of the letter sounds, including the long and short vowel sounds. He was skip counting by 5s, 10s and 2s. This is usually taught in Kindergarten. I was VERY happy with that preschool.
"Only a life lived for others, is the life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein
Look at the NAEYC website
Look at the NAEYC website and you can look for facilities that are accredited in your area. Make sure they hold the newer and latest accreditation which is a more stringent accreditation and harder to obtain, which means if they have it they indeed have their stuff together and know what they're doing and I would feel good about paying for my child to go to a facility that holds the accreditation. There are only 17 in the state so beware of any that you look into that say they are.
I'm sorry to hear you're so
I'm sorry to hear you're so frustrated with the Kyrene Preschool. I've had 3 kids in there for a total of 7 years and LOVE it! Of course, they're speech and language delayed and the preschool has been invaluable to them. They not only learned to speak better but were all totally prepared for Kindergarten by the time they got there. I don't know which school you're child goes to, but we've gone to the one at Lomas and I owe the teacher and aides there everything!
My oldest turns 17 tomorrow. One of the biggest things we've learned is that preschool and even kindergarten is the most important place for kids to learn socialization skills. Most of a child's academic learning takes place in the home during these years. Learning to play with others, share, transition from activity to activity, to follow directions, listen to a story without interruption, manners and conflict resolution are all things your child is learning at the Kyrene Preschool and believe me, they are so, so, so important to your child's development.
Having said all that, some parents of typical kids do feel that their kids aren't learning all that they should. One of my friends recently took her typical son out of the preschool because she felt he needed to be in a preschool with all typical kids. Our class this year has quite a few special needs kids with tougher needs than usual. My friend's son wasn't all that happy in class because there wasn't a lot of kids on his level to play with. He was a bit bored there because he needed more intellectual stimulation from his peers.
We parents of developmentally delayed kids are so grateful to parents of typical kids who go there. Because typical kids are there, my kid gets age appropriate role models he can learn from. He learns how kids his age speak, how they deal with conflicts, ask for things, tell stories, relate play etc. Those aren't academic skills but real-life social skills he's learning from them. I can't thank them enough for giving their kids to ours.
I don't know why I wrote all that here. I guess I didn't want you to leave the school thinking it's a terrible one. There's so much more to preschools than academics. But if it's academics that are important to you at this point, you're probably better off finding another school for your child. Good luck with whatever school you find! But thanks for the time your child gave our special needs kids!
I agree with MollyDonnelly's
I agree with MollyDonnelly's comments about the main goal of preschool. It's not to learn math and how to read, but to become socialized and how to follow the same types of rules and procedures that they'll be following in elementary school. I've actually read research done on the negative effects of pushing the academics on kids too early. When we looked for preschools for our kids (now 5,7 and 11) the most important thing was finding a safe, nurturing environment for the kids to learn in. A good preschool room should have different centers for the kids to move from - including a play area (toys, dress up clothes, etc.), a manipulative area (with puzzles, blocks, etc.), a messy area for painting & other crafts, a drawing/coloring/cutting area, and maybe a science area (with rocks, magnifying glasses, etc). All these things get kids excited to learn.
In addition, at my kids' preschool they learned the alphabet and numbers, I think, 1-20. But it was all made to be fun.
We live in the Central Phoenix area and there are several excellent preschools I would recommend for anyone living here. But I would strongly recommend that parents look for preschools that emphasize the socialization over the academics at this point.
Lattemom is the mother of three energetic kids ages 6, 8 & 11 and a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com.
I guess I'm a little
I guess I'm a little confused as to why someone would choose to respond to my posting with their opinions rather than referring me to a paticular school which is what I asked for in the first place. I must say, I was a little offended with you calling children "typical" as well. My son is a very smart & talented child & has been in a daycare setting since he was a few months old. Therefore his social skills are definitley up to par. My child is not "typical" he is a bright & talented NORMAL child who needs to be stimulated with more than coloring & playing with play-dough. I disagree with your remarks. If a "typical" child has the ability to learn & grasp all aspects of academics than they should. It is the parents choice when it comes to where they want their child or children to attend & what they expect from the school & it's cirriculum. When I enrolled him I had no idea that he would be in the class with the majority of children being developmentally delayed or challenged. That isn't fair to normal children who are obviously more advanced. My mother in law is a teacher & when I expressed my frustrations to her she completley agreed with me. In all her years of experience children who are extremely disabled or who are mentally ill are in a classroom with children who have the same problems. With that being said, I appreciate the time you took to give me your opinions but they weren't needed. Thank you to those of you who recommended schools though! ;)
*BeLLazBoYz*
Typical is another word for
Typical is another word for normal...just a little more politically correct! By using the word "normal" you make my kids "abnormal" and that isn't nice. My kid has a speech delay, but he's not abnormal!
If you had done your homework, you would have found out that the preschool is FOR speech delayed kids and many have other problems as well, including autism. The classes are divided in half, with half being "typical" and half being speech delayed.
I only answered your post in the way I did because I was saddened by what you said and how you felt. This preschool has been soooo good for my 3 kids with speech delays and I didn't want you to walk away thinking it was a bad preschool. It just wasn't for you and I get that. You and your child need more than the preschool offered. I get that, too. I didn't want other people to get the wrong idea about the preschool.
Your post was just mean. I meant no harm to you or your decisions. In fact, I supported them. In the future, I will not respond to your posts.
New to this website so I
New to this website so I know I'm a little late in replying... If you are still in search of a great preschool for your son you MUST check out Horizon Community Learning Center's class with Mr. Harank. He's taught children (pre-k and kindergarten) for over 25 years years and he's AMAZING. Don't even know where to start as far as telling you how wonderfully he runs his classes. The kids are completely honored as the individuals they are and they just thrive in this environment. My kids both attended his class and they covered such things as global warming, endangered species, Malcom X, Elvis... oh and of course reading, writing, arithmatic and all that good stuff. His style is unique and the kids that leave his class end up being the strongest readers in their first and second grade classes... and I'm sure beyond! The school is on 48th St./Frye in Ahwatukee. Classes are probably full for next year, but you can get on a waiting list and very often they do end up pulling people from that list. Incidentally, Mr. Harank was reading your posting over my shoulder and commented "He'd be perfect for my class!" in response to your son.... (okay, he's my significant other, but I am not being biased when I tell you how fabulous he is with those kids). Parents are ALWAYS welcome to check him out. You'll be glad you did! Hope this helps and feel free to reply back if you have any other questions!
Good luck and take care!
Stefanie