How to Choose a Quality Kindergarten Program for a Child

Read books like "The Night Before Kindergarten" to prepare your child for the first day of kindergarten.

Finding a quality kindergarten program for your child will take diligent research. You don't want to wave goodbye on the first day of school without being sure that your child is in the best kindergarten program possible. Decide on the most important qualities for a kindergarten program and then visit the public and private schools in your area to find the best one for your new kindergartner.

Instructions

1. Research the most important qualities to look for in a kindergarten program using the Internet. Search for public, private and charter schools in your area with kindergarten programs. Read the School Accountability Report Card (SARC) for each school of your choice. Search online for school review websites with reviews written by other parents about the schools you are researching. Call your chosen schools to check for openings for the next school year and to make appointments for visiting their kindergarten classrooms.

2. Look around the classroom during each visit to see if the kindergartners are busy working and playing with a variety of materials or other children. Check the daily schedule to see if the students have many activities throughout the day that include language arts, math, science and P.E. Look for centers with lots of materials for daily use including block building and manipulatives (e.g., wood blocks, plastic blocks, Legos, pattern blocks, unifix cubes), a pretend play center, an art center and a class library.

3. Observe classroom teaching techniques to see if the kindergarten teacher works with individual children as well as the whole group. Look around at the classroom to see if students' original artwork has been posted on the bulletin boards and around the room. Search for children's essays that have been dictated as well as essays in their own handwriting with "invented spelling."

4. Ask about "early bird" and "late bird" policies and snack or lunch policies as well as homework schedules and school uniform rules. Inquire about field trips and classroom volunteering opportunities. Ask about kindergarten preparation ideas and age-appropriate book lists. Find out if the teacher has a class website. (Write down all your questions, along with your email address and phone number, to leave with the teacher in case she is busy on the day of your visit.)

References

• Fisher Price: What Is a Good Kindergarten?
• Scholastic: What Makes a Good Kindergarten?