Thursday, January 18, 2007

Preschool Woes

One thing about living in a high growth area is the number of preschools versus the number of kids needing a preschool.

Back in Illinois I had picked out the perfect preschool. When I moved here I missed preschool hell, I mean registration, by 6 months. You miss registration and you pretty much are out of luck. So I crossed preschool off the list for Sam to do at three, never realizing that if she wasn't in a three year old program the chances of her getting into a four year old program was almost as great as winning the lottery. I have been calling preschools as far away as 25 minutes to hear "no spots for next year" or "we will have 2 spots for about the 50 that signup". Some schools for those few remaining spots have a lottery system. Other schools parents will actually camp out the night prior to get that precious spot. Now I guess I should admit that I did call two that had spots. One was $350/month and the other was $550/month. That would buy me alot of college tuition. I just want to scream "It's preschool people, PRESCHOOL!!" Do people really pay that much money to learn how to color and use a pair of scissors? My kid better be doing algebraic equations for that amount of money.

So I had decided to try the lottery system for one preschool and camp out at another if I don't win the lottery at the previous school. And after that, other than putting our name on waitlists, I was going to **gulp** teach her myself.

This morning I got a call from someone in our playgroup telling me that she talked to the director trying to see what our possibilities are for next year. She told her that there is a good chance someone in the 3 year old program was leaving January 31 and a spot would open up. This would guarantee us a spot next year if we took this one. I called and Sam and I went today to visit. It is nice. Nothing like the program in Illinois, but I really liked the teachers, the director and the program. We are number 10 on the waitlist for this possible spot. The director said that she doesn't think the previous 9 want the spot, so if this spot does open up I have a great shot at getting it.

So please, please, please keep your fingers crossed that this spot does open up. Two people from playgroup go there and two little boys from our neighborhood are in the three year old program. Too many coincidences? I hope not.

2 comments:

LiLi said...

Alexis!!! I hope it works out! That would be so awesome for you guys. On the money thing... I am thinking of putting Maegan in Montessori, but it is $350 a month, for a three day program that goes from 9-12:30... can I really justify that money? I really don't know. I'm praying about it. I want better education for her than I am getting now, but at what cost? Her current school labels her as a problem child, and I think they are missing the cues that she is bored and thus acting out. I'm figuring if they can't pick up on her boredom, then how/what are they able to teach her. They don't use computers or have any enrichment courses, which she could really benefit from. She loves the computer and she loves speaking other languages... *sigh* why is having a preschooler so hard? hmm? Ok enough of that. I really hope Sam gets the spot! :D

Leesha said...

I know you will put Sam in a school that will be a fun, learning experience for her.

Sammi is such a bright lil' one. She won't have any problems if she attends or not. (But I hope she can!)

~~HUGS~~