What to Expect from Your Preschool Search?

When you begin your preschool search, you want to focus on the schools with the best potential to meet your needs and the needs of your child. To find those high-potential preschools, start with the preschool guide on The Savvy Source. You can also look for articles in local newspapers and magazines. Contact your local child care resource center. Ask other parents who live near you, work near you and have child and family needs that may be similar to yours. Focus on preschools that appear to meet your Great Preschool and Great Fit needs. The Savvy Source will give you a huge advantage by providing key information about preschools all in one place, information gathered from preschool directors and numerous parents. This will save you time and up the quality of your information enormously.

Screen out schools that are obviously a poor fit for your high priority needs or that clearly lack the key elements of preschool quality. Start with information on The Savvy Source. Then gather more about preschools remaining on your list. Visit websites, tour the preschools, interview preschool directors and teachers, and talk to parents of children with needs similar to your own child's.

To get the best results when visiting preschools to gather information, be polite, listen well, be firm to get the information you need, and be genuine about your high priority needs and quality concerns.

Focus on your top few questions that aren't already addressed in The Savvy Source's comprehensive preschool profiles. The interview sheet provided in our preschool selection eBook can help you feel calmer about interviews with preschool directors, teachers and other parents.

While you are interviewing them, some preschools will be interviewing you and your child. Focus on being polite and listening well. It's easy to get stressed about preschool visits and to pass that onto your child. You may be thinking "charm schmarm," but deep down you are feeling worried that your little mini-me will resemble you at your worst, not your best. Relax and be yourself. Go to bed a little early the night before and have a good breakfast (yes, parents and children).

Compare preschools point-by-point on quality and fit. Use these tools to help:

• The Savvy Source's school comparison matrix, which shows side by side preschool comparisons. Just as you used this to narrow your search, now you can use it to help make final decisions among schools.
• The School Comparison Worksheet in our preschool selection eBook.

Ask yourself: Which preschools best meet high priority needs you really can't meet outside of preschool?

Rank your preschool options and do all you can to secure a slot for your child. If you are applying to a selective preschool, make sure that your application or accompanying letter clearly describes a) the preschool's quality strengths that you recognize and appreciate and b) why the preschool is the best fit for your child and family needs. Be sure to follow prescribed admission steps and meet all deadlines.

No preschool is perfect. Even the best must work constantly to improve. You may find that you have limited options in your area, your child does not get in to your favorite preschool, or your chosen preschool is not perfect in quality and fit. Knowing a preschool's strengths and weaknesses will help you work better with your child's teachers and craft the right experiences for your child outside of preschool. Focus non-school time on what matters most, reducing overload for your child and family. You also can help improve your child's preschool in all the right ways by focusing on its strengths and weaknesses in quality and fit