Living History Worldwide

It is natural for parents to be highly invested in their children’s education, since a good education is the key to any child’s future success. So, when a child is first old enough for kindergarten or the best pre-k programs in the area, that child’s parents may start looking around for the best preschools in the area that may offer the best pre-k programs possible. Parents may look for a private version of those best pre-k programs, as some preschools are private, just like private middle or high schools. The same may be done when a family moves to a new city or county, and an online search such as “best pre-k programs in Miami FL” or “best pre-k programs in Manhattan” may yield some local results. What should parents look for in a good preschool for their son or daughter?

All About Preschool

Unlike a K-12 education, going to preschool is not mandatory in the United States. All the same, many American families are sending their young children to local preschools for the programs there (as opposed to day cares). What is more, a preschool’s classes may give a child a major head start on his or her mandatory education. Statistics have shown that ever since the year 1990, more and more parents have been sending their children to these pre-primary schools, with steady growth from 1990 to 2008 or so. This holds true for American households of all ethnic and racial backgrounds, with similar preschool education rates among Caucasian, African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic families.

Preschool children may be aged three to five, though may skew closer to four to five years old. In any case, parents may look online for good preschools in the area with an online search, if they do not have any personal references to draw upon already. The search may be fairly broad, such as “best preschools in Miami,” or a query may specify the family’s ZIP code or the type of school being sought. Some parents may look for private preschools in particular, and they may arrange search results to show the top-rated schools earlier in the list. When a full list of results is found, the parents may strike out schools that are not accepting new students anyway, and visit the rest.

Visiting each potential school is a fine chance for the family to evaluate those schools in person, and the parents may consult the staff and teachers to review the programs offered there and look over the staff members’ credentials, too. The child may get a fair impression of the school and determine if they feel comfortable there and if they like the staff. If so, that school may be a strong candidate. The family may visit any number of schools this way.

Finding Elementary or Middle Schools

Something similar may be done to find good K-12 schools when a family moves to a new area or when the child in the household becomes old enough for kindergarten. A K-12 education is certainly mandatory, but finding a great school of the correct type can be made easy with the Internet. Like with a search for preschools, the parents may specify their area and the type of school they want to find, such as “best private middle schools in Los Angeles CA” or “top public elementary schools in Boston MA.”

When looking for good elementary and middle schools, the potential student is old enough to voice his or her opinions clearly of each school that is toured, and the child may describe what he or she wants a school to offer them. Some very good schools may provide art classes or other specialized programs for art, sports, and more. Parents may also look into special education services at a school, such as if their child is diagnosed with ASD, or autism spectrum disorder. The same may be done for a child with a mild case of Down Syndrome.

Public schools are federally run and funded, while private ones are privately funded and run (hence the name). Private schools charge tuition, but families who can afford it may appreciate the top-tier education that their child will get there at the hands of expert staff.