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Preschool Survival 101
When should you start looking at preschools? Is your child’s
second birthday too late? Is prenatal too early?
Well LAPregnancy
has found out that these questions and more can be more overwhelming than
imaginable!
There are hundreds of
preschools in the Los Angeles area and almost as many different educational philosophies.
Waiting lists, applications, school schedules, age
limits, deposits, deadlines, tuition – it is completely
overwhelming!
But help is on the
way with Christy Bergin of Best Fit School Service who has assembled an extensive research
database that includes Westside preschool facts, such as
parent-teacher ratios, accreditations, and class size. Beyond that,
most Best Fit clients fill out an extensive questionnaire to
determine each family’s unique priorities: location, tuition costs
and schedules, students age mix, level of parent participation
expected, etc.
The first step
is to learn about the different preschool philosophies, so you can
choose the approach that suits your child and lifestyle.
Christy also wants you to consider your child’s
unique personality. Is class size important? Is your little one
ready to be away five days a week? Half days or full days?
Even if you really love the program and teachers, it’s not a
Best Fit School unless your child will feel comfortable and
supported.
From a basic
phone consultation to assistance with tour dates and filling out
applications, Best Fit School Service provides a range of services,
all relatively inexpensive.
The goal is to
help parents narrow the myriad of choices down to a short,
customized list of schools. Then parents can tour those schools
which meet their specific needs and get a feel for the environment,
staff, and curriculum. Best Fit also supplies a handy
checklist to take on preschool tours. This checklist reminds parents
of details that might be overlooked and record their general
impressions for later reference.
Christy Bergin,
founder of Best Fit School Service, has been an early childhood
educator for more than 10 years. With bachelor’s degrees in both
child development and psychology, she has taught using a variety of
educational philosophies, including Waldorf, developmental, and
Reggio-inspired schools.
A warm and vibrant mother of two, Christy
supports Westside Los Angeles moms as they navigate through the rigorous
processes of finding the right preschool. For more information on
Best Fit School Service, contact Christy Bergin at 310-434-9706 or
www.BestFitSchools.com.
Mention LAPregnancy.com for a free info sheet on educational philosophies. |
