Amazing preschool 25 minutes away vs. pretty good preschool 5 minutes away

[Anonymous]

The close one. Absolutely no question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I’m in the minority.

My kids went to an amazing preschool that wasn’t local. I think the drive was probably around 15-20 minutes, but if I had to drive more, I would have for that school.

It would have been nice to spend more time with neighborhood kids, but there are so many local preschools, there’s no guarantee they’d be eith neighborhood kids anyway. You also can’t predict the future. If you move, send your kids to private school, or pursue optional public school opportunities (immersion, magnet, etc.), they may not go to school with the neighborhood kids then either. While they may not make best friends in the neighborhood, they will have friends wherever they are.

Just keep in mind, that you’re not only signing up for a longer commute to school, you’re also signing up for a longer commute for playdates, birthday parties, school events, etc.

We made the decision to go further away too. The preschool close to home was probably fine. I had some concerns thought and just couldn’t over look them. So we drive to an amazing school. I am peace each day. I just organize play dates with kids in the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please work on your FOMO. It will not serve you well. You’re posting here about whether or not to take a spot at a “pretty good” preschool that is 5 minutes away. That should have been something you knew how to decide without crowd-sourcing. But you’re worried about missing out on some supposedly magically cool preschool. No preschool is worth an hour’s drive.

Please work on your pathological need to post an unsolicited lecture for a fairly innocuous and common question!

[Anonymous]

5 mins away, full stop. You would not believe how much nagging, irritating stress dropoff and pickup can add to your day.

[Anonymous]

It is PRESCHOOL. An extra 40 minutes of travel time each day is time you are losing with your little one. Such a freaking no-brainer. Do you want your kid in a car or do you want your kid with you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is PRESCHOOL. An extra 40 minutes of travel time each day is time you are losing with your little one. Such a freaking no-brainer. Do you want your kid in a car or do you want your kid with you?

Wow, so unnecessary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please work on your FOMO. It will not serve you well. You’re posting here about whether or not to take a spot at a “pretty good” preschool that is 5 minutes away. That should have been something you knew how to decide without crowd-sourcing. But you’re worried about missing out on some supposedly magically cool preschool. No preschool is worth an hour’s drive.

Unnecessary post. OP simply wanted to hear the positives and negatives of those who had experienced the same situation. You should know how to decide not to be nasty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is PRESCHOOL. An extra 40 minutes of travel time each day is time you are losing with your little one. Such a freaking no-brainer. Do you want your kid in a car or do you want your kid with you?

Wow, so unnecessary

Asked and answered.

[Anonymous]

There are a few preschools that are absolutely worth the trek if it’s feasible for your family. A child with different needs who gets a spot at NCRC? Worth it. An entry year spot at St. John’s (Reggio) where they will loop all three years? Worth it unless you really want academics. There are many public and private school parents from MD and VA who send their kids to these schools because they offer something unique and worth the $$ and hassle. I wouldn’t travel for any of the local Montessori’s since they aren’t *that* different. Same with the prek3 programs at top privates. I don’t know much about Washington Waldorf but that is a destination school for different reasons.

[Anonymous]

What’s amazing about the amazing preschool? I’d probably go for the closer one regardless I’m just curious. If the close one has outside time, teaches songs, has playdoh and is not drilling on worksheets that would be enough for me..

[Anonymous]

Close one for sure. You’re talking about 100 mins of commute time per day!! for about 200 mins of preK. It’s a no.

[Anonymous]

If there are concerns like speech and the far school has speech or the like, I would drive. Otherwise, I would stay close. My kids go to an “amazing” school by reputation but in reality it’s just fine. They would have a fine experience other places.

Also, if you have activities on top of school, take that cumulative drive into account. Plus, it sounds like this is your first kid. Once you add on another or two, close is going to be your only choice.

[Anonymous]

Closer one! An extra 40min with your kid is priceless

[Anonymous]

Define amazing. You choose the one that is a best fit for your child. We did one local, one 15 minutes and one 30 minutes. The 30 minute was a nightmare even as a SAH as its an hour round trip and it was a 1/2 day so I'd end up just waiting around the area as by the time I got there, went home, and went back again it just wasn't worth it.

[Anonymous]

Definitely the closer one. 25 minutes for part day preschool means you’re either driving 50 minutes twice/day with barely any time in between at home or trying to kill time between drop and pick up because you’re so far from home and it’s only a few hours.