Unfortunately, that is not the case at all. Some have very little play -20 minute recess, 30 minute center times. At some schools it’s a mini K. |
That is not what the OP asked about. And no idea what “mini k” means but the vast majority of the preschools are play-based. |
I’m telling you they are not, your little NW experience is less than 30% of schools. And you certainly have not been to them all. I’m sorry you didn’t understand that pre-k is not kindergarten and should not be like it. No but if OP likes a middle ground better skip a majority of title 1 and a handful of other schools. |
+1 Our family had kids in PK at two DCPS elementaries and they were very different experiences. First school was more traditionally academic. The kids spent more time in a chair at a table, or seated on the rug, listening to a teacher-led lesson. They did more worksheet-oriented work, including worksheet homework sometimes. Sure, there were centers in the classrooms and they did things like morning meeting with silliness and fun routines/songs, but the program was far from play-based. Second school had a project-based curriculum for PK and the kids were hardly ever sitting down listening to lessons (including screen-based lessons and I really appreciated the absence of these). They moved around the classroom much more, planning and working in small groups, creating art, activities more along the lines of playing. |
Thank you for the perspective! This is what I was seeing when researching, which is why I initially made the thread. There also seems to be a variance when talking to schools at EDFest recently, which is great because everyone has a different focus and emphasis. |