St. Columba's - right mix or too play-based?

[sharpa]

Our family is moving to NW DC this spring and looking at preschools for next fall. I toured St. Columba's recently and was impressed. At the open house the director emphasized repeatedly that it was a play-based school. She indicated that the school does not directly teach letters, early reading skills or basic math functions. Many children do pick these up along the way through the play activities, she said, but these skills are not taught. I was a little surprised by this point and it seems to stand in contrast to other schools I've visited, even others that were also deemed play-based. We'd like to hear from current and recent former parents whether they felt this was an issue. Did their children gain pre-reading or reading skills through St. Columba's program? If not, was that a problem? Was St. Columba's too play-based (if that's possible)?

[Anonymous]

Former St. C's family here - many of the kids go directly to private school, some go to Janney, an excellent public across the street. I have never heard of any of the kids having problems academically. It definitely goes against the early formal educaton trend but the kids learn a lot that is less "academic". They have a lot of science/nature activities, animals, lots of work on building confidence and socail skills, etc. They have a % of the classes that have sn, I found that DC was much more empathetic and creative in playing with a variety of kids after attending. I'd highly recommend the program, it's also a nice community of parents. Good luck to you in planning your move.

[Anonymous]

DS has gone there. He did learn letters, if not there not sure where. We love St. Columba's. If you think it is too play based then go someplace else. There are many preschools in the area. The program is great. I don't understand why people think it is too play based. Did these people actually have kids who went there?

[Anonymous]

This is the best way for young children to learn, IMO and based on research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the best way for young children to learn, IMO and based on research.

I totally agree. I am starting to believe people who say it is too play based didn't have kids who attended St. Columba's. Once your child starts writing his/her name, identifying letters, and taking the awesome environment/science class, you would never question the play based learning. I think it is a fabulous preschool!

[Anonymous]

My DS attended. Julia Berry is great and it is a very nice school. For the age range, lots of play is fine and there isn't a lot of need for structured learning. My only issue was that there were a couple of disruptive boys in my DS classes who took up a lot of the teachers attention.