Bringing child with to look at preschools

[Anonymous]

Newly relocated to the area, trying to juggle getting DC into a preschool quickly, while DH has already started work. How strict are school policies about bringing child with on a tour? We literally know no one here and have only been here a week. Too soon for me to just leave my child with a complete stranger. DC knows how to behave on a school tour.

[Anonymous]

I think it's actually recommended that they go. See how staff interact with him, and how he interacts with them.

[Anonymous]

You have to ask the schools. Every school has a different policy and some don't want your kid disrupting their day.

Make sure you have your immunization forms from your doctor ready for any schools to which you apply.

[Anonymous]

Some are ok with it, others aren't. I always brought my child and if they were not ok with it and his opinion, it was not the right school for us.

[Anonymous]

You might be too distracted with dc to remember everything you need to ask / look for, so take a good list.

[Anonymous]

I invite children to all tours at our preschools. I think it is weird for a preschool to not include kids. However, I once had a tour during which the children of three friends was so atrocious that I never saw the other people on the tour again! It is so awkward because it is not clear whether I should discipline the kids as a center director or let the parents do it. It was awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I invite children to all tours at our preschools. I think it is weird for a preschool to not include kids. However, I once had a tour during which the children of three friends was so atrocious that I never saw the other people on the tour again! It is so awkward because it is not clear whether I should discipline the kids as a center director or let the parents do it. It was awful.

Its your school, yes, its ok to say something to the kids, especially if you'd consider accepting them. Its important to know that they will listen to the teachers and respect your authority. Parents should have done it.

I've had the problem where the place was terrible and my kid was signaling to get out of there and the director kept going on and on and not hearing I was trying to excuse us so it didn't lead to a meltdown.

[Anonymous]

Each school sets their own policy: some tours are for adults only and others include the children. Our school only allows newborns on the first tour otherwise adults only. Children can come if we walk through the school together but not for the presentation by the school Head.

[Anonymous]

A good rule of thumb is that children are probably not welcome for an evening tour event; for daytime events, the school is more likely to be flexible but you should still check. No welcoming kids on tours isn't a signal that it's not a quality school, that it's hostile to children being children, or anything else like that. It's a simple recognition that coming to a tour for many parents represents time taken away from work, from their other children, and from their other responsibilities. It's not fair to those parents to have that time be wasted because other people brought kids who act up during the tour or are otherwise a distraction. You want a preschool that respects children, but you also want one that respects parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A good rule of thumb is that children are probably not welcome for an evening tour event; for daytime events, the school is more likely to be flexible but you should still check. No welcoming kids on tours isn't a signal that it's not a quality school, that it's hostile to children being children, or anything else like that. It's a simple recognition that coming to a tour for many parents represents time taken away from work, from their other children, and from their other responsibilities. It's not fair to those parents to have that time be wasted because other people brought kids who act up during the tour or are otherwise a distraction. You want a preschool that respects children, but you also want one that respects parents.

Or, some parents do not have back-up child care to do tours, so if a school isn't welcoming a child, a tour for that parent may not be possible.

[Anonymous]

As a director, I find it is very hard for children who come on a tour. Our spaces (especially large playroom and playground) are very inviting. Most children want to play in them. (Naturally!). It is hard for the parents to say no and then harder for them to keep up with the tour and to pay attention to what they are seeing. That is why we discourage bringing children to tours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good rule of thumb is that children are probably not welcome for an evening tour event; for daytime events, the school is more likely to be flexible but you should still check. No welcoming kids on tours isn't a signal that it's not a quality school, that it's hostile to children being children, or anything else like that. It's a simple recognition that coming to a tour for many parents represents time taken away from work, from their other children, and from their other responsibilities. It's not fair to those parents to have that time be wasted because other people brought kids who act up during the tour or are otherwise a distraction. You want a preschool that respects children, but you also want one that respects parents.

Or, some parents do not have back-up child care to do tours, so if a school isn't welcoming a child, a tour for that parent may not be possible.

IMO, the number of parents who would be in this situation because they are single parents (so the other parent couldn't stay home with the child and then get a report from the attending parent), have no friends who would be willing to help them out in a pinch, and have some extenuating circumstance that forces them not to use sitters (but wouldn't prevent them from sending their child to preschool) is going to be pretty rare. Far more often, its two parents who decide it's just unthinkable that either should miss any detail of little Larla's development, even a preschool tour the other parent could probably repeat at a later date if they decide to enroll, and think little Larla is just far too precious to be left in the care of anyone but themselves. To impose that on all of the other parents and interfere with their tour is really self-centered and rude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good rule of thumb is that children are probably not welcome for an evening tour event; for daytime events, the school is more likely to be flexible but you should still check. No welcoming kids on tours isn't a signal that it's not a quality school, that it's hostile to children being children, or anything else like that. It's a simple recognition that coming to a tour for many parents represents time taken away from work, from their other children, and from their other responsibilities. It's not fair to those parents to have that time be wasted because other people brought kids who act up during the tour or are otherwise a distraction. You want a preschool that respects children, but you also want one that respects parents.

Or, some parents do not have back-up child care to do tours, so if a school isn't welcoming a child, a tour for that parent may not be possible.

IMO, the number of parents who would be in this situation because they are single parents (so the other parent couldn't stay home with the child and then get a report from the attending parent), have no friends who would be willing to help them out in a pinch, and have some extenuating circumstance that forces them not to use sitters (but wouldn't prevent them from sending their child to preschool) is going to be pretty rare. Far more often, its two parents who decide it's just unthinkable that either should miss any detail of little Larla's development, even a preschool tour the other parent could probably repeat at a later date if they decide to enroll, and think little Larla is just far too precious to be left in the care of anyone but themselves. To impose that on all of the other parents and interfere with their tour is really self-centered and rude.

This is nuts. OF COURSE both parents should be equally involved in making this decision. And some of us don't have friends/babysitters available. We took my DD on an evening tour and when she was disruptive, one of us took her away from the tour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good rule of thumb is that children are probably not welcome for an evening tour event; for daytime events, the school is more likely to be flexible but you should still check. No welcoming kids on tours isn't a signal that it's not a quality school, that it's hostile to children being children, or anything else like that. It's a simple recognition that coming to a tour for many parents represents time taken away from work, from their other children, and from their other responsibilities. It's not fair to those parents to have that time be wasted because other people brought kids who act up during the tour or are otherwise a distraction. You want a preschool that respects children, but you also want one that respects parents.

Or, some parents do not have back-up child care to do tours, so if a school isn't welcoming a child, a tour for that parent may not be possible.

IMO, the number of parents who would be in this situation because they are single parents (so the other parent couldn't stay home with the child and then get a report from the attending parent), have no friends who would be willing to help them out in a pinch, and have some extenuating circumstance that forces them not to use sitters (but wouldn't prevent them from sending their child to preschool) is going to be pretty rare. Far more often, its two parents who decide it's just unthinkable that either should miss any detail of little Larla's development, even a preschool tour the other parent could probably repeat at a later date if they decide to enroll, and think little Larla is just far too precious to be left in the care of anyone but themselves. To impose that on all of the other parents and interfere with their tour is really self-centered and rude.

Let me guess - you have family in the area. Otherwise you would understand how hard it is to find sitters.

[Anonymous]

We are a small coop preschool. We allow kids during the tour and encourage it. We ask that the parent keep an eye on their kids as there may be toys that are not appropriate for them, e.g, legos or other small manipulative.

We have on occasion asked that children remain home when we have a large group of families come through at once, usually 4 or more. We just don't have the physical space to handle 4 sets of parents, kids and the tour guide without it being a major disruption for the kids in school.