My older kids enjoyed their pre-k school visits, and my normally shy middle kid did not want to leave. By contrast, my youngest was so shy he had to sit on the teacher's lap the entire time. He took a little longer to get comfortable once school started, but he is very happy there now.

Did not find anything wrong with this experience. My dc had fun at two visits and had an opinion about both. He affirmed the school that fit him best without being asked, " i had so much fun, I want to go to school here." He is thriving there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our second/third choice school requires a 2 hour visit by the child in the classroom. We are not selecting any of the big schools. I am worried about telling my shy child that he has to visit the school and be dropped off and the related confusion if he doesn't go there because we get into our first choice. Should I skip this school, or just suck it up? How do I explain it?

Honestly, you think your kid will be confused come September if he gets dropped off at a kindergarten that wasn't where he had an admission play date? You are overthinking this.

+1. The play dates can be annoying, but you are definitely overthinking it. Your kid will be fine, and the school is not going to reject your kid just because they're shy. It's also in your best interest to go - there is not guarantee that you'll be accepted to your top choices.

I agree. School will see that your child is shy and not hold that against him/her. They take all types, its just that they need to meet them to see if they are well adjusted, happy, behaved, can socially interact at age appropriate levels, follow instructions, etc. They school would be crazy to blindly accept children by only meeting their parents. Just tell your child that you are looking at schools and want to see if he likes them (not the other way around). It's just a play date and you won't be far away.

Anonymous wrote:Our second/third choice school requires a 2 hour visit by the child in the classroom. We are not selecting any of the big schools. I am worried about telling my shy child that he has to visit the school and be dropped off and the related confusion if he doesn't go there because we get into our first choice. Should I skip this school, or just suck it up? How do I explain it?

Honestly, you think your kid will be confused come September if he gets dropped off at a kindergarten that wasn't where he had an admission play date? You are overthinking this.

Anonymous wrote:My kid didn't want to leave his playdate at school. He cried when I finally dragged him away (after all the other kids left). He was so happy playing with the trucks and blocks. It was so cute!

Sounds like a tough transition out...

My kid didn't want to leave his playdate at school. He cried when I finally dragged him away (after all the other kids left). He was so happy playing with the trucks and blocks. It was so cute!

Don't even apply to schools that don't have a student play date as part of the process. It's all about the fit - on both sides. How could you possibly know how happy your child will be there if he has no chance to get to know them and they have no chance to get to know him?

So your child can get a feel for the school and see if it is a good fit. What I have been doing is skipping the open houses, taking my son for a private tour and see how he does, then we are doing the drop off to get feedback on if it is a good fit.

Are you saying the other two schools admitted your child without having any first-hand interaction with the child?

If so, I'd actually be more concerned about those schools without any visit. How do those schools make any determination about how the students will fit together? How do those schools know that students it's accepting are not disruptive and difficult?

My son visited two schools. They want to assess skills and temperament and see if the child would be a good fit. I just told my son we were looking for a good school for him, and we were visiting a few. It really wasn't a big deal.

Our second/third choice school requires a 2 hour visit by the child in the classroom. We are not selecting any of the big schools. I am worried about telling my shy child that he has to visit the school and be dropped off and the related confusion if he doesn't go there because we get into our first choice. Should I skip this school, or just suck it up? How do I explain it?