Anonymous
Post 02/06/2014 15:42     Subject: Preschool Consultant
Anonymous wrote:Beverly Hills preschool co-op is just outside that zip code and is a part time play-based preschool. Montessori is more our style, but of the play-based ones we saw, I'd recommend that one. They have a lot of art stuff too.


NP here - from what I've heard Beverly Hills is fantastic, but very hard to get into. Way more applicants than spots available.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2014 10:32     Subject: Preschool Consultant
Anonymous wrote:Does your employer have a EAP service? My neighbor found full time care for her son that way when she didn't have a lot of notice that she needed new care so she wasn't on the long waitlists. They gave her a list of 3 places with openings in the area for her son. She toured and picked one.

I'm guessing you & DH work 60+ hrs/wk and can't take off to go to the work week open houses? Or you're currently stationed abroad and coming home in the fall? I sympathize. It took up a lot of time to attend a bunch of open houses and we still don't have an offer in our hands with a slot for the fall. I can definitely see why some families just contract the process out.


+1 in terms of I sympathize. We work 120 hours a week combined, 140 if you count commute. I barely had time to go to one fair but I mostly just received brochures and was surprised that all the preschools at that fair were part time only. Also as a first time mom I didn't even realize preschool for 2.5-year olds is only part time. I'd find the consultant feeding me customized info to be useful. Op, sorry I can't help yet. My kid is younger than yours and I haven't had time to ask around for a consultant yet.
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2014 15:43     Subject: Preschool Consultant
Beverly Hills preschool co-op is just outside that zip code and is a part time play-based preschool. Montessori is more our style, but of the play-based ones we saw, I'd recommend that one. They have a lot of art stuff too.
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2014 15:00     Subject: Preschool Consultant
Anonymous wrote:Tell me where you live and whether you want Montessori or play-based and I will tell you the school for free. This is not something you need to hire out.


22204
play-based
Anonymous
Post 02/04/2014 12:05     Subject: Preschool Consultant
In same boat - I have no time to look and need something ASAP!!! The prob in this area is everything shuts down all summer. very little is open year round
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2014 13:13     Subject: Preschool Consultant
Does your employer have a EAP service? My neighbor found full time care for her son that way when she didn't have a lot of notice that she needed new care so she wasn't on the long waitlists. They gave her a list of 3 places with openings in the area for her son. She toured and picked one.

I'm guessing you & DH work 60+ hrs/wk and can't take off to go to the work week open houses? Or you're currently stationed abroad and coming home in the fall? I sympathize. It took up a lot of time to attend a bunch of open houses and we still don't have an offer in our hands with a slot for the fall. I can definitely see why some families just contract the process out.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2014 11:48     Subject: Preschool Consultant
Preschool isn't a big deal in this area. Really.

If you are concerned about getting into the "right" one so your child will then get into the right Big 3 School all you really need to do is ask around as to which preschools are the feeder schools and go with applications to those. spots are limited and certain criteria are going to apply to some of the schools if they are linked with churches or neighborhoods so you are gonig to have to apply to as many places as needed to get a spot.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2014 11:43     Subject: Preschool Consultant
Honestly, I think you have to do this yourself. We have visited preschools that have great reviews and when we got there, it didn't seem like a good fit for our son. Pick 3 close to your house and visit those. If you're happy with one, then your search is done.
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2014 21:13     Subject: Preschool Consultant
She's two. It's not like you're looking for an infant spot that takes a 1 1/2 to be available. You'll find something. Just remember it's preschool, not Harvard.
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2014 20:49     Subject: Preschool Consultant
You won't miss the boat. Go to a fair in the fall. Make a list. Attend open houses in January. Apply then.
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2014 20:37     Subject: Preschool Consultant
Aaaaahahahahahahaha
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2014 20:33     Subject: Preschool Consultant
Tell me where you live and whether you want Montessori or play-based and I will tell you the school for free. This is not something you need to hire out.
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2014 20:08     Subject: Re:Preschool Consultant
Really? How can you possibly not make time for this? Start looking at schools now, so you don't have to look at too many at one time.
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2014 18:52     Subject: Preschool Consultant
What are your priorities? Where do you live?
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2014 18:50     Subject: Preschool Consultant
Has anyone worked successfully with a preschool consultant in Northern Virginia? The previous posters on this have been completely mocked, but for a variety of personal reasons not worth getting into here, DH and I are not in any position to figure out preschool for our almost 2-year old DD. We were thinking about fall 2014, but may have totally missed that boat and don't want to miss it for fall 2015.

Thanks for any serious recommendations.