Selecting a preschool is a big decision. Your child’s preschool experience will have a significant impact on how they view going to school later in life. This will impact your child’s friends, his or her quality of education, work ethic, other interests, and many more lements to engage with him or her during the duration of their childhood and beyond. Therefore, it’s important to put some careful thought and consideration into the process anytime when selecting the best method of pre-school for your child. You’ll have several options to choose from, and possibly more depending upon the population density of the area that you live in. While each circumstance is different, there are many things that all parents should consider when selecting a preschool.

The first thing to consider prior to selecting a preschool is your own unique needs. Would you prefer to teach things like letters, colors, and shapes at home or do you want the preschool staff to do this? How are your child’s social skills? Is this another area you’d like the preschool staff to work on? How many hours a day do you want your child to attend preschool? If they will be there all day, every day, you might have greater expectations of what will be taught than if you require a couple hours each day and will otherwise be home with your child.

Shopping for a preschool can be chaotic. First impressions are not always accurate, and it can be easy to forget one of your questions while watching a room full of small children. Meet with the senior staff member and find out everything the preschool offers, and anything it does not offer. Ask to meet the other teachers as well. Most likely you’ll be offered a tour, but if not, just ask for one.

Don’t forget to look around the classrooms. Take a look at the information on the bulletin boards hanging. Don’t forget to look at how the children are acting. Do they appear happy? Meet with the teachers as well. Are you comfortable leaving your child with them?

Visit all of your prospective preschools and take notes on each one. Then compare your notes and decide which one best meets your needs. Before making your final decision, take your child to the preschool to see how he interacts with the teacher and the other child. You’ll be able to see very quickly if he is comfortable in this environment.

According to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNICEF, proper early childhood programs can produce more agile minds, better school attendance, lower repetition and dropout rates and stronger academic skills. And at a time, when most parents are increasingly finding it difficult to spend adequate time with their children in USA, playschools or preschools in USA, by providing early childhood care and education, have come to play a very significant role in the proper development of skills and ethics of the future American citizens. Therefore, it is very important to take stock of the emerging trends in the preschool education of USA and analyze the implications they bear for the future.

Preschool Education in USA:

United States of America has a federal structure and education is primarily a State and local responsibility. This is reflected well in the expenditure pattern on America’s education. While the local communities, private organizations and State agencies contribute more than ninety percent of education budget; federal expenditure generally remains below ten percent. States and communities, as well as public and private organizations of all kinds are involved in establishing schools and colleges, develop curricula, and determine requirements for enrollment in educational institutes of USA.

Emerging trends in Preschool education of USA:
While, by allowing private players to provide elementary education, a healthy competition is sought to be promoted among the playschools in USA, the government is also taking some measures to make preschool education available for all. In order to make early childhood education and care available for the disadvantaged section of American society, the U.S department of education sets aside the Title-I grants. Moreover, the Early Reading First program, established in the No Child Left Behind Act, provides competitive grants to school districts and pre-school programs, such as Head Start centers. The grants fund the development of model programs to support the school readiness of preschool-aged children, particularly those from low-income families. In order to make the children with disabilities succeed in their life, the Special Education Preschool Grants and State Grants program are constituted. They would provide formula grants to states to make quality preschool education in USA available for the 3- to 5-year-old children with disabilities. Thus, while several preschools in USA are making profit by taking care of the young children, some measures are also being taken to make quality early child care available to the marginalized sections of the society as the Bush administration has promoted the “Good Start, Grow Smart” policy when it comes to preschool education in USA.

However, all is not hunky-dory when we look at the state of preschool education in USA and despite all the efforts to provide quality preschool education to all, preschool fees in several parts of USA have gone sky high. According to the Forbes magazine, the admission fee in some of the preschools has crossed $30,000. The admission fee in New York’s Ethical Culture Fieldstone School has gone up to $ 30, 440. Another preschool in New York, bank Street charges $ 27, 450 and the Center for Early Education in Los Angels charges $ 15, 400. This rising admission cost of preschools in USA paints a picture of preschool education in USA that is in sharp contrast to the European model where most countries prefer to provide state sponsored free quality preschool education.

Conclusion:

While competition among the preschools to provide best facilities and education cannot be dubbed as bad, a check on the rising cost of preschool education in some of the preschools in USA would definitely help driving away feelings of alienation from the various sections of American population and help in producing quality human capital for the nation.