We all know the pressure to find the BEST for our children. From food and toys, to free time and education, parents scour all the opportunities out there in order to identify “the best.” Although I typically consider myself a laid back parent, I am no different.
My daughter, Sarah (name has been changed for privacy), was two and a half when I started seeing school “open house” advertisements pop up and quickly had this horrible realization that my daughter was about to be old enough to attend preschool! I then got busy on Google to find the preschool options that were out there.
MVCA’s open house was first on the list of places I considered. From this visit, it would take exposures to other programs in order to realize that MVCA would indeed set the bar for preschools far above any others!
When we walked through the doors at MVCA we were greeted so warmly by volunteers and fellow visitors alike. As we were led into the gym and introduced to Mrs. Guin, what impressed us most, was that Mrs. Guin came prepared with a small desk and activity for the children to play with while the parents talked. It worked like a charm! Sarah busily sorted shapes quietly while we learned about the program.
From there, the whole facility continued to impress. Some of the things we loved :
- the large windows and natural light that flooded the preschool classroom,
- the easy access to a safe playground space, as well as gyms for inclement weather days,
- the focus on learning through intentional play,
- the promise of regular parent communication, and
more important than all of that, we loved that Mrs. Guin assured us that she would be able to pay attention to our daughter and that she would have time for some personal work with Sarah.
You see, at the time, Sarah only said a handful of words. We were all working very hard in regular speech therapy, and it was important to us that the preschool we chose would work to understand a student who would not be able to communicate like her peers. Furthermore, we wanted a preschool that would enhance the speech therapy we were doing in the classroom to continue her progress. We knew this was a tall request of teachers who were already tasked with herding cats — I mean guiding three-year-olds — every day!
Of course since you’re reading this, you know we did ultimately choose Little Lions Preschool. Because I kept thinking it wasn’t possible to choose the first place we visited, and that I had missed some other option, we kept searching and would tour “just one more.” When none could compare, we enrolled.
As all parents can remember, no matter how confident you feel about a decision, you still continue to wonder. But for us, there was a clear moment, when we were so solidly sure we had found the right place for us.