Preschool Quandary

Before I even had my daughter, I remember reading articles about parents getting on waitlists for preschools before their child is even born, especially in areas like San Francisco, Boston, and Manhattan. I had decided that I wasn't going to be that fanatical about it; instead, just deal with it when the time comes. Well, since we had Scarlett, we've experienced this headache when we had to look for daycare. When I was pregnant, we had looked into daycares because I had planned to go back to work after maternity leave and I had heard/read that infant daycare options are more limited. We got on a few waitlists, including one next to my work (I had a priority on the waitlist because my employer at the time subsidizes it), and even mentally decided on one. Well, while I was on maternity leave, I ended up deciding that the one next to my work wouldn't work for us because my husband wouldn't be able to drop her off if I had to travel for business. I ended not liking the one that I had mentally chosen and ended up taking her to another daycare, where she is now. She just recently turned 20 months old and I'm finally getting around to thinking seriously about preschool. I know that there are lots of parents in my area who've put their (unborn) children on waitlists for highly desirable preschools. Despite being a planner, I haven't been able to plan my life that far in advance. Months ago, my mommy friends were talking about preschools and I wasn't too concerned because I figured that Scarlett has been getting socialization skills so far from daycare (and Spanish immersion). Also, my husband and I had talked about enrolling her in the private bilingual (Chinese/English) school that is 3 blocks from our house so I don't really need to "worry" about preschools. This school goes from pre-K to 5th grade. I figured that since I've done such a poor job of teaching her Chinese, she can really benefit from going to this school. We've even gone to their open houses last fall to tour it. Supposedly, they don't have a waitlist. At the time when we looked into it, I thought it was financially reasonable in comparison to Scarlett's daycare costs. (I've never thought of myself as a parent who sends her child to private schools, simply because we probably can't afford it and I went to public schools. But we didn't really consider school ratings when we bought our house in 2005, mostly because the real estate market was near its peak and houses in really good school districts were beyond our financial reach. I've come to learn that the schools for our neighborhood is "ok" and that the "better" schools in our town are in the pricier neighborhoods. Our neighboring towns have even better schools but the houses there are even pricier.)

After hearing additional talks about preschool from my mommy friends, I'm realizing that I need to start looking at preschools seriously. Scarlett would be attending in the fall of 2010 so if there are indeed waitlists, I better get on them quick. Upon further examination, the local bilingual school is on the pricier side, compared to some other preschools that I just found/heard about. Also, what if we have another child and can't afford to send Scarlett to the bilingual school? I need a back-up plan. I've always planned my life with back-up plans (that's how I ended up in my current career) so I should do the same for Scarlett. Looking into other choices seemed to have opened up further questions and confusion. What kind of preschool do I want for my daughter? Play-based, ones with academic focus, Montessori (I never knew what this word meant until now), aaaahhhh!!! I don't know. Will I change the course of Scarlett's life by putting her in the "wrong" preschool? I doubt it, but how do I know what's best for her? Right now, I'm leaning towards play-based, if she's not going to the bilingual school. I figure, she will get plenty of academics from grade school on, so why not let her enjoy her early years playing and having fun? Isn't that what childhood is all about? Don't get me wrong - I definitely want her to excel academically (what Asian parent doesn't) but I think there needs to be a good balance of both. What are your opinions about preschools and do you have a preference for a specific type?