What should I consider when choosing a (private) nursery/pre-school for dd?

[CantSleepWontSleep]

We have chosen a (private) primary school for dd to go to (as long as she gets a place), and tomorrow are going to look at the associated montessori nursery. Have suddenly realised that I don't really know what questions I should be asking, or what I should be looking for.

I know that gut feel will form a huge part of our decision, but can anyone advise what else might be worth finding out whilst we are there?

Dd would be 2 yrs 7 months when she starts in Sept. They take children from 2 yrs 6 months.

Does you dd have a routine? Ask how well they can accommodate it. Also ask how much supervision they give when children go to the loo, there may be issues if your dd isn't good at wiping herself for instance.

DS has just started at a montessori pre-school (are you in East London by any chance? It might be the same one.) which takes children from 2.6 years. DS is 3.6 years and wouldn't have coped before now as they don't nap in the daytime there. In fact I'm wondering whether I should have left him for another term as he seems exhausted in the evenings.

Have a look at the children, do they seem happy and involved in what they're doing or are they bored/unhappy/disinterested.

Check when they start the new children, I was caught out because I expected ds to start on the first day of term and gave notice at his nursery. Then just a few weeks beforehand they sent me a letter to say that the new children would start a week after the beginning of term, which caused a bit of a childcare crisis.

Ask about how warm they are with the children, ds's pre-school do not pick children up whereas his nursery was very cuddly (another reason why he stayed at nursery for the extra year).

Make a second visit to groups you are considering and take your child with you to see how they get on, speak to other parents using the setting, are the staff welcoming and enthusiastic?, do the children appear to be happy and well occupied?, is the setting well equipped and the toys in good condition? You could also look at their latest OfSTED inspection report - all are on OFSTED's website just type in your postcode. HTH

Also ask about the grant entitlement from term after 3rd birthday and whether they will sort that out for you. And how many staff are qualified and ratio of staff to children. Also do children get any opportunities to play outside/any trips or visits? Food?

Not East London no - am in North Herts.

I have on my list to ask whether she needs to be dry or not. I assume that she will be by then, but will expand on that question re assistance with loo, thanks.

The start date won't be such an issue, as I'm a SAHM, but am going to ask about settling in time, so hopefully that will come up then.

I am going to ask how strict they are with the montessori ethos, as I've seen threads on here before mentioning that some won't let children pretend to be, for example, a fairy, because they aren't real.

Will try to gauge the cuddliness through observation I think.

Any more anyone?

She may not be toilet trained by then (although my only experience is with a boy and I think girls tend to be earlier) so perhaps you should chekc that would be able to defer her entry by a term if you need a bit longer.

Thanks pinkteddy.

Was wondering whether to ask about grant entitlement or not. Dh isn't bothered, as we'd send her regardless, but I think it makes sense to ask doesn't it?

Already know about staff ratio (1:6 iirc - is that good?), food and outside play (daily) from their literature.

Can't remember if I looked at their OFSTED already or not. Have just told dh to go seek it out .

Oh and dd is coming with us tomorrow - they said that she will be able to join in if she wants to .

yes that's good, see how she takes to it. If she seems happy and you are happy you're there really. Staff ratio - that sounds a bit low tbh, would expect 1:5 if under 3s but not sure what national guidance is around this. With regard to the grant, it makes a big difference to the fees - you are entitled (once they reach term after 3rd birthday) and I think majority of pre-schools sort it all out for you. Good luck for tomorrow! PS: you might like to ask about settling in - how they do it, can you stay with them for a bit at the beginning etc

I think that most of them are over 3s though pt. Just read their Ofsted report, and in Feb 06 (last inspection) there were 32 children, 27 of whom were funded 3 or 4 year olds, so I guess the remaining 5 were 2.5-3. They have 8 staff in all, so theoretically it could be 1:4, but their literature says that they work 'to an ideal ratio of 1:6'.

Must go to bed or I will be yawning throughout the visit!

Ok, so had visit this morning, but woman was a little officious, and with dh stressing about controlling dd I ended up forgetting to ask half of my questions .

Most annoyingly (because I think it's harder to ask this sort of thing on the phone) I forgot to ask how strict they are about pretend play.

The other one that I will have to check by phone is whether or not she needs to be dry, and the level of help she will get (if needed) with going to the toilet. I will give them a call to check this one out.

It seems that they have virtually no places left for Sept (despite being told diff when I phoned to make this appointment) so I need to get her name down very quickly if I want her to go.

On the positive side, they seem to have lots of interesting things for her to do, a good outside space to play in, and most of the children go on to the main school, so she would at least begin there with some friends already.

I am struggling a little to see dd behaving in the manner that will be expected of her there at the moment. She is currently 23 months, and would go there at 31 months. Do children usually mature a lot (in terms of attention span, not interfering in others' work, making a mess etc) during that time period?

Intrigued by "how strict they are about pretend play"

You'll be amazed at how much she will change in the next 8-9 months. I sat here today pondering that in that time DS will be the same age DD was when he was born . I look at him now and he seems sooooooooooo young (trying to picture him walking down an aisle in a couple of months (like she did at that age) is impossible... that could be due to his size though )

re the maturing thing- erm- look how much she has changed since last may or so!

Is the pretend thing because of montessori?

In your shoes I would keep looking - you need to see other settings for comparison really. Staff ratio doesn't sound great - I assumed private schools would have better ratios than state but that may not be the case. I prefer a child-led ethos, ie they go outside when they want to (spend all day out there if they like) with the onus on the staff to ensure learning is happening through play, rather than a timetable or lots of organised activites but I don't know anything about Montessori - this may be the way they work anyway. I would ask about how they assess the children - ask to see record of schievement books or similar. HTH.

I like what Sinclair said

I believe montessori is child-led approach though isn't it?

Yes montessori is very child led. That's what makes it so appealing to us. The children can choose which activity they do when (barring the outdoor stuff, which I presume is for safety reasons), and will be supported by the staff to get the most out of the activities.