Questions to be asked when choosing a Pre-School

If you are a parent of very young kids, you will find this question popping up your mind every time you think of sending your little one to school.
So based upon my experience as someone from school and as a mother of two kids who will be going to school soon, I thought of sharing this very important information.

What are the questions you should ask when picking a Pre-School for your child?

1. Do teachers stick around?
As this is a very common issue in our schools, that teachers can leave whenever they can and are replaced easily, this question, for me, is the most important. What I have observed is, children who have had several teachers in a short time , find it more difficult to adjust as compared to students having only one teacher throughout the year or Pre-school as they get used to her ways and become fond of her. Well, you cannot expect the same teacher from the begin of the Pre-school till the end, so you should be happy with the fact that your child will have the same teacher at least for a year.

2. How will the day be for my child?
Ask about the time table as most Pre-schools in Karachi have time tables. You as a parent should be aware of what your child will be doing in the school. Make sure it's not just study, study and study but a bit of free play and fun time.

3. Teaching Method
It's important to know what methodology will your child's teacher be using in the class. For this age group "learn through play" is the most effective.

4. Students- Teachers ratio, total number of kids in a class and the class size.
How many students will a teacher handle. If they say there are a total of thirty students and on teacher but the class is very spacious then you should understand that this is not quite good. A good pre-school will always have a teacher and an assistant teacher for help. Then in this case, thirty shouldn't matter.

5. Teachers personality.
A teacher should be well-dressed , neat and clean and have a pleasant personality. Besides this she should be talkative. Children learn a lot when listening to adults speaking.

6. Check the school's hygiene.
Keep looking around and observe the environment's as well as the staff's cleanliness.

7. Who will take my child when she needs to go to the toilet?
Besides the teacher, it's always good to see and meet the "aya" or nanny of the school. See and judge by her face if she is happy doing her job.

8. What is the school's approach to children's discipline and safety.

9. Availability of school bus.

10. First Aid Kits.


I hope the above questions might be of help to you. If you think I missed out something, please feel free to write them down in your comment for other parents to see. :)

Good Luck!