Who knew that finding a preschool was such a big deal? Or maybe I just made it a really big deal :/ I had been asking around for months, trying to get recommendations, and hearing people's feedback about where their kids attended school. I started a list on my phone to keep track of schools. Then I created a spreadsheet to track all the info I was collecting. Maybe it was all a bit much, but I wanted to make a good choice, and I was nervous about sending my little girl to school for the first time. A few of my ward friends wanted me to send them the spreadsheet because we were hoping to get all our kids at the same school.
I narrowed it down to two schools based on schedule (I only wanted her to attend 2 days a week), no nap time (since she hasn't napped for over a year), and price. I then set up tours. The first place, Matthew Road Baptist church, told me to come any day between 9:30 and 1:30. Brooke and I picked a day, and I tried to prepare her for the experience. She picked out a special dress to wear, we showed up, and the director wasn't there to give us a tour. I was kind of frustrated since that was our plan for the morning, but I left her a message and waited to hear back. She never called back, so the next week, we just tried to show up again. This time she was there, but she had her assistant give us a tour. The school looked great, and it actually offers a kind of hybrid homeschool program where the kids go to school a few days a week, and then do packets of work on the other days. Over all, it was a positive experience, and I liked certain safety measures they had, like magnetic locks on each door so that only those with keys could get access to all doors, etc. The school is also only 11 minutes from my house, which was a major selling point in my book!
The second school we toured was Little Hearts. A friend in my ward recommended the place since her sister (and all her sister's friends) have kids there. I had emailed with the director a few times, and she was so friendly. She emailed me the day before our scheduled to let me know that she would actually be out sick, but that another woman (Lisa) would be giving our tour. I appreciated that she went above and beyond to let me know ahead of time. When we showed up, Lisa gave both Brooke and I big hugs. She made Brooke feel so comfortable, and when we stopped in a few of the rooms, one of the teachers offered to let Brooke join in the circle activity. I didn't think Brooke would leave my side, but she went right over and sat next to a few girls. That was a testament to me that she felt comfortable there. It was just a really positive experience, and when we left, Brooke said, "I want to go to Little Hearts. They were so kind to me."
I loved that she felt loved, and they seemed like a pretty tight knit group of teachers and staff. They are a Christian school, so they follow the Wee Learn curriculum, which is Bible based. They also have a Christian-based PE class they do every week, but I'm not really sure what that entails, haha. All student go to chapel on Tuesdays, and they incorporate spiritual; as well as academic. Although we are teaching Brooke at home, and she gets instruction in Primary, I don't think a little church with school is bad.
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