What's Inside

• Choosing A Good Preschool

• Fact Or Fiction: No Preschool = Dumb Kid

• What I’m Seeing at Work: Back-to-School Anxiety

• Money-Saving Tip: Car Seat Savings

• WWWD: Anal Fissure

• Recalls & Alerts: Baby Sling Carriers

• Funny Things: Three Ears?

Choosing A Good Preschool

School is already starting this week for my kids. This time of year, I get LOTS of questions about preschool, what to look for, is it a good idea? And it always reminds me of this social event I attended in New York City back when I was in med school—before I had kids.

I overheard some moms talking about preschools. Some of these elite preschools had waiting lists that were years long.

Were those schools really all that?

I have since moved and recognized that there are many other high quality preschools out there—if you have the funds and forethought to put your kid in one of those elite preschools, more power to you. For the rest of us, read on:

Generally speaking, preschool is tuition-based (although there are some free programs, like the state funded Head Start programs in some areas). Preschool is not required, but I highly recommend a good quality preschool program.

Did you know that studies suggest that where most kids start academically in kindergarten, tends to be where the stay their entire academic career? (If they’re advanced, they stay advanced. If they’re behind, they stay behind.) Now, there are exceptions to the rule, but generally, if your child is already reading and counting, he will be put in the better reading and math groups. Once you are in those better groups, you tend to just progress at that elevated level. So as if there wasn’t enough pressure already to provide every opportunity or advantage to our children, add preschool to the never-ending list.

What to look for in a good preschool?

Good preschools have many of these features:

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