What makes a successful playgroup

To help make choosing the right preschool or nursery program a little easier for you and your family, we wanted to outline some of the most important qualities that all great preschools have. All great preschools should have: A solid reputation in the community, a warm and comforting environment, passionate teachers and staff, active learning, child-friendly facilities.

Good word-of-mouth is the way many families narrow down their search for an excellent nursery or preschool program. Hearing from trusted friends about their good experiences is a great way to start the process. You might also consider checking social media groups that are geared to families of young children.

Questions like the ones below can help you gauge whether or not other parents found the response acceptable given the circumstances:. Visit the campus while school is in session so that you can see first hand how the school operates.

How do the teachers interact with the students? How do the students interact with the teachers, with each other? Does the classroom feel fun, engaging, and safe? The answers to these questions are especially important now, as all of us young children especially are forced to deal with much more stress and anxiety than usual.

If a school visit is not possible due to social distancing measures , consider registering for a virtual open house or virtual tour, which many schools and programs are now offering. While it may not be possible to observe a classroom in person, this will still give you the opportunity to speak with one or several members of the faculty.

This will help you be more empowered to evaluate your options before making a decision about where to enroll your child. Passionate, caring, and qualified teachers and staff should be a priority. While it is obvious that you should only be working with schools that employ qualified, trained faculty, passion can be harder to identify. But it is one of the key differentiators of an okay preschool and a great preschool.

When you visit the preschools and nurseries on your shortlist, keep an eye out for educators who speak kindly and respectfully with the children. These are the teachers who want your child to succeed and who will do everything in their power to keep them happy and healthy in the process.

Provides a safe and happy place for children. Assists children to become ready for the formal learning environment. Provides an opportunity to attend excursions and events. Provides a great space for social interaction. Allows time for parents to share their experiences, ideas and to support one another.

And then try to plan out several weeks or a whole month so people can plan ahead. If you want run a successful and fun playgroup, it helps to vary it, especially with the seasons and holidays. In the summer make sure you schedule in some trips to the pool and splash parks.

In the fall add a trip to the local apple orchard or pumpkin patch. In the spring go visit a botanical garden. For Christmastime, make and decorate Christmas cookies. Have fun and be creative with the changing seasons and holidays. I always liked the pitch-in potlucks for Holiday play groups and all the fun activities or games planned just for that day. It really was something to look forward to and generally had great turnouts. While holding playgroup at different locations can be very fun, try to make more expensive playgroup ideas, like trips to the bounce house, quarterly or even less frequently.

The best playgroups try to be inclusive of everyone in the group and mindful of their situation, locations, and finances. You should also remember travel expenses and the time it can take for some as well.

To make things easier for everyone, have play group members provide their own food for their families. It keeps the stress off of everyone, especially any hosts. Chip-ins or pot-lucks or lunches are fun, but not for every single play group.

Not all parks and playgrounds are created equal. Also some parks are better suited for younger kids or older kids, and some are not handicap accessible.

Make sure to patron parks that fit your group and its needs the best. If visiting parks, check out my tips for extending outdoor fun for young kids. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data.

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