What Do Parents Want In A Preschool?

Once you fine-tune your messaging so that you know exactly what parents want in a preschool, you’ll be able to sign up students left and right! This post will tell you the top things parents are looking for in a home preschool.

There are certain things that every parent is looking for when they tour your home preschool. They may not be the things you are thinking they want either. Certain things are just the standard for all preschools. And then there are those important things that parents really want in a preschool.

Things Every Preschool Should Have

It may seem that a parent would be looking for a safe and secure environment for their child, and they are evaluating those things during the tour, but those are things that every parent just expects to find. Things like:

• Safety procedures
• Health guidelines
• Sanitization procedures
• CPR and First Aid certifications
• Qualified teachers
• A comfortable environment

These are not the kinds of things that a parent is really hoping to find in your home preschool; they just expect that these things will be in place.

The Top Three Things Every Parent Wants In A Preschool

The top three things parents want in a preschool are:

• Socialization—Parents want their child to have the opportunity to make friends with other children in the same age group.
• Kindergarten prep—Many parents’ main reason to send their child to preschool is to prepare them to succeed in preschool.
• FUN!—Parents are looking for a cheerful preschool room with a cheerful preschool staff. They will be closely examining your interaction with their child to determine if their child will have fun in your preschool classes.

How A Parent’s Expectations May Differ From Yours

When it comes to Kindergarten prep a parent may ask you, “So, you’re going to teach my child to read, right?” But the answer may not always be yes. There are a lot of steps in the developmental continuum that a child will need to master before they will be ready to read.

As the preschool owner/teacher you would assess the child to see where they are starting from. If you show them a series of letter flash cards and tell them to name what they see, and their answers are “square,” “blue,” and “three” they are not going to be reading anytime soon.

While you are giving the parents a tour of your preschool, stress to them that you must consider where their child is currently at developmentally, and where you can get them in one school year. (Of course, if they are starting at a younger age you may have 2-3 years with them.)

How much you can teach them in one school year depends on these things:

• Where are they starting? 

A child with some letter recognition skills will learn more quickly than one without any.

• How many days a week do they attend class? 

A child who only attends your 2 ½ hour class 2 days a week will learn more slowly than a child who attends class 5 days a week.

• How involved is the parent? 

A child whose parent reads to them at home, plays letter games with them, and points out letters and their sounds everywhere they go will learn more quickly than a child whose parents do not do these activities with them.

When you are starting your home preschool, keep in mind what parents really want in a preschool.