If your child is approaching the age where they will attend preschool, you need to determine what type of preschool approach will work best for your child. There are different approaches for educating and working with early childhood-age children. You will want to find a preschool that uses an approach that aligns with your own parenting beliefs and with your child's unique needs.

Type #1: Montessori

With the Montessori approach, children start school in preschool, and the learning approach can be used throughout early childhood. The classrooms are designed to be filled with kid-friendly furniture and items. There is a focus on allowing the children to choose what they want to work on and allowing them to move at their own pace.

Teaching is done through small group learning times, where the teachers guide the children and show them how to use various materials and play to learn and grow. It is a very student-centered approach, where your child learns at their own pace. Children are often in mixed-age classrooms with various skills levels so that the children can help one another.

Type #2: Reggio Emilia

Another approach is the Reggio Emilia approach. With this approach, the focus is on helping your child grow as a whole person, where the child's emotional well-being is as important as their academic well-being. Lots of collaborative classroom activities take place where the children work together. There are lots of hands-on activities, movement, and active listening used in the classroom. It is about expressing oneself creatively.

Type #3: High Scope 

The High Scope approach is a little more teacher-centered. It is based on a well-developed curriculum that the teacher can use to lead their students in age-appropriate activities for the children in their classroom. It focuses on helping children learn through play, with the teacher helping to demonstrate how to problem solve and explore and then allowing the student to engage in the activity.

It uses a play-do-review routine, where the kids choose what they want to do, engage in learning through play, and then review what they learned from their play.

The three approaches below are just a sampling of the different philosophies, teaching methods, and programs that many preschools follow. Ask about the preschool program and ask to see what a typical day looks like so you can get an idea of what your child would actually be doing. Use those two pieces of information to find a preschool that fits your child's developmental needs and personality. For more information, contact a local preschool, like Royal Academy.