Our son started day care last year when he was two years old, after being home with his aunt full-time. We enjoyed the social interactions he was getting and the friends he was making, however, we felt like something was missing. At times our son would say he didn’t want to go to “school” and most days when my husband or I would pick him up the teachers seemed at the end of their ropes with the large number of kids in the class. This definitely didn’t settle well with us so we started looking for a preschool that would meet our needs since our son had just turned three.
After doing some research online, Big Barn Preschool REALLY stood out to us! First off they offer both half day and full day programs, which is great for working parents as most preschools are only half days. They also aren’t part of a chain day care/preschool center (e.g. KinderCare, Bright Horizons, etc.), which having a background in Child Development, is a plus for me. Large day care/preschool chain centers can at times focus more on the business aspect which takes away from the most important thing of all, the children and fostering their development.
Big Barn Preschool has their own curriculum which is based on child development theory and scientific research done by Erikson, Piaget and Vygotsky, each highly accredited in the psychology field. The curriculum places an importance on developing the child as a whole while incorporating early academic skills to ensure children are prepared with the knowledge and skills needed for kindergarten. It is also individualized so each child goes at their own pace, which is so important as no child is the same!
Additionally, Big Barn Preschool has that homey feel. You see the same staff and families/children every day, which is comforting as you develop relationships and can trust your child is in good hands. Lastly, every staff member has many years of experience working with children, which is refreshing as you typically run into less experience staff at other centers.
Although my son has only been at Big Barn Preschool for just over a month, I concluded all of this very quickly. My husband and I are so happy we decided to make a change as we almost immediately saw a change in our son too. He ALWAYS wants to go to school and it seems like every day he learned something new or is bringing home something fun to show us that he worked on. All of this is why I’m so happy we found Big Barn Preschool and I recommend it to anyone looking for a program for their child!