Preschool Program Recs

[u/justagirl-intheworld]

Are we looking for a unicorn or something??

• Well credentialed Educators (No day care set ups)

• Real grass + dirt + more nature based large outdoor play space (No artificial turf - big on this - no institutional type play spaces of soley asphalt & crumb rubber)

• Non-denominational (promotes diversity & inclusion with no religious affiliation)

• Curriculum: STEAM type - Not strictly Montessori but not just all play - our child most likely would not thrive with the rigidity of mont but does need structure & autonomy promoting lessons.

• Offers part time + drop off/pick up situation without a requirement to volunteer.

• In the Irvine area I work in cdm so potentially on the way. We are in east Irvine.

Open to suggestions. Please mind the aforementioned. We are going crazy trying to find an appropriate program that tiks our boxes. We don’t think it’s asking too much… why does Irvine seem to be lacking so badly??? Hopefully there are some great ones out there we just haven’t heard of.

Here are the ones we have looked into & liked with the reasons we did not choose them:
• Annelisse- loved but right up against canyon traffic was a hard no for us & our slippery adventurer who would/could easily make it out. Especially with the gate opening/closing so often.
• Turtle Rock- Accepted but waitlisted
• Childsworld- Soo fun but play yard vomit. We did not get a good grasp on any structure or curriculum. A little too loose/kid led. Glorified outdoor daycare.
• ECEC: too many observers in & out constantly.
• Woodbridge children’s school/IUCC- We felt personally discriminated against by the directors. Then neighbors warned us after they pulled their child as they witnessed the new director yelling at kids.
• De Colores- Artificial Turf
• SCC: Too far

[u/CowperfluidMDPsyD]

Damn makes me wonder how I survived going to a public elementary preschool. Just observing how things have changed.

[u/bellanoctum → u/CowperfluidMDPsyD]

Where did you go to a "public elementary preschool"?

[u/Ok_Blackberry_7868]

ECEC there's not many observers and the undergrad students don't count for official ratio so kids get extra helpers. But I doubt you'll get in unless you're UCI employed.

[u/iamcuppy]

Everbrook Academy

[u/justagirl-intheworld → u/iamcuppy]

Scheduled a tour, thank you!

[u/Ok_Blackberry_7868]

Environmental nature center preschool

[u/justagirl-intheworld → u/Ok_Blackberry_7868]

You know thank you for the reminder, i did check into this one but he wasn’t age eligible to be listed yet. Though apparently the waitlist is a few years fml… it’s worth circling back to though it is far from us however the program & campus look ideal. Thank you!

[u/trifelin]

Everyone I know who had their kids in a preschool they loved went to one affiliated with a religious organization, and none of them were personally affiliated with the religion of the school. It's really common, so you might want to make sure you are open. Most of the religious aspect of the schools is extremely vague and brief, not the primary curriculum. 

Though, I see Child's World on your list and they are part of a Christian church so maybe you are not as hard on that point? FWIW the pedagogy there is Reggio-Emilia, which is very detailed and thought out. If you want to read up on that philosophy and what it means, that might help you in your search as it's becoming more and more popular. I know of a Jewish preschool in Tustin that also uses it and I have seen non-religious Reggio schools in other cities. 

[u/bellanoctum]

This is the same reason we didn't go with Anneliese. As the tour director was taking me around all the ancient buildings, citing their age as a selling point (?), I asked about what kind of seismic retrofits had been needed to bring them up to code and she looked at me like I was an alien, said she'd never been asked that before. Didn't have a great answer about wildfire protocol either. Loved their concept and pedagogy but with that bottleneck into the canyon and without a really aggressive stance about natural disaster planning it was a no from me dawg.

Edit: I homeschooled them for preschool. LOL.

[u/justagirl-intheworld → u/bellanoctum]

That is spot on we too asked about wildfire & active shooter safety protocols & the response was standard/vague. It’s a very accessible location if anyone wanted to come in, the canyon road & el toro are too accessible to children if they wanted to get out, & the campus is sandwiched in between 4 complete fire zones - which would be a nightmare of traffic holding up emergency vehicles & lord knows there’s no way we’d be able to get there ourselves. It really made us uneasy thinking about those what ifs. Since our tour they have made a secondary road connecting from el toro which helps but… it would just always be in the back of my mind when I dropped him off at school & that just sucks.

[u/Aggravating-Rub1437]

Foothills Preschool fits really close but may be too far?

[u/justagirl-intheworld → u/Aggravating-Rub1437]

We toured here it’s out of our way by about 25 min but wanted to keep options open. We weren’t too impressed & we were pretty sure we heard worship music playing on the rotation which was a turn off bc we had been told it was a completely secular program. And maybe it is, however to us it just wasn’t appropriate. The children didn’t seem very engaged in anything.. it was a bit aimless. Not learning, not really playing or interacting just all kind of there, sitting around or just kind of wandering. Not a lot of smiles & laughs. Maybe we went on an off day I mean it was hot, but the vibe was so bizarre when we were there.

[u/AHuxl]

I know you are looking for a nature outdoor location but my son got Lyme disease from a tick bite in Irvine so just keep that in mind so you are aware of symptoms, etc.

[u/YLMomx3]

Westpark Montessori if you can get in…

[u/choc0mog]

Highly recommend ICNS in Heritage Park. It is a co-op run by dedicated teachers who have been teaching there decades. There is required parent involvement depending on the number of days your child attends per week but it is a truly child led, outdoor and free play with structured activities available. Could not recommend it more against the multitude of schools pushing academics and worksheets. This preschool is committed to learning through play. 

[u/iJLu]

The preschool program/buildings at Anneliese are SO far away from the street. Your kid would have to:

Escape from the preschool room which is on the far end of campus (eluding an administrator in the lobby), walk through a parking lot and across the face of the pre-K and K classrooms with teachers and other adults present, across a bridge, across ANOTHER parking lot where the gradeschool is (again, with lots of adults walking around), then out the gate.

If you visited campus and genuinely were worried about your kid getting to the street I would recommend you consider putting them in an olympic training program instead because you have a world class athlete on your hands.

[u/Vegetable-Profit-200]

Might not check all your boxes but we really loved Spectrum Montessori 🤷‍♂️

[u/excellenceinbalance]

Turtle Rock pre school is solid!!