City of Rocklin Preschool (daycare, price, moving to)

[jamie4040]

I just moved to Rocklin from the Bay Area and I'm looking for a preschool for my 3 1/2 yr old daughter. Does anyone have any experiences with City of Rocklin preschool? Do they have a curriculum or is it just play?

Thanks for your help.

[NikkiK]

I would be interested in peoples thoughts as well. My daughter is 2 and we will be moving to Rocklin in about a month but I will be looking for good preschools for next year. I am interested in Rocklin unified's preschool. My daughter is at a great daycare now but I will most likely stop working for awhile once we move and I want to make sure I get her into a part time preschool that will keep her motivated.

[NinaN]

Just my 2 cents here. I'm a firm believer in play-based preschools (my son is 5). Here's a link, there have been many studies and most have the same findings:

Should preschools be all work, no play? - TODAY Health - TODAY.com


“What we found in our research then and in ongoing studies is that children who were in a [play-based] preschool program showed stronger academic performance in all subject areas measured compared to children who had been in more academically focused or more middle-of-the-road programs,” says Marcon.

According to Marcon and other researchers, children who are subjected to overly academic environments early on have more behavior problems later and are less likely to be enthusiastic, creative learners and thinkers.
“You will frequently get short-term gains with a highly academic approach (in preschool), but they come with long-term consequences,” says Marcon. “A lot of early childhood studies only follow children to third grade. But when you take it into fourth grade and beyond that’s where you see the big difference. That’s when children have to be more independent and think.”

[sms1967]

Thought I already responded here but maybe my post was considered an ad? Anyway, we used a place right near Twin Oaks elementary school on Park Drive... it's named after a major city in Arizona. ;-)

It's pricey, though. Most of the teachers are very good... some others, not so much.

[daddiesgirl]

There are quite a few play-based ones you can find easily with a simple Yellow Pages search. There are also some great Christian-based schools that are available (as I'm told), but I am not sure if preschool is available. We were very close to putting our kids in private school, but opted against it in the end. There are also some great Headstart programs available. One of my coworkers had a son that attended Headstart's preschool program and the school was in Sheridan. She absolutely loved the small-town feeling and education the teachers provided there so that might be a route to look at if you want more one-on-one type interaction.