Pre-K Questions to Ask
Questions to ask in pre-K centers and school pre-K classrooms, for parents choosing where a child spends the year before kindergarten. The 60 questions follow the visit: the day, the teachers, behavior and extra support, health and safety, and the handoff to kindergarten. The last group is for the pre-K interview, where a program meets the family before a place is settled: eligibility, what your child will be asked to do, cost, and when offers are made.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The day
Can you walk me through a normal Tuesday, from drop-off to pick-up?
Why ask it
Asking for one ordinary day rather than the philosophy gets you the real shape of it: how long children sit, when they eat, how much waiting in line there is. A director who cannot narrate a day without switching back to curriculum language may not be in the classrooms often.
How much of the day do children choose, and how much is directed by a teacher?
Why ask it
Free play and teacher-led lessons both have a place in pre-K, and nearly every program will say it values each. The posted schedule settles it: add up the blocks marked centers or choice time and compare them with the ones marked lesson, circle or worksheet.
Is this a half-day or a full-day program, and is there care before and after the pre-K hours?
Why ask it
Funded pre-K hours are often shorter than a working day, and the care that wraps around them may be run by a different provider in a different room. Ask who that is, what it costs and whether it has a waiting list of its own.
How long is rest time, and what happens if my child does not sleep?
Why ask it
Plenty of four-year-olds have stopped napping, and what a room does with them runs from books and puzzles on the mat to lying still in the dark until the others wake. For a child who no longer sleeps, that hour or two can be the hardest stretch of the day.
How much time do children spend outside, and what happens when the weather is bad?
Why ask it
Outdoor time is often the first thing to go when a room is short an adult, so the real figure can be lower than the one on the posted schedule. The cut-off for too cold or too wet is worth pinning down as well, since one program goes out in drizzle and the next stays in below a set temperature.
Where do the children play outdoors, and do they share the space with older grades?
Why ask it
A pre-K housed in an elementary school may use a playground built for ten-year-olds, or it may have a fenced yard to itself. Go and stand in it, and find out whether the pre-K class has the space to itself or goes out alongside the bigger children.
How long are children expected to sit for circle time or a whole-group lesson?
Why ask it
Get the answer in minutes, then ask about the child who is finished after five of them. Being handed a job, allowed a spot at the edge of the rug, or told to sit back down are three different mornings for a restless four-year-old.
Is lunch provided, where is it eaten, and how long do the children get?
Why ask it
In a school building, lunch can mean a loud cafeteria and a short sitting, which is hard on a slow eater. Whether meals are free, paid for or packed at home depends on the program and how it is funded, so ask for this room's arrangement.
Do the children use tablets or watch videos at any point?
Why ask it
The follow-ups are when, for how long and what for. Ten planned minutes with a teacher sitting alongside is one thing, and a cartoon at four o'clock because the room is down an adult is another.
Are three- and four-year-olds taught together, or is this room only for the year before kindergarten?
Why ask it
Mixed-age rooms can work well, but the day tends to be pitched at the middle of the group. If your child would be among the oldest, ask what they would be doing by spring that the younger ones are not.
Could I see what a child in this class worked on or took home last week?
Why ask it
A folder of real work shows what the day asks of a four-year-old: tracing letters, cutting, building, or telling a story for an adult to write down. How often that folder comes home matters too, since for most of the year it is the only part of the week you get to see.
Teachers
How many children are in this class, and how many adults are in the room at the least-staffed part of the day?
Why ask it
The ratio on the brochure usually describes mid-morning, and the legal maximum is set by the state or the licensing body, so it differs from place to place. Early arrivals, rest time and the last hour before pick-up are when one person is most likely to be alone with the group.
How long have the teachers in this room been at the program?
Why ask it
Four-year-olds attach to a person before they attach to a program, so a room that changes teachers in January is a different room. If both adults started this year, the next question is why the last two left.
Who covers this room when one of its teachers is out sick?
Why ask it
You are finding out whether the program has floating staff and regular substitutes or folds two classes together for the day. Merging is common and not a deal-breaker, though a director who has to stop and think about it has probably been improvising.
What qualifications does the lead teacher have, and what about the assistant?
Why ask it
What a pre-K teacher must hold depends on the state or country, and often on whether the seat is publicly funded, so the rules for this room may not match the center down the road. The second half matters as much: the adult who spends most of the day with the children is not always the one with the degree.
Who is with the children during lunch, rest and the after-school hours?
Why ask it
The teacher you meet on a visit may hand the class over at midday to aides or an after-care team who are never part of the tour. Get their names, and ask to say hello to whoever would be standing at the door at pick-up.
What checks does an adult have to pass before working in this classroom?
Why ask it
Screening for people who work with young children is set by law where you live, so the useful answer names the checks this program runs and how often they are repeated. Substitutes, student teachers and parent volunteers are the groups most likely to fall outside the standard answer.
Does anyone else teach the class during the week: music, gym, library, a second language?
Why ask it
In a pre-K attached to a school these are often part of the timetable, and they mean a walk down the hall to an unfamiliar adult. Whether the class teacher goes along matters, because for some four-year-olds the handover is the hard part.
Could I have five minutes with the teacher who would have my child?
Why ask it
A director describes the program and a teacher describes the room. Ask the teacher what the class found hard this week. The answer is usually about sharing, waiting or goodbyes, and the way it is told is the way your child will be talked about.
Behavior and support
Tell me about a child who had trouble separating at drop-off. What did you do?
Why ask it
A story about one real child shows what the staff do at the door, which the handbook's paragraph on separation will not. Notice whether the parent was told to leave quickly, invited to stay, or given a plan that changed over several weeks.
What do you do when one child hits or bites another?
Why ask it
There are two halves to a good answer: what happens with the child who hit, and what the other child's family is told and when. A program that talks only about consequences, or only about how normal it is at this age, has given you one of them.
Do you use time-outs or a behavior chart, and what happens afterwards?
Why ask it
Programs differ on this and so do parents, so the aim is to hear the actual practice: where the child goes, for how long, and who talks to them when it is over. A chart with names moved up and down deserves its own question, since the whole class can see where each name sits.
What behavior would lead to a child being asked to leave the program?
Why ask it
Most programs have a line and few volunteer it. The difference is between a written process with warnings and meetings and a phone call in week three. Some publicly funded programs work under rules that limit removal, so find out whether this one does.
How do you handle toileting accidents, and what do you require before a child starts?
Why ask it
Some pre-K classrooms expect a child to manage the toilet alone from day one and others keep spare clothes and say nothing more about it. The tone of the answer also tells you how a child who regresses in a stressful first month will be treated.
How do you help a child who is left out, or who cannot find a way into a game?
Why ask it
Learning to play with other children is a large part of what this year is for, and adults handle it very differently. Listen for something a teacher does, such as giving the child a part in the game or pairing them with one classmate, and not only a rule that everyone must be included.
If a child is ahead of the group or struggling with it, what actually changes for them day to day?
Why ask it
Look for concrete adjustments: a different book, a small group, extra time. Answers about meeting every child where they are, with no example attached, usually mean one lesson delivered to everyone.
If you thought my child should be evaluated for speech or another delay, how would that conversation go?
Why ask it
Pre-K teachers are often the first people outside the family to notice a speech or motor delay, because they see a child beside a roomful of others the same age. A good answer is that they would raise it early and plainly, and would help you reach the evaluation service for your area instead of handing over a phone number.
My child already has a support plan or sees a therapist. How would that work here?
Why ask it
Whether services come into the classroom, happen down the hall or stay outside school hours depends on the district, the state and the kind of program. The practical test is whether they can describe how it went for another family, and name the person on staff who would read the plan before the first day.
How do you support a child who speaks another language at home?
Why ask it
Some rooms have a bilingual adult, some lean on pictures and patience, and some send every note home in English only. It is also fair to ask how staff tell a child who is still learning English from a child with a speech delay, since from the outside the two can look alike.
Health and safety
How do you handle food allergies and medication during the day?
Why ask it
A solid answer has names and places in it: who holds the medication, who is trained to give it, where the allergy list is posted, what happens on a field trip. If your child has an allergy, go through the plan with the teacher as well as the director, since the teacher is the one at the snack table.
What are the drop-off and pick-up procedures, and who is allowed to collect a child?
Why ask it
This one decides your mornings and who can walk out with your child. Have them spell out the late pick-up fee, whether ID is checked for someone new, and how the office confirms it is really you when a change is phoned in.
Is there a bus, and how are four-year-olds supervised on it?
Why ask it
Transport for pre-K is up to the district or the center, and many programs offer none. Where there is a bus, ask whether an aide rides as well as the driver, what seats or harnesses are used, and who walks the aisle at the end of the run to check it is empty.
Where are the bathrooms, and does a child ever go alone?
Why ask it
A toilet inside the classroom and one along a corridor shared with older students are very different arrangements at four. Hear how they manage both halves of it: a four-year-old should not be walking that corridor alone, and many programs also have a rule about one adult being out of sight with one child.
Who can get into the building during the day, and how are the pre-K rooms secured?
Why ask it
Start from what you saw on your way in: a locked door, a buzzer, a sign-in sheet, or nothing. A pre-K inside a larger school or community building shares its entrance with a lot of other people, so the question is about the classroom door as much as the front one.
What is the sick policy, and when can a child come back?
Why ask it
The rule on fevers and stomach bugs decides how many working days you lose over a winter. Get the number of hours a child must be free of symptoms, and ask whether a nurse is on site or the front office makes the call.
What emergency drills do the children practice, and how are they explained to them?
Why ask it
Which drills are required is a matter for the state or the district, and the script used with small children varies a great deal. Ask for the words the teachers use, so you recognize them when your child repeats them at dinner.
Who licenses or inspects this program, and where can I read the latest report?
Why ask it
It depends on what the program is: a school district classroom, a licensed child care center and a federally funded program each answer to a different body, and some are exempt altogether. Once you know which body oversees this room, you can look for its findings yourself where they are published.
How and when will I hear about my child's day, and what would make you call me during it?
Why ask it
A stream of photos in an app is not the same as being told that something happened. Settle now what earns a phone call, whether that is a bump on the head, a bite or an afternoon of crying, so you do not learn about it from your child three days later.
Can parents drop in during the day, or do visits have to be arranged?
Why ask it
An open door and a by-appointment rule can both be reasonable, since some programs limit visitors for security or because a parent in the doorway unsettles the room. The thing to establish is whether you could ever see your child's classroom in session once the year has started.
Kindergarten
What are children expected to be able to do by the end of the year, and how is reading approached?
Why ask it
Pre-K programs split between letter drills and language-rich play, and both have defenders. What you are listening for is whether the target is concrete enough to check, and whether children who arrive behind are pushed or left to catch up on their own.
How do you keep track of each child's progress, and when do parents see it?
Why ask it
Checklists, folders of work and a screening at each end of the year are all in use, and some funded programs have to report results to the state. A blank copy of the report you would be handed shows what the program measures, and the number of conferences before spring shows how soon you would hear about a problem.
Is there homework, or anything you expect families to do at home?
Why ask it
One pre-K sends a reading log or a weekly packet and the next sends nothing, and parents feel strongly in both directions. What happens when the packet does not come back tells you whether it is an invitation or a requirement.
What do you do in the spring to prepare children for the move to kindergarten?
Why ask it
The practical answers are the reassuring ones: a visit to a kindergarten room, practice carrying a lunch tray, a longer stretch of the day without a rest. Ask what is passed on to the next teacher about your child, and whether you get to read it first.
Which kindergartens do your children usually go on to, and do teachers here talk to those schools?
Why ask it
A program with real relationships downstream can tell you what its graduates find easy and hard in kindergarten. If nobody has ever followed up, the readiness claims are untested.
Does a pre-K place here lead to a kindergarten place in the same school?
Why ask it
Parents often assume it does. In some districts kindergarten enrollment is a separate process with its own zone, lottery or deadline, so ask how it works here and the date by which you would have to act.
My child has a late birthday. How do you advise families deciding whether to wait a year?
Why ask it
Cut-off dates belong to the state or the district, and so do the rules on repeating pre-K or delaying kindergarten. A program that has had this conversation before can say what it looks at over the year, and will not offer you a verdict in October.
Interview and enrolling
Who is eligible for a place here, and what is the birthday cut-off?
Why ask it
Eligibility for pre-K can turn on a birth date, an address, family income or a mix of them, and the rules come from the state, the district or the funder, not from the center. Ask for them in writing, with the exact date, before you spend an evening on forms.
How are places given out: a lottery, first come first served, or priority for some families?
Why ask it
Siblings, children of staff and families inside a zone often come ahead of everyone else. The figure to ask for is how many seats were left for new families last year once those had been filled.
Is the family interview part of the admissions decision, or a meeting once a place has been offered?
Why ask it
Some pre-K programs meet every family as an intake step, and others use the meeting to choose between applicants. Knowing which this is tells you how to prepare, and how much weight a silent or clingy child will carry on the day.
Should my child come to the interview, and what will they be asked to do?
Why ask it
A play visit, a short screening of speech and movement, or simply meeting the teacher are all possible. If anything is scored, find out who sees the result, and what the program does about a child who will not leave a parent's lap that morning.
What should I bring to the interview or to registration?
Why ask it
Proof of age, proof of address and health or immunization forms are the usual list, but what counts is decided locally and a missing paper can cost you your place in line. Knowing whether copies are accepted, and the deadline for anything you cannot produce that day, can save a second trip.
What would it help the teacher to know about my child before the first day?
Why ask it
Asking this turns the interview around and shows whether the program uses what families tell it. Offer the things no form has a box for: a fear of loud hand dryers, a new baby at home, the word your child uses for the toilet.
Is there a gradual start in the first week, or do children come for the full day from day one?
Why ask it
Some programs bring children in for short mornings or in half-groups for the first few days, and others open at full hours on the first Monday. Either can suit a child, but a staggered start means arranging cover for the hours yours is not yet in class.
What does my child need to bring on the first day, and what should stay at home?
Why ask it
Supply lists differ by room: a rest mat, a labeled change of clothes, a water bottle, sometimes shared classroom supplies. The stay-home half matters to a four-year-old, because a program that bans toys from home may still allow one comfort object for rest time.
What is the total cost for the year, including deposit, supplies, trips and any holiday coverage?
Why ask it
Tuition is rarely the whole figure, and even a free public seat can come with a supply list, trip money or paid care on the days school is closed. Where there is tuition, the date and size of the last increase give you an idea of the next one.
Is there a free or funded place, a subsidy or a sliding scale, and who helps with the paperwork?
Why ask it
Public pre-K, Head Start in the United States, vouchers and employer or military benefits each have their own rules, and a center may take part in some and not others. Which of them this program accepts is the first thing to settle, and the second is whether the funded hours cover the whole day or only part of it.
What does the calendar look like: start date, holidays, half days and summer?
Why ask it
A pre-K that follows the school district calendar is closed for weeks that a working parent still has to cover. Get next year's dates on paper and count the closed days before comparing the price with a year-round center.
After the interview, when are offers made and how long do we have to say yes?
Why ask it
Offer dates at different programs rarely line up, so you may be asked to commit to one before another has answered. It helps to know beforehand whether an acceptance can be held for a few days, and what you forfeit if you withdraw later.
If there is no place for us, how does the waiting list work?
Why ask it
Waiting lists often move in late summer, when families change their plans. A position you can check, a list that is not redrawn each year and a call when a seat opens in October are the signs of a list worth waiting on.
What do pre-K parents here complain about most, and what have you changed because of it?
Why ask it
Save this for the end of the interview, once the forms are out of the way. A director who can name a real complaint, such as slow replies to messages, the pick-up line or a staffing gap, and say what was done about it is easier to believe than one who says nobody complains.
Getting a real look at the program
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Setting up the visit
- Ask to come mid-morning on a weekday rather than at an open house. Open houses are staged and the children are usually not doing what they normally do.
- Ask to see the room your child would actually be in, with the teachers who would actually be in it. Touring the building tells you very little.
- Bring your child for at least part of one visit, even briefly. How the staff greet a four-year-old they were not expecting is informative.
- Have your three non-negotiables written down. Tours run long and warm, and people routinely forget to ask about cost or nap until they are back in the car.
What to watch while you are in the room
- Listen to how adults talk to children who are not doing what was asked. That one exchange tells you more than the written behavior policy will.
- Look at whether the work on the walls is twenty near-identical crafts or twenty different attempts. It tells you how much of the day is teacher-controlled.
- Check where the adults are standing. Down at child level and engaged is different from grouped by the door talking to each other.
- Notice the noise. A silent pre-K room in the middle of the morning is as much of a question as a chaotic one.
- Find the bathroom and the outdoor space, and see them yourself rather than hearing about them.
If the program interviews families
- Ask beforehand whether your child should come, how long the meeting lasts and whether a screening is part of it. Then tell your child the plan in the car, in the order it will happen.
- Bring the documents the office listed, with copies. Which papers count as proof of age and address is decided locally, so go by this program's list and not by what another one accepted.
- Describe your child plainly, the hard parts included. A pre-K that hears about the biting phase or the speech referral in advance can plan for it, and one that cools on you for saying so has told you something you needed to know.
- Keep two or three of your own questions for the end. The interview is often your one conversation with the person who decides, which makes it the place to ask about offers, deadlines and the waiting list.
Before you sign
- 1Get the fee schedule, the calendar, and the behavior and illness policies in writing, and read the withdrawal terms before you pay a deposit.
- 2Ask when the deposit becomes non-refundable and what notice period applies if you leave mid-year.
- 3Look up the licensing or inspection record with whichever state or local body oversees the program. Where reports are published, they show past findings that a tour will not.
- 4Ask for two parents to speak to, then ask them what surprised them after enrolling rather than whether they are happy.
- 5If you are on a waiting list, ask where you stand and when you will hear, so you are not holding a second deposit at another program indefinitely.