Questions to Ask at a Preschool Tour
Questions to ask at a preschool tour, set out so you can use them on the day. A short Start here group comes first, for a visit that has to run to time. After it the list goes through the teachers, the daily routine, health and safety, how the school talks to parents, and cost and enrollment. Each question has a note on what to listen for or what to ask next, written for a parent who has less than an hour and will be shown the best version of the place.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Start here
What does a typical day look like for my child's age group?
Why ask it
Have them go through the hours in order: arrival, free play, group time, outdoors, lunch, rest. Vagueness is worth noticing, and so is a timetable of back-to-back lessons for three- and four-year-olds.
How many children are in this class, and what is the teacher-to-child ratio?
Why ask it
Get the numbers for the room you are standing in, not the school average, and ask what the legal limit is for this age where you live so you have something to compare them with. In a full-day program the count to check is the first and last hour, when rooms are often combined.
Who would my child's teacher be, and how long have they been here?
Why ask it
A named teacher with several years in the building is about as good a sign as a tour offers. If the lead teacher started last month, ask what happened to the previous one.
What is your teaching philosophy, and how does it show up in a normal morning?
Why ask it
Play-based, Montessori, Reggio and academic are labels, and two schools using the same one can run very different rooms. Trust the answer as far as it matches what you can see: if you hear child-led play while the walls are covered in identical worksheets, believe the walls.
How do you handle discipline, for example when a child hits or bites?
Why ask it
The handbook will have a policy, so ask about the last time it actually happened. You are listening for whether the adults describe the child as the problem, whether time-outs are used and for how long, and what the other child's parents were told.
Can I see the room my child would be in while the children are there?
Why ask it
A tour arranged around an empty room shows you furniture. Five minutes standing in a session lets you watch whether children go up to the adults easily or steer around them.
Can you walk me through drop-off and pickup, and who is allowed to collect a child?
Why ask it
Nearly all of a preschool's coming and going is packed into two crowded stretches of the day, so this is where a security policy gets tested. Listen for how a change of pickup person is verified and what staff do when an adult they do not recognize arrives.
Teachers
What training do your teachers have, and who is certified in pediatric first aid and CPR?
Why ask it
Qualification rules differ by state, country and role, which makes the useful question what this school requires beyond the legal minimum where you are. The practical check is whether someone with current first-aid training is always in the building, the last hour of the day included.
What has staff turnover looked like over the last year?
Why ask it
Young children attach to people, not programs, so a change of teacher lands harder on them than a change of curriculum. Get a number, then find out how many of those who left were lead teachers. A long story about a difficult year is an answer too.
What happens when a teacher calls in sick?
Why ask it
There are roughly three answers: a regular substitute the children know, a stranger from an agency, or two rooms merged for the day. 'We all pull together' often means the director leaves the office to cover, which is fine occasionally and a problem weekly.
How do you vet new staff before they are alone with children?
Why ask it
Background check rules differ by state and country, so ask what is required where you are and whether it covers substitutes, volunteers and the person who comes in once a week to teach music. A director who answers without bristling has been asked before, which is how it should be.
Do the same adults stay with the class all day, or does the team change at lunchtime?
Why ask it
A morning teacher and a separate afternoon crew is a common arrangement in full-day programs, and the afternoon crew is rarely on the tour. Ask to meet whoever would be with your child at four o'clock, since that is the person you will see at pickup.
Do teachers get paid planning time and a proper break during the day?
Why ask it
It sounds like a question about someone else's job, but a teacher who never gets ten minutes off the floor is the one your child has at 3pm. The follow-up is who covers the room while they are out of it.
What do teachers do with a child who does not want to join in?
Why ask it
Coaxed, left alone, or made to comply are three very different places to spend a childhood. A teacher who can describe one particular quiet child, and what eventually drew them in, has thought about it.
The day
How long is free play, and how long are children expected to sit for circle time?
Why ask it
Get both in minutes. Twenty minutes on the rug is a long time at three, and a school that knows this can tell you what happens to the child who wanders off after five.
What do you teach about letters, numbers and early reading, and how?
Why ask it
Programs run from daily worksheets to counting the plates at snack, and families want different things here. Ask to see what a four-year-old took home last week so you know which kind of school you are standing in.
How do you get children ready for kindergarten?
Why ask it
Listen for whether the answer is only about letters and numbers. A lot of what a kindergarten teacher asks of a child is ordinary: following a two-step instruction, opening their own lunch, coping when the plan changes. It is fair to ask which schools most of last year's class went on to.
How do you help children make friends and manage big feelings?
Why ask it
The useful answers are small and concrete: a teacher who sits down beside the child left out of a game, words the class is taught to use instead of grabbing, a quiet corner that is not a punishment. If all you hear is the name of a program, ask what it looked like in this room last week.
How are classes grouped by age, and when would my child move up to the next room?
Why ask it
Some schools move children on their birthday, others once a year in the fall, and a few mix threes and fours on purpose. A mid-year move means a new teacher and new classmates just as your child has settled, so ask who decides and how much warning you get.
How much time do the children spend outside, and what happens in bad weather?
Why ask it
Outdoor time is often what gets dropped when a room is short an adult. Ask what the children did outside yesterday, which is harder to answer hopefully than what they usually do.
Do the children use screens or watch videos at any point in the day?
Why ask it
Plenty of schools say never and plenty put on a tablet or a short video now and then, so ask when and for how long. The telling detail is what it is for: a planned activity is one thing, a video because the room is short an adult is another.
How does nap or quiet time work for a child who does not sleep?
Why ask it
A rest period is sometimes a licensing requirement in full-day programs, so find out which part is the rule here and which is the school's own choice. For a child who has dropped the nap, what matters is what the non-sleepers do and how long they lie there before they are allowed up.
Do children need to be potty trained, and how do you handle accidents?
Why ask it
Policies range from a strict requirement to active help, and a deadline you cannot meet puts pressure on a three-year-old at home. Find out who changes the clothes, where, and whether an accident is treated as ordinary.
What would I need to pack each morning?
Why ask it
Lunch, a water bottle, spare clothes, a nap sheet, diapers or pull-ups: the list differs from school to school and it becomes your routine at 7am. Check the rule on toys from home as well, since many rooms have a firm one and it is easier to hear it now than at the door.
How do you settle a new child in, and what do you do when one cries at drop-off?
Why ask it
A school with a real answer will describe shorter first days, something familiar from home, and who takes the child from you at the door. It should also be able to say whether it wants you to linger or leave quickly, and whether someone will message you an hour later to say the crying stopped.
Health and safety
Who can get into the building during the day, and how do you handle visitors?
Why ask it
Notice how you got in today: whether the door was locked, whether anyone asked who you were, whether you signed anything. The answer you are given should match what you just watched, and it should cover delivery drivers and contractors too.
Are you licensed, and can I see your most recent inspection report?
Why ask it
Licensing and inspection work differently in each state and country, and in some places small or faith-based programs are exempt, so ask who oversees this one. Where reports are published you can look them up at home; what the tour adds is how the director talks about the last thing an inspector wrote up.
What emergency drills do you run, and what happens in a lockdown or an evacuation?
Why ask it
Find out where the children would go if the building had to be emptied and how you would be told. A school that practices can name the meeting point and the date of the last drill without looking anything up.
How are children supervised on the playground and on trips to the bathroom?
Why ask it
Both are moments when a group thins out and an adult can lose sight of someone. The details to get are where staff stand outside, whether a child ever walks down a hallway alone, and whether one adult is ever by themselves with one child.
Do you take the children on field trips or walks, and how are they supervised off site?
Why ask it
Three details matter here: how many adults go, who carries the medication and the emergency contacts, and how often heads are counted. If a car or a bus is involved, the rules on car seats and drivers depend on where you live, and the school should be able to tell you which ones it follows.
What do you do if a child gets hurt?
Why ask it
You are asking about thresholds: what gets a note at pickup, what gets a phone call, what gets an ambulance. A school that reports every bumped knee is easier to trust than one that decides what you need to know.
What is your sick policy, and when can a child come back?
Why ask it
Fever and stomach-bug rules decide how many workdays you lose in a year, so get them exactly: how many hours symptom-free before a child returns, and how fast you are expected at the door after the call. Whether you still pay for the days missed is usually in the handbook.
What are your immunization requirements for children and staff?
Why ask it
Which vaccines a preschool must require, and which exemptions it may accept, is set by your state or country, so ask how it works here and whether the same applies to the adults. Families with a new baby at home or a child with a medical exemption tend to want this settled before anything else.
How do you handle medication, such as an inhaler or an epinephrine pen?
Why ask it
You want to know where it is kept, who is trained to give it and what paperwork the school needs from your doctor, which varies by state. Ask what happens on a field trip or when the regular teacher is out, because that is when a locked cupboard becomes a problem.
Are meals and snacks provided, and how do you handle food allergies?
Why ask it
Ask to see this week's menu and how a nut allergy is managed at a shared table: who checks the labels, where that child sits, and whether a substitute teacher would know. Vagueness on allergy procedure is a safety answer, not a catering one.
How often are toys, tables and nap mats cleaned, and who does it?
Why ask it
Every school will say daily, so ask what changes when a stomach bug is going round the room. It also helps to know whether cleaning falls to the teachers during the day, because that is time they are not watching the children.
Parents
How will I hear about my child's day?
Why ask it
Answers range from an app with photographs to a sentence at the door. What you want to know is who tells you when something small goes wrong, and whether you can message the teacher directly or everything goes through the office.
Do you take photos of the children, and who gets to see them?
Why ask it
Photos may go to a private app, a class group chat, the school's website or its social media, and those are four different things to agree to. Check whether you can say yes to one and no to another, and what the rule is for other parents photographing your child at a class party.
How do you track each child's progress, and how often are parent-teacher conferences?
Why ask it
Portfolios of drawings and observations, checklists, and nothing at all are each common. Ask to see a blank copy of whatever a parent is handed at a conference: a form with room for sentences says more than a row of ticks.
If my child were struggling, how and when would you tell me?
Why ask it
You are asking whether concerns get raised early and privately, or saved for a formal review. A school that has done this well can describe the conversation without naming anyone, including what they suggested to the family next.
What support is there for a child who needs extra help, or who is being evaluated?
Why ask it
Worth asking even with no concerns of your own, because it shows how the school treats difference. How evaluations and outside therapists are arranged depends on where you live. The thing to learn is how it has worked for families here, and whether a specialist has ever come into the classroom.
Can parents drop in during the day once a child is enrolled?
Why ask it
An open-door policy is easy to claim, so ask when a parent last made use of it. Fair limits exist around nap time and around a child who falls apart when a parent appears and leaves again, and a school that explains them is more convincing than one that just says anytime.
What do you expect from parents: volunteering, fundraising, classroom jobs?
Why ask it
Co-ops and some community preschools build parent hours into the arrangement, and in some of them missing your hours means a fee. Better to hear the real commitment now than to meet it on a sign-up sheet in September.
How do you mark birthdays and holidays?
Why ask it
This covers more than cupcakes: whether food from home is allowed, which holidays are observed, and what happens for a family that does not celebrate one of them. In a faith-based program, ask how much of the week is religious teaching.
Who do I go to if I have a concern, and what happens next?
Why ask it
The answer shows whether the teacher gets to hear it first or whether everything is routed to the director. A school that listens will have an example ready of something a parent raised that led to a change.
Can I speak with a couple of parents whose children are here now?
Why ask it
Current families know things a director will not volunteer: how often the teacher changed, how fast messages get answered, what the room is like in February. Some schools will not give out numbers for privacy reasons. Coming to a pickup or a school event and talking to whoever is there does the same job.
Cost and enrolling
What are the hours, and do you offer part-time or half-day places?
Why ask it
Pin down the real edges: earliest drop-off, latest pickup, and whether care before and after the core hours costs extra. If you only want two or three days, ask which ones are open, since the popular days can be full when the school is not.
Do you run through the summer, and what does the school calendar look like?
Why ask it
Many preschools follow the school year and close for the summer, sometimes with an optional camp at an extra charge. Get next year's calendar on paper, with half days, staff training days and the weeks around the winter holidays on it, before you compare prices.
What is the full cost, including registration, supplies, and late-pickup fees?
Why ask it
Tuition is rarely the whole number. Ask for the annual total with the deposit, field trips and the late-pickup charge added in, and for when fees last went up and by how much.
Are there extras such as music, a second language or swimming, and are they part of the fee?
Why ask it
Find out who teaches them and whether the whole class takes part. An extra that costs more and runs during the school day leaves some children watching from the side, and it is fair to ask what those children do instead.
What deposit holds a place, and what happens to it if we change our minds or leave mid-year?
Why ask it
Withdrawal terms differ widely: one school wants thirty days' notice, another holds you to the full year's tuition. Read that paragraph of the contract before you sign, and ask whether the deposit comes off the last month or is simply kept.
Is there a waitlist for my child's age group, and how does enrollment work from here?
Why ask it
Pin down the dates: when applications open, when offers go out, and how long you would have to accept. If siblings and current families get first pick, ask how many places were actually left for new families last year.
Is financial help available, such as a sibling discount, a sliding scale or a state pre-K place?
Why ask it
Not every school brings this up on a tour, and funded places and subsidies work differently in every state and country. Find out what this school takes part in and who in the office helps families with the forms.
Could my child spend a morning in the classroom before we decide?
Why ask it
You learn the most from how your child talks about it in the car afterward. Some schools cannot allow it for licensing or insurance reasons, in which case ask whether the two of you could join for outdoor time or a story.
What kind of child does this place not suit?
Why ask it
A good one to end on, because the only wrong answer is that it suits everyone. A director who says the day is too busy for some children, or too loose for others, is being straight with you and telling you which one yours is.
How to read a preschool tour
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Using a list this long
Choose your ten before you go
No tour has room for every question here. Take the Start here group, then add the few that fit your child: an allergy, a dropped nap, toilet training, a late pickup. Mark them so you can find them with a three-year-old pulling on your arm.
Put the paperwork questions in an email
Fees, the calendar, the deposit and the waitlist are answered more accurately in writing than in a hallway. Send them ahead or afterward, and spend the visit on what you can only learn standing in the room.
Ask the teacher, not only the director
The director knows the policies and the teacher knows the day. If you get two minutes with the person who would have your child, spend them on nap time, outdoor time and what happened this morning.
What to watch while you walk
Listen to how staff speak to children
You will hear the school's tone before anyone explains its policies. Notice whether adults get down to the child's level, whether they are asking and describing or mostly instructing, and whether a crying child is comforted or waited out.
Notice who is on the floor
Look for adults who are down with the children, not standing at the edges talking to each other. Count how many staff are busy with a child at the moment you walk in, before the room has adjusted to a visitor.
Look at the bathrooms and the sinks
These are the parts of a building nobody stages for a tour. See whether they are clean, whether a three-year-old can reach the sink and the soap without help, and where an adult stands while children use them.
When to visit
Go when the children are there
An empty room in the evening tells you about carpet and paint. Ask for a slot in mid-morning when activities are running, and if you can, a second short visit late in the afternoon.
Late afternoon shows the harder version
In a full-day program, four o'clock is when children are tired, rooms have often been combined and the morning teachers may have gone home. If the place still looks calm then, you have seen its ordinary day and not only its best hour.
Bring your child if the school allows it
Watch whether staff greet your child directly or talk only to you. You also get to see what your child heads for first, and how the room reacts to a newcomer who touches everything.
Common pitfalls
Being sold the building
New equipment and a smart entrance are the easiest things for a school to buy, and they say little about your child's day. The people in the room and how long they stay will shape it more.
Not asking about turnover
It can feel rude to ask, so parents skip it, and then meet a third teacher by spring. Ask how many staff have left in the past twelve months and why, and notice whether the answer comes easily.
Skipping the handbook
Sick-child rules, closure days, late fees, and the notice period for leaving are all in writing and rarely mentioned on a tour. Read it before you pay a deposit.
Touring only one school
Without a comparison you cannot tell whether what you saw is normal. After two or three visits you have a sense of what a ratio looks like in practice, how loud a room of threes is, and how differently adults can speak to children.
Before you commit
- Write down what you saw the same day, while the rooms are still distinguishable in your memory.
- Get the total annual cost in writing, including deposits, supplies, and closure days.
- Call the parent references you were given and ask what they would change about the school.
- Check the notice period and refund terms for leaving, since that is the clause you may need.