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Preschool

Preschool provides foundational learning for children who are 3- or 4-years-old by September 1. Preschool supports a child's social-emotional growth while also increasing skills in language, literacy, math and physical development for future success. Preschool offers a supportive environment where children can also create important social connections with their peers.
 

Three's and multi-age preschool offers three, four and five-year-old children a variety of site and programming options, including two and three day classes. Some classes provide an option for parents to register for a parent discussion group as part of the class registration. Childcare will be provided if you wish to register for the parent discussion group and your child does not attend preschool at the same time as the group meets. Childcare will also be provided for other siblings ages birth to five years. 

Four's Pre-K is an exciting time for children as they work to develop abilities and independence that will help prepare them for Kindergarten and beyond. The Four's Pre-K program is for four-year-old's one year prior to starting kindergarten. Children must be age four on or before Sept. 1. The program is located at most elementary school sites and offers programming five days per week with morning and afternoon half-day options. Parents are responsible for their child's transportation to and from school.  

 

Completion of Early Childhood Screening is required for all students in SoWashCo Schools Preschool program starting at age 3. To schedule an appointment call 651-425-6175 or schedule a screening date online. Be sure to mention your child is registering for the SoWashCo Schools Preschool program. 

Your child cannot be placed in a class if they will be 4 years old by 9/1/23 and have not yet been screened.

Contact

Enrollment Questions:
Brenda Griffin
Office Coordinator
651-425-7160

bgriffin@sowashco.org

Program Supervision:
Joyce Beaird 
Early Learning Family Services Manager
651-425-7169
jbeaird@sowashco.org

 

Registration Information

Parent resources

Early learning blog

 

 

Along with the joy of becoming a parent comes a lot of questions about raising a child. It can be hard to find answers and information. Our Early Learning blog can provide the information you seek. Written by one of our own ECFE Licensed Parent Educators, each blog offers insight into child development, parenting strategies, and other important topics that can support parents during their parenting journey. View our extensive blog library of topics as well as our most recent post below:

Summer Sanity Savers

Summer is almost here and with it comes longer days and warmer weather, more opportunities for fun activities and family time together. It can also bring its own set of challenges whether you have a baby, toddler, preschooler, or school-aged children, including changes to the daily schedule, changes to childcare, the need to find things for our kids to do and so much more. Today I am sharing some summer sanity savers to help you and your children enjoy all summer has to offer.

All About Sibling Rivalry

Let’s do a little word association. What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word siblings? I am going to venture a guess and say that if we compiled your first thoughts, we would have a mix of positive and negative things. Things like fun, caring, friendship, and also things like fighting and rivalry. And maybe, just maybe more of you will have thought of the more negative aspects of siblings first.

They Can Do It! Yes, They Can!

In my parenting classes, I often ask parents to think of whom they want their children to be when they grow up. What traits, abilities, or characteristics do they want their child to have? This list usually includes responsible, respectful, happy, hardworking, empathetic, kind, successful and so much more. These are the long-term goals of parenting. These won’t be achieved overnight and take many years to fully develop. Building our child’s sense of autonomy and independence is vital to meeting these long-term goals. Independence can be thought of as the ability to do things for oneself. While autonomy is the ability and opportunity to decide how to do things for yourself. We need to teach our kids how to do things for themselves and give them opportunities to practice making choices, trying things out, and learning from their mistakes.

Managing Mealtimes!

If you are like most parents, you probably included things like everyone eating the same things, no fighting, whining, or complaining, my child staying at the table, and parents getting to eat hot food. The reality is that while these seem like simple wishes, they might not always be realistic. When it comes to mealtime, it is important to focus on what is realistic for our young children. Families can take some easy steps to make their mealtimes more enjoyable and successful while still being realistic.