Emmaus Patch Offers Variety of Preschool Options

Kindergarten registration begins on Monday. Families with children who are five years old or will be five on or before Sept. 12, can get more information about registration on the district’s Web site.

(I will be one of those wet-eyed mums standing in line at an East Penn elementary school next week, preparing my “baby” for the next phase of life.”)

It’s also registration time at most of the preschools in the area and there are a lot of great options out there. Places like , and all offer preschool programs for little ones. And, I have heard great things about all of them.

In fact, my older child spent a wonderful year in .

The options may seem fewer for those with a little one who doesn’t make the kindergarten cut-off – for a child who turns five right after Sept. 12, or a child who has already “done” the four-year-old/Pre-K program at his or her preschool.

I know from experience that this situation can leave a parent a bit perplexed. It’s tough to figure out what to do with a four year old who has “aged” out of a preschool program elsewhere. Taking a year off from “school” is not an appealing choice.

And, I can tell you from experience that for families who find themselves in this situation. Word-of-mouth helped me to find the right preschool program, both times that I was (desperately) looking.

There is a morning class at St. Margaret’s for four year olds and an afternoon program called Pre-K that is designed for kids in between the four-year-old class and kindergarten for whatever reason.

The Pre-K program at St. Margaret’s dovetails nicely with the East Penn kindergarten curriculum and I know my son is more than ready to head off to his kindergarten classroom in the fall.

If only there were a program to prepare me to put him on that big ol’ yellow school bus…