Pre Schools in Calgary
If you are living in Calgary (or moving to Calgary), and if you have small children, you will soon learn that your child won’t be starting ‘regular’ school at age 4 as they often can do in the UK, but there is always the option of a ‘pre-school’.
This is something that you have to pay for, and it starts at ages 3 or 4, but it is completely optional. It is not always structured- but is a great way to start developing social skills, and seperation, and hence a good way to ‘prepare’ a child for starting school. Of course they also do focus on developing fine and gross motor skills/creative play.
To find a list of current pre-schools in Calgary, a good resource is the Calgary’s Child Newspaper (which has lots of great info in)- and the hard copy of this can be picked up at most of the public facilites, eg Calgary Recreation Centres, and some of the supermarkets (eg Safeway) or you can search it in line and this link below is a direct link to the pre-school section.
www.calgaryschild.com/activity-guides/preschool-junior-kindergarten-and-private-school-guide
There are various types of pre-school, eg Montessori Programs (more independance focused and activities are ‘reality’ based), Play -based programs/learning through play (more hands on/social skills) and traditional learning (more structured/traditional school like setting) and so this may influence which type of program you decide upon. But another thing to consider is that some of these programs fill up very quickly, so you are best to start looking in to these options as soon as you can, and if there is not space for your first choice, try and at least get on a waiting list
However, if you are not quite ready to ‘send’ your child to a learning/play facility indepnedantly- there are of course many otpions , such parent toddler groups and variuos activities. Also, note the The Calgary British Expats Meet Up Group, is starting up a parent/toddler ‘meet up’ for parents with babies and toddlers,so a good way to meet a few new faces/get the children together.
If you have any other questions, or want more help with locating/choosing a ‘pre-school’ or finding a local play group, then please feel free to e-mail me or call- I am always happy to help.
Thanks
Mel
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