Play-based preschool for 3-year-olds in South Jersey

[SilverMoon010]

I'm in South Jersey.  My son is 3 1/2.  We had a bad experience with his preschool and recently withdrew him from there. It was way too structured and strict. (It was a Catholic private school). 

We're going to look at more preschool options but I'm not sure if they are all so structured like that. If they are, I'm not sure my son is ready for something like that. He certainly cannot sit in circle time for 20 minutes like the last preschool he was in. 

Any ideas of preschools in Camden County that aren't so structured and focus more on free play? My main goal is to get him used to being around a lot of kids.  That's really the only reason we sent him to PreK this year, for the socialization.  He knows all of his letters, shapes, colors, etc.

He's in the Little Gym which is good but that's too little structure. A little structure is fine, just not so much they expect the kids to sit there with their hands crossed for however long.

TIA!

Edited by SilverMoon010 - 10/4/11 at 7:00am

[SpottedFoxx]

Hi from Cherry Hill!  My son has been at the JCC in Cherry Hill since he was your son's age.  OMG they are absolutely, positively wonderful!  If you can score a spot in Miss Joan's Butterfly room, she's an incredible teacher.  While they have circle time, her attitude is that NO child can or should sit for that amount of time.  If they can, great but if your child needs to stand, sit on a regular chair, sit on a disk or even walk around, she's find with it.   She's only concerned with setting children up for success and will do whatever necessary to make that happen.  

When my son started, he was still in the midst of potty training.  He'd urinate on the toilet but he'd refuse to poop anywhere but his underwear. We just figured it would happen in time.  We started the JCC and the first day I searched high and low for his dirty underwear.  It was no where to be seen.  The next day, I made it a point to remember what he was wearing in the morning.  When I picked him up, he had the same underpants on.  I was worried, was he holding it in?  I called Miss Joan and her response was "he's using the toilet.  I told him I expect him to use the potty and he does".  ~thud~  Yeah, it's just that easy for her.

Their summer camp is incredible too.  

If you are not Jewish, it's no big deal.  There are many Christian families who send their children there as well.

[SilverMoon010]

Thank you Spotted Foxx.  Someone actually just told me about JCC recently too, and how much they love it! The only problem is is that it's a bit too far for me.  I live a bit further south, about 25-30 minutes.

[SpottedFoxx]

Yeah, that's a bit of a hike :(  What town are you in?  I can ask around for you if you like. 

Wait - just saw your other post about Voorhees.  You realize that the JCC is about 2 minutes from Voorhees?

[chiefmir]

I live in Sicklerville, and we've had between 1 and 3 kids at the Malvern School on Erial for the last 6 years. We've been extremely happy with it!  The director has always been very involved with the teachers and kids and I definitely never felt that they pushed academics too early (which was something I wanted to avoid) though my now-six year old went from being in their preschool program to public pre-k (at just-turned-4) and was very prepared.

hope that helps! PM me if you want any more info about the school.