Preschools that are NOT religious, do they exist? - Page 3

BetsyS · 10-28-2009, 06:26 PM

I'm in the Atlanta suburbs. Like a PP said, here they are all religious. There are varying degrees of religious-ness, but they are all religious, save for one Montessori school in our area. Closer to the city, there are a few more options (waldorf, etc). About an hour away, in the university town, there is a university affiliated program that is also not religious.

We do have the public option 4 year old pre-K, though, and that's not religious. That's no different than public school. But, I got the impression that you were looking for a few morning a week type preschool.

Bunnyflakes · 10-28-2009, 07:32 PM

I live in a small town in the Bible belt and we don't have any religious based pre schools here. It is funny how in different areas of the country things could vary so much!

I work at a secular preschool. We are allowed to talk about bunnies and eggs around Easter time but the only time we discuss God is when we mention that some people celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ. It is presented in a random fact way, the same as when we talk about the basis of Hanakkuh. People who are Christian celebrate the birth of Jesus, people of the Jewish faith celebrate the original Hanukkah's oil lasting. We mention that some people believe this way and we move on. That way we aren't promoting anything and are also at least recognizing it for the kids who do believe that way. It works for us.

Alyantavid · 10-28-2009, 07:58 PM

Well, my kids go to a Christian daycare and preschool and I'm agnostic, leaning heavily toward atheism. I have no issue whatsoever with my kids learning about God in that setting. It isn't heavily religious anyways. But to each their own.

Here, the only choice for non-religious preschool is Head Start. I do you have to meet some qualifications to be accepted though I'm not totally sure.

Do you have any colleges? We have a community college about 30 miles away that does have a daycare/preschool.

angie7 · 10-28-2009, 08:05 PM

Thanks everyone for all the ideas! We do have a college based pre-school that is close to us that I might look into. I know a woman that works there so that would be nice too. I was just trying to find other options besides just 1, kwim??

SomedayMom · 10-29-2009, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamatoablessing

Wow, that's super offensive to a mom who carefully chose a preschool for her kids based on cirriculum, philosophies, teachers, learning styles, etc. Having a daycare as part of the school's offering does not mean the school is "posing" as anything. It means they offer daycare and preschool.

I totally hear you.

However, Goddard schools do tend to be geared towards working parents. My son never went full time, but he did do full days when he went b/c I did work part time at the time.

Working parents need good preschool options too.

So, it may not have been right for the other poster, but I have to agree that it isn't a daycare posing as a preschool. It was a preschool, a good one in fact, that was situated more towards working parents.

Peony · 10-29-2009, 02:25 PM

I know our local college's preschool has a long wait list, I'm assuming that means it is good! There are a couple preschools are that not religious, the rest are. If DD2 ever goes to a preschool, I'm not a huge fan of preschool for my children, just a lifestyle choice for us, then the first one on my list actually would be a religious one even though we are atheists. My oldest goes to a "christian" private school that is the most crunchiest school in the area, and I do live in a crunchy town. The christian part of the school is very minimal, and all the other wonderful aspects make it so worth it for us. DD1's worship time consists of singing songs about loving each other and some gentle bible stories and that is all the religious "training" that she gets.

Just as a follow non believer to another, don't cross a religious school of your list until you see just how religious it is! I never EVER thought a child of mine would end up at a religious school, and I spent a year refusing to consider this school because of the god aspect, but I finally did and have been kicking myself for not doing it sooner.