Deals
share
05/21/08
Magic Carpet is a great ride for preschoolers!
by pamommaof5 at Citysearch
Magic Carpet is a great school for children whose parents are looking at a traditional "nursery school" experience. The stress is placed on socialization and interaction rather than academics. Magic Carpet is not a daycare center masquerading as a preschool - all of the children are there for the morning, the afternoon, or the full day - there is no before or after school care. I appreciate this.
Magic Carpet accepts children at 2 3/4 years. They will work with with you if your child is not fully potty-trained. The older children interact with the younger children and it almost feels like a family environment.
The teachers are magnificent. They are loving and kind. Miss Penny is an institution, having taught nearly as many of the mothers or their friends as current children. She is up-to-date though and it doesn't seem possible she could be old enough to have been in this business for so long. Miss Jackie is a doll - I've never seen her not smiling. Miss Jane is soft-spoken and sweet. Miss Jill is calm and collected. They all work well together to create a super environment.
The curriculum is theme-based. The children will do a unit on some area - like space, dinosaurs, rain forests, etc. and they will learn quite a lot about that subject. They do many hands-on activities and crafts and go on field trips.
I haven't seen much academic push - which is not an issue for me but may be for some parents. Kindergarten is so slow paced in Bloomsburg and Central school districts that to have kids go in knowing all their ABCs, writing, and reading will lead them to boredom pretty quickly, so I'm not concerned. We were deciding between the YMCA preschool program, which is stronger academically, and this, and we chose Magic Carpet.
Overall, we've had a great experience!
- Pros: Loving staff, accepting environment, fun activities
- Cons: not very academic
