They are here. There are a few that aren't, but they are major $$$. I'm a lapsed Catholic and DH isn't religious, and I would prefer a secular program. But I don't think I feel strongly enough to pay the massive price premium (though DH may feel differently). Anyway, it's so frustrating! And I feel bad asking around because this is the Bible Belt and people look at me like I'm a devil worshipper! Really I just want LO to be introduced to religion on our terms, though.
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I have to run, but yes. And the prices for the non-religious affiliated programs are pretty much double.
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You know, I'm not sure! We have had our eye on a lutheran one only because it's steps from our apartment and the convenience factor is huge to us. I've seen several montessori preschools in the area - at least 5 - but they are significantly more expensive than the lutheran one. The only other ones I'm aware of are the big chain daycare centers that may implement a program like new horizon or kinder care.
I do think there may be a few Catholic programs nearby as well, but I haven't looked into it too much yet.
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Yep...I'm in the Bible Belt, too. But, there's a few good academies around, also. But, yeah...they're $$$!
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yuuup. we are a non-religious family and it's very frustrating that we can't find a secular preschool that is affordable (for us.) LO will be attending a church preschool, but if I ever feel like the religious teaching is going overboard I will not hesitate to remove him.
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Yeah, there are only a few that aren't associated with religion but like you said, super expensive. All of them are daycare's so preschool is incorporated with the program. We had the choice of paying $950 per month for 4 days a week at a non-religious preschool (from 8am-12pm) or 4 days (9am-12pm) at a religious preschool for $200 per month.
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Nope, I think most of the schools around here are secular (altho some are in temples/churches, but aren't "Religious" schools). then again, there might be a ton of religious schools but I just don't know about them because we're not religious and don't know anyone that is!
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@jmarionsmith: yeah, I'm registering him this week at a church one that I think is one of the more reasonable ones in terms of religious components ...
@HLK208: that is like the exact price difference we're seeing. Crazy. And DH is still pulling for the expensive place!
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Yes. It's going to be difficult to find a preschool eventually that's not religious. I guess I wouldn't mind one if it was my only option, but it's not my first choice.
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I can't think of any that aren't based out of a church!
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The only ones in my little town are church based but if you're willing to drive not very far there are non-church based ones. The non-church based ones are about 2-3x the price though.
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Most are not but the Catholic programs are far more affordable. I know parents that weren't Catholic that sent their kids to Catholic preschools because it was the only affordable way.
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@Mrs. Bee: I would do the same thing, and we're not Catholic. I know MIL would flip a lid though. The first thing she said when she met me was that she liked me already because I wasn't Catholic (cue huge eye roll).
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Our religious status is identical and we are biting the bullet to go to a Montessori preschool. There are 2 catholic ones nearby that seemed fine, but although we wavered we decided to pay the premium based on the way the Montessori parents gushed. It's way more though, so if we aren't convinced #2 will be at the catholic preschool!
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I agree that the Catholic programs are the least expensive...my son will attend the 4s program at our local Catholic school in September. The largest part of it is I really like the staff and I am okay with the level of religion that they teach.
We'll be going to the public school for kindergarten.
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@Mrs. Yoyo: for us, it depended on the preschool more than price. The daycare/preschool option had a lot of kids (which even with the legal amount of student to teacher ratio, seemed hectic) and was pretty disastrous when we checked it out. If there had been a better option we probably would have went with it rather than a religious affiliated school because we preferred for teachers to be certified. From my understanding, a private preschool doesn't need their teachers to be certified.
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I'm in the opposite situation! I want to send DD to our parish (Catholic) school, but even the local secular or Montessori schools are cheeper!
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Yep, but they are varying degrees of religious. My friend works at a church preschool and says that literally the only thing that has anything to do with religion is that they sing a prayer every morning.
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I can't think of any off-hand that aren't religious based. I can think of only 1-2 that actually make religion a significant part of the curriculum.
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It's pretty much 50/50 around here, although I can't speak to price differences since my LO isn't old enough for me to have researched it. I went to a Lutheran preschool as a kid despite being Catholic. It didn't really matter though, I think we just prayed before we ate and talked about the real meaning behind Christmas.
I get where you're coming from about wanting to teach religion on your own terms when you're ready. If the religious programs around here are significantly less expensive, it's something I'll have to consider as well.
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There are no religious preschools in my area
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