Relocating to Virginia

Not sure if you are looking for all day daycare or a PT preschool, but check out www.freetownfriends.com for your younger one if looking for PT.

As for moms groups, this one is awesome!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DCMMFairfaxIVChapter/ It serves the Reston/Herndon area, and my vote is to pick Reston! They have a lot more to offer for families in their parks and recs I think...

Dear G.,
Bonjour and Hola! I'm going out of town tonight until Agust 6th. BUT I would love to keep in contact with you.
Do you have facebook? If not me e-mail is ____@____.com or ____@____.com
It just so happenes a friend of mine, Edwige(who is also French) moved to herndon last year and mentioned her daughter attends a bilingual school I think. So I will contact her and can have her e-mail you etc. She is also on facebook but let me make sure with her its okay I give her info out first!
Pammy Lowman

Hello!!

WELCOME TO VIRGINIA!!!

I would recommend Reston over Herndon. I have been in Reston since November 1997. I LOVE my location!! Our school is a Spanish Immersion school where the kids are immersed in Spanish half of the day.

You will also find more options with commuting for your husband. My husband commutes to D.C. every day and prefers that over driving. Especially with all of the changes happening right now with traffic. It also depends upon WHERE in McLean (Tyson's Corner) your husband will be working!!! Please feel free to message me privately and I can help you!!

You will find VA much different that CA - our summers are hot and humid - and right now we are in the middle of a record heat wave. Unlike CA - you will NOT be close to the water - in Mountain View you are a hop and skip away from the Bay Area. In VA - you will have to drive to get to the Potomac or the beach and East Coast beaches are FAR different from West Coast beaches.

There is SOOOOOO much to do here - you can take the metro (it's about $1.25 per person) into DC and go to the Smithsonian (it's free). You can have picnics on the National Mall (we've done that and played frisbee afterwards!!). Our Barnes and Nobles and Books A Million has Mommy Group days to come in and read - as do our local libraries.

We have LANK (Lake Anne Kindergarten) that is half and full day school for children (sorry, I don't know the prices or ages they take) http://www.lankschool.com/

We have Kindercare's and other typical daycare's. Our FULL DAY infant care at Kindercare is $269 a week - I THINK!!! It's been a LONG time since I have needed infant care.

I belong to the W.'s Club gym in Chantilly. They offer child care for $5 per child and your child is in a secure location in the same building as you. I pay $65 a month and get a FREE massage EVERY month!! (yahoo!! my reward for working out!!)

I hope this helps you!!!

Good luck with your move! It sounds like an exciting time. The Reston/Herndon area has tons of stuff to do that people have already mentioned. When we moved here I was shocked at how great the Parks & Recreation departments are in Fairfax County and in the Town of Herndon. Where I grew up (upstate NY) Community Centers were rundown buildings that didn't offer much. Around here they are state of the art facilities with fitness for kids and adults, tons of great activities and resources. Since you'll be in Herndon check out the town website they have lots of stuff on there: www.herndon-va.gov

I am from Cali and live in Woodbridge not far from Herndon-I commute to work via van pool and love the Va Area because it is so multicultural. My 17 y/o told me once that she hears 4 different languages when she gets off the school bus! My babysitter is from Guatemala enforcing their Spanish heritage and I pay $200 a week for both my toddler and infant. While in home day care is not for everyone they have more one on one attention and do so many activities my 2 y/o sometimes doesn’t want to leave! There are a number of activities in this area from water parks to museums that you will have plenty of things to fill your time all you have to do is be willing to travel or take the VRE http://www.vre.org/ or metro http://www.wmata.com/
Type in things to do in Herdon Virginia and you’ll come up with a list
http://attractions.uptake.com/virginia/herndon/764860218....

My parents currently live in Herndon, although they are getting ready to move to the Harrisonburg area. There is a lot of different stuff up there, and there is a pretty large Hispanic population, so I imagine there is a lot of stuff available from a Spanish perspective. Unfortunately, since they are older, they didn't have any suggestions. However, I suspect that you will be able to find what you are looking for.

I live in Vienna VA (about 20-25 mins from Herndon) , I don't know anything about preschools or childcare in that area , but I do know that the area in and around DC has a lot of childcare options , and some can be very pricey. If you google childcare and preschools in Herndon VA I am sure you will find links to what you are looking for. Also www.meetup.com is a website that you can register with and it sends you an email with suggested moms groups in the area that you might like to join , if you join one in the area where you will be living , this will get you meeting new mom's , and you can also start talking to people to find out reccommendations for preschools etc.

Good luck with your move