Another preschool question: Montessori?

Does anyone send DC to a Montessori preschool? My SIL sends my niece and will send my nephew.

Can you give me pros and cons and why you chose it?

Thanks!

Re: Another preschool question: Montessori?

Both of my children go to Montessori and I am more than thrilled with it. A lot of people have misconceptions about the Montessori method but I am a firm believer in it. It is very child-driven meaning the children choose what they want to do during the day but there are specific rules to whatever they are working on. If you observe a Montessori classroom it sometimes appears as if there is no structure at all b/c kids will be all over the room playing/working on individual or group things while the teacher is working with just one or two children or just monitoring the entire class. The truth is, if you look at what each child is doing you can see that each toy/object is designed to teach in some way. My oldest son is in a Kindergarten program at North Shore Montessori and began reading by the second week of school. He is now reading extremely fluently. He is learning multiplication there already. It's crazy. Anyway, I am just very much a firm believer in the method. The one thing that I will say is that any school can call themselves a Montessori school and not truly follow the method so it's important to find an accredited school. Good luck and feel free to FM with any questions.

Message edited 1/27/2009 8:35:13 PM.

Re: Another preschool question: Montessori?

I am most likely going to send DS to a Montessori school in September.

1. I like the fact that there are children of mixed ages, 2-4 in the same classroom, since the Montessori belief is that children should learn through imitation instead of rivalry.
2. I liked the fact that the learning environment is less structured in a way, but at the same time each child learns at its own pace and chooses it activity.
3. I like that there IS a bit of a structured learning time. I think there is an hour or two throughout the day that they learn a specific thing. I also liked the time structure.

One thing that I'm not that comfortable with is the transition from nursery school to kindergarten...but I guess at that age they adapt to their environment so much easier.

My friend's two kids went to this Montessori school and I am beyond thrilled that my son will have an opportunity to go there.

Re: Another preschool question: Montessori?

Message edited 1/27/2009 9:15:05 PM.

Re: Another preschool question: Montessori?

Yes, he is in the Stepping Stones program. I've been able to observe him in both settings (he goes all 5 days) and honestly, he couldn't care less if there are 12 kids or 3 kids there. I think the larger class size works out fine b/c they have an extra teacher in there.