Montessori or Preschool ?

My mother-in-law is a 1st grade teacher. She said that children who go to Montessori have a much harder time acclimating to elementary school. They do not understand when it's time to sit, time to listen to the teacher, follow instructions, etc. Honestly, she kind of dreads the Montessori kids b/c they are harder to control. I chose a non-Montessori preschool for my son. I knew he would do better with more structure. I think it depends on your child. There are non-Montessori schools that are more structured, more cirriculum based, or more creative play based. Choose the school in which you think your child will thrive, and I'm sure it will work out in the end.

T.
www.mydiaperbabycakes.com

L.,

For us, we went the simple preschool route. We chose a program that was run by a church, so it incorporated some faith, but wasn't even OUR church, it was more the principles of how to treat others and general Christianity. Also, it was run concurrently with the local public school district's schedule, which means that if the local school is out on holiday or snow day, so is our preschool, so we don't have to pay for breaks and days off (very nice compared to some other day care or other private based programs we checked out). Finally, our program had longer days - 9:30am-1pm for all ages - this was a HUGE plus. Even the teachers commented that they get more done with the kids instead of hellos, reading circle, play, eat and go home. Ours had a lot of "curriculum" - letters, numbers, writing and "themes" focused on them for the 3-4 and 4-5 classes.

These were more important in our decision making. I know other friends who paid A LOT for their kid's preschool programs. Other than maybe getting a foreign language or computer programs that our school doesn't offer, I didn't see any difference. I understand the basic principles behind Montessori schools. I think this is simply put a personal decision.

We knew we were going to be putting our kids in public grade schools, so we didn't see the point in spending a ton of money on a private preschool if we weren't going to be continuing them in the same school's grade school program. Plus, truth be told, they're just so young still. I have no problem with the idea of a Montessori program, I just never understood why they were so darn expensive?

BTW - both my kids are at the top of their classes (at 6 and almost 5). The teachers have told us they are well ahead of their peers in academic areas, great listeners, and good leaders. I think in addition to sending them to a good preschool program, what has really been important is having high expectations and "learning" programs for them from a young age. We never really treated our kids like "they're too young" to have expectations put on them. I think as long as you keep your child active with other kids (swimming, gymnastics, etc.) and expect him/her to play games that secretly teach them letters, numbers, reading, etc. then they will naturally be great learners who are eager jump into new things.

Best of luck in your decision!

Sara

We had a great experience with a nice, local play-based community preschool that was housed in a church-but was 100% secular (non-religious) and was wonderfully diverse in terms of students, teachers and parents. The classes met for 2 1/2 hours, 4 days a week with an extended day option of an additional hour, if that worked better for parents' schedules and the children had the energy to stay for 3 1/2 hours, which is a long time when you are 3. There were on average 120 kids in the school, half morning, half afternoon. It was run by a parent-board and a hired director. I believe tuition was a few hundred a month, like $55 a week, perhaps?

That school suited us very well and we believe it was a great value for the love, support and education our children received while there (2 years each.) We looked into the 3 Montessori programs in our community and I observed at each. I am sure it works for some children and I know parents who really love the method, but it is not something that would have worked for my 2 kids. To be honest (and I don't mean to insult the method or the parents who use it) but I think it pushes a little too hard and too soon for independence and achieving correct solutions to problems at the expense of collaboration, imagination and play. There were no dolls, dress up clothes, blocks or open-ended play materials. Everything seemed to have a correct purpose and children were guided to use things "correctly", rather than the open-ended creative play model I tend to embrace.

Upon entering Kindergarden, both of my children were at the level of their peers and have never needed extra academic support. They get along well with other kids, parents and teachers. Our preschool really spent time teaching collaboration, communication, empathy and appreciation/celebration of diversity and difference.

That is just my 2 cents though from spending a total of 12 hours in Montessori classrooms over a month period! I am sure there are Mamasource parents who can give you a more detailed account of their Montessori experience.

too many pros, you can research that yourself, but if you can afford it Montessori is the way to go!!!