I went to obsere the Montessori school we are considering for my son. I observed the 2 - 3 year old class and was impressed with what I saw. They truly do the Montessori method and the "controlled chaos" of the room was nice to see.
They do go outside for 45 minutes a day, weather permitting, and I was very happy to see that as well.
We will have to send lunch with him everyday, but that is actually a good thing since we try to ensure he eats very healthy whenever possible. I will also be able to monitor better how much he eats. I already supply his snack for daycare since I saw them try to give him a cookie for snack one day - he is barely 16 months old - why would he need a chocolate chip cookie?

Opps, sorry, I digress!

The children did, in fact, get a chance to choose their own activities. It was funny because the teacher had a small group of children together going over insects. She asked one 3 year old what type of body a particular "bug" had and his reply was "exoskeleton". Okay, I'm sold! While they did some singing without music and did have paper and pencils etc. available - I didn't see a big emphasis on these things which my son does currently get a daycare and loves. But, I think we can definitely supplement these things at home. He does do a lot of finger painting and coloring here at home, we can just try to incoporate it more often. He also has some music CD's he enjoys and loves when we sing and dance with him. Again, we will just try to do it on a more consistent basis. There are also several Kindermusic programs nearby that we could take advantage of if needed.

Now, we just have to figure out logistics! I am newly pregnant (due in October), so I will end up with 2 kids at 2 different locations - yikes! I will also need to change my work hours a bit and rely on my husband to pick up (fingers crossed). We have some time to figure out the details though, as I will be on maternity leave until Jan.

I really think Montessori will be a good environment for my son, since we have always thought we would do partial homeschooling anyway. This was - he won't have to wait out a year before starting pre-K and won't be confined to age mates. He will also be starting early enough that by the time we needs higher level materials - the teachers will know us and our son and we hopefully won't be the "push parents".

If that fails, well - homeschooling full time it will be.

We will know in March if our son is accepted, but have been told it shouldn't be a big issue at all.