We had trouble because the Montessori preschool DS8 went to at age 4 refused to place him ahead on the curriculum. The moving through steps thing can be a problem if your child is already past those steps.
I told them he was reading well, gave examples of what he was reading, and they nodded and said all the right things...then ignored them completely. Before we put him in the school, I even specifically asked if he had to jump through all the hoops he was past doing--because I KNEW he would refuse!--and they said no. They didn't tell me the truth!
I asked about books, talked to the teachers about it regularly. They smiled and nodded and ignored me. For months!
Well, before our January conference, they sent home a note that indicated that DS had TROUBLE with pre-reading because he never spent any time in the language arts area.
That was the last straw!
At the conference, DH told them STRONGLY to change their ways. They finally listened to him. (Frustrating!) They agreed (quite unhappily) to skip one step in the LA progression with DS and see how it went.
DS did a week's worth of LA work in a day or two, and they FINALLY got the message. (It was stuff he could do when he was 18mos. old, so I was not surprised that he blew through it.)
After that, things improved. He became the only kid in the school who was allowed to read a book once and have it checked off. So I felt like they understood that he really could read quite well, and they gave him things that challenged him better, so it all worked out. But it was a rough semester getting them to see him for what he was.
The moral of the story, I think, is that some teachers get it and some don't. I think the overarching philosophy of the school matters less than the teacher and whether she gets it or not. If they resist placing him where you think he needs to be, it could be a bad sign. Be wary.
Remember that they can tell you anything they want to get you in the door. If you worry that they might not deliver--as my "mom gut" had me worrying--that's a good sign that they might not. Trust yourself.
