Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments She wants to go to montessori...I think?

EastnWest thank you for the posts. It is hard to wait, I definitely want to just make a decision, but I will wait. You are right that watching the teachers/kids in action will be much more telling than just talking to them about it.

thanks for the advice!

BlueMorpho and Kriston- Thank you!
Thank you for sharing your experiences...I know every school is different and every child is different, but itis SO helpful to read about what you and your kids went through.

I guess one thing I am struggling with is the feeling that I would be holding her back is I send her to a play based school. She is a smart girl and she loves to learn. I don't always have the energy to teach her everything she could happily absorb. In fact I rarely teach her! Grinity made a good point about letting the preschool be about playing/socializing and doing the teaching at home (something to that effect) and that is a wonderful idea, I just hope I do as good of a job as the Montessori school could potentially do. I know she has potential and I don't want to make a decision that could result in her not living up to her potential...at the same time I want her to be a child and play, dream and imagine and not worry about learning. Hmmm I don't knwo what i am trying to say...but thank you for the posts!

Two suggestions, and I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds here:

Don't think of play-based preschools as necessarily being "not learning." According to child development experts, 3yos usually learn best through play. Many of us had wonderful experiences with kids in half-day play-based preschools. The painting and drawing, the board games, the time for imaginative play, the building with blocks, the play with textural toys like clay, "space mud," and rice and sand, the playground time (and so on) are all good experiences for 2-5yo kids of ANY level of intellectual development. They're flexible with what a child is learning at the time. And they're often mostly absent from a Montessori experience. Are they better than a Montessori experience? Well, that depends on the school, the teacher and the child. But I definitely wouldn't recommend assuming that a child will just be killing time in a play-based pre-K. I don't think that's true. Again, it depends on the school, the teacher and the child!

Also, don't think of it as "teaching at home," but following your daughter's lead. Do you read to her? Do you talk about things that interest you? Do you answer her questions? Do you take her to stores, museums, the zoo, the park? Do you let her help you cook, do laundry, clean house? Do you have puzzles and books and games for her to play with? All of these are great ways for a preschooler to learn. Just because you don't have a workbook open doesn't mean you're not teaching.

The Montessori method is great, but please don't think that it is necessarily "better" than other pre-Ks just on its face. I'm afraid you're buying into the method more than thinking about what will work best for your particular child. If the school and the teacher are better, great. But if you are assuming that Montessori is about learning and play-based pre-K is a waste of time, I think you have it wrong.

No offense intended there. I just don't want you to think about this in a way that maybe isn't productive for your daughter.

P.S. Also, as for not having the energy, remember that she'd be gone for half the day. That should help, right?

LOL Onsie! Sign her up for both - you could use the break! Then you can see how she is doing 6 months later and move her over 'depending' - our kids tend to be the 'one from column A' and 'two from column B' types anyway!

Of course, dear, 2 hours, after the drive and the 'get out of the house' isn't really much of a break! But it's something!

Smiles,
Grintiy

Thank you all so much for the advice. I/we (but mostly I) spent the last week visiting a few more preschools and thinking hard about what to do. I can't enrol her in both preschools for a few reasons. The montessori preschool and the other preschool overlap in terms of days/times. The other reason is cost. We could do a 4 or a 5 day (half days) program at either school, but to split it up between schools becomes very expensive. But anyhow...I have made a decision. Dd is going to go to a playbased preschool in the Fall...well if she wants to, but we are going to give it a shot. I really do like the preschool we have chosen. They do so many fun things...theme days, parties, christmas concert, field trips etc. My only concern is that at the end of the day both preschool rooms (there are 2 programs running concurrently) go outside, or into the gym to play. That is 40 kids. I think that might be a bit overwhelming for dd. My overprotective, paranoid side also thinks that supervision might be tricky during this time and so that is a worry as well. But, I went to this preschool as did my younger brother and many classmates...we're all still alive, so I suppose it will be ok!

I am still going to check out a couple more preschools, but they will all be playbased and I am really happy with that. She has a lot ot learn, besides academics and this will be a fun environment to do so...I hope! And, worst case senario...it doesn't work. No big deal, she can stay hoem iwth me and we can do some more mom and tot programs.

So thank you thank you thank you. I am really happy with this!

I'm glad you found a choice you're happy with, whatever the choice!

I am glad you've made a decision. That's always the most difficult part. I too like the theme days and I think DS4 really missed out not having them last year. Montessori was way to serious for me, play based PreK is just that, play and fun.

I hope your daughter likes it there and the transitions isn't hard on either one of you.