WTF is up with this Montessori school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:our Montessori introduces only one new child per day. So my DC starts ten days after the regular start date so we need to arrange full time care for him for 10 business days, for which we still pay the school tuition. there are kids starting at the end of the month but still paying for the entire month.

I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell those parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:our Montessori introduces only one new child per day. So my DC starts ten days after the regular start date so we need to arrange full time care for him for 10 business days, for which we still pay the school tuition. there are kids starting at the end of the month but still paying for the entire month.

I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell those parents.

This is like our Montessori school, except a few kids start per day. Oddly, the youngest and newest kids start latest.

[Anonymous]

Yes, a public Montessori charter school in DC does this slow start, 1 child at a time, something or other. A friend of mine did it, after her child being in full time childcare from infancy through 3 years old. Crazy, but that's the way many Montessoris do it.

[Anonymous]

OMFG. They are just being way too precious about this. How do children who simply start a regular preschool schedule manage to survive?

[Anonymous]

I would be really turned off by this. It sounds like they are trying to soak you. Not sure if the benefit outweighs the cost. Actually i am not sure the benefit even
justifies the cost - but my kids went to a play based co-op preschool at our church. They enjoyed it, we liked the community aspect of the school (mostly neighborhood families) and we had plenty of $$$ leftover for a nice summer vacation. I really, really hate to say this but ... "It's just preschool!"
- an older, wiser parent

[Anonymous]

Our first montessori schools did something similar. Honestly, I would be wary of this school. Montessori can be kind of cultish, depending on how it's implemented. It sounds like this school is strict constructionist...did you ask about things like their approach to writing (cursive only?) and whether there are movement/outdoor breaks in the morning (or whether this would violate the "work cycle" rule)?

[Anonymous]

OP, clearly this school is not going to work for you so I suggest backing out now. Fighting their policy isn't going to get you anywhere and is a terrible way to start off at a new school.

[Anonymous]

This sounds awful. Preschool should be fun and flexible and play based.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two disclaimers up front: (1) I am new to the Montessori world, having always liked play based preschools just fine, and (2) I no longer live in DC, so this school is not local.

Question(s) for those of you who are Montessori parents:

We've signed up our daughters to begin a Montessori program that is 5 days/week, 8:30-12. The school believes entering students must have an orientation week. The schedule goes something like this:
Friday: visit school for 30 minutes; meet teachers
Monday: 8:30-9:00 school
Tues: 8:30-9:30 school
Wed: 8:30-10:00 school
Thurs: 8:30-10:30 school
Fri: 8:30-11:00 school

We are out of town for the scheduled orientation week, and the school has just informed me that the girls will be required to do this orientation week during what is supposed to be the first week of school, because this orientation is "an essential first step in establishing a relationship between your child and the teacher". Side note: this school charges 10 months of tuition, at what I'd consider a fairly obscene tuition rate (about twice as much as local play based). My girls will now receive THIRTY MINUTES of school in August and 10.5 hours of school in June (the August and June days are combined into a "month" to justify this additional tuition). Doing the math, I am literally paying $55/hr, per child, for this time.

Anyway: I in no way believe that my child needs to be "introduced" to the school in increments increasing by 30 minutes per day, and we certainly didn't arrange childcare around an orientation plan like this. Is this sort of plan the usual approach for Montessori? This school has already ticked me off on a couple of unrelated matters (let's just say management skills appear to be substantially lacking- the teachers are fine, the management is floundering and uninformed about its own policies). I don't want to push back too hard if this is like the Montessori Gold Standard Introductory Approach.

Please advise, and tell me what else I should expect as we jump into Montessori! (And yes, I am aware of the general teaching philosophy, but this place is making me wonder what else is in store.)

My kids went to a certified AMI school. That type of orientation week was typical for all kids at our school. It's how all kids are supposed to start Montessori.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:our Montessori introduces only one new child per day. So my DC starts ten days after the regular start date so we need to arrange full time care for him for 10 business days, for which we still pay the school tuition. there are kids starting at the end of the month but still paying for the entire month.

I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell those parents.

This is like our Montessori school, except a few kids start per day. Oddly, the youngest and newest kids start latest.

Our school brought all the kids back at the same time in the fall, if they had previously attended. Kids who were new to our school were added to their classes one at a time, one kid per week, until everyone was integrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:our Montessori introduces only one new child per day. So my DC starts ten days after the regular start date so we need to arrange full time care for him for 10 business days, for which we still pay the school tuition. there are kids starting at the end of the month but still paying for the entire month.

You should not have to pay for days you are not going because of their silly policy. No way.

Our school had us do a 2 week summer camp but it was full days, no big deal. I liked it as I could tell it was the right choice for my child and if not it gave us (and them) and out option.

It's a school with an annual tuition, not a daycare facility where you pay by the day. You pay a whole year's tuition, even if you pay by the month. If you want a daycare, put your kids in daycare.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you need a different preschool?

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I kind of hate it already, and they haven't even started yet. (OP here.) Our older kids did play based only, but were at a really good play based school where the kids managed to art-project their way to good math and literacy skills before K. We moved, and our current play based preschool is just too loosey-goosey even for me. Kids can sign up for any day(s) of the week, there's no real weekly plan for learning that builds through the week (because maybe some kids are only there Wed/Fri or whatever). They were also very strong in certain of their opinions about what a 4 yr old is capable of doing, and did not care to look at each child as an individual. So, we've decided to switch to Montessori for her last year before K to at least give her an opportunity to learn a different skill set.

In good news, my girls have no shortage of play on their lives. There are 4 kids in our family and we are all about make believe and plays and creative use of anything we can get our hands on. So I don't think they'll miss out on that aspect. I'll just have to grit my teeth and bear it as the uber-Montessorians glow about "grace". I am admittedly a huge pragmatist and not fully bought in to the idea that Montessori is the only way. Frankly, we're only there because we can't make the really good play based school happen anymore.

[Anonymous]

Go play based. Montessori is totally nuts anyway and the research is quite clear that children learn best by play.

[Anonymous]

This is just an example of Montessori trying to fake people into believing they are the best. I would find another school.