School Switching Options

[Anonymous]

CHMontessori marches to its own beat. Good luck getting them to change the way they have operated for years in just a few weeks. I agree: have a backup plan and don't be afraid to take it. The school really isn't all it's reputation says it should bel

[Anonymous]

OP! I can't stop thinking of you and your son. I know how much I worry about my child's school and I love the program we are in. I hope things work out for you and you update us.

[Anonymous]

OP I would look into Appletree. The teachers and staff are extremely well trained and knowledgeable about early childhood programs (including age-appropriate--and generally just appropriate!--discipline, among other things). The focus is entirely on ps3 and pk4, so its stopgap for you, but hopefully it will be more nurturing than where you are now.

[Anonymous]

OP, I've been trying to help a family move 2 kids from a school where they are unhappy. Now that count day is over, it's pretty tough. I agree Scrilli School and St. Ann's could both be great. CFMS has a huge wait list for 1 spot that will be opening up in January.

I agree that you are doing a great job advocating for your child. However, it's hard for a school to change enough quickly enough when your child is being endangered, mentally or physically. Document, document, document.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really hope the OP can come back and fill us in when she gets her child into a better program.

I had a child at Logan last year, and I wasn't impressed. The school is old and has decades of deferred maintenance which they are trying to catch up on. I think that the class sizes are far too large, and as such the children lack supervision. I found the principal to be completely disengaged and disinterested. I think the school is coasting on it's reputation from the time it was at Peabody.

This Montessori program used to be housed at Watkins, not Peabody, and the leadership was shaky in that setting as well. When it was part of the cluster there was always a "pass the buck" mentality whenever a parent raised concerns. As in the Montessori lead teacher would say "you have to talk to the principal" and the principal would say "I'm not in charge of the Montessori program." I believe the former Cluster principal is now the principal of the new location. Don't know if the same lead teacher is still there... I also remember that classroom control/behavior management did not seem to be a priority, though I know the Montessori philosophy on that part of child development is different than a more traditional approach. Which is why Montessori works well for some kids and not so well for others. The typical morning routine when the program was at Waktins was sort of a rolling arrival on the playground from 8:30 to 9-ish with just a few adults (often parents) supervising. The Montessori kids would stay out on the playground after the Watkins traditional kids had already gone inside--I was never really sure how they accounted for everyone...

Some of the teachers were good and many families were happy there at first, but others were shocked to find that their kids were very far behind academically by the time they reached the upper grades. Several families switched over to the upstairs traditional classrooms by 3rd or 4th grade, even though they were intially told they could not do that--that they had to commit to the program all the way through 4th grade.

AGain--not trying to speculate about which program OP is working with, but just a note that the Montessori approach is very unique and typically works best with children who are intrinsically motivated, can be self-directed, and who don't rely much on external structure and routine. Might be that OP's child needs a different type of school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, can you spend a few mornings in the classroom? We had a difficult adjustment last year in PS3 and it was very helpful for me to observe the classroom. I got to see the activities that they do as well as the behavioral expectations. I was able to help my child remember the parts of the routine that she found enjoyable, and it helped me to get to know the teachers better. PS3 can be a very tough transition. Good luck.

Second this!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I would look into Appletree. The teachers and staff are extremely well trained and knowledgeable about early childhood programs (including age-appropriate--and generally just appropriate!--discipline, among other things). The focus is entirely on ps3 and pk4, so its stopgap for you, but hopefully it will be more nurturing than where you are now.

Agree with this too. They are extremely good in cases like this and really make all kids feel enthusiastic about school. they have 7 campuses, so they may have space at one of them. they definitely did a few weeks ago.

[Anonymous]

This type of situation is happening all over the city. While universal pre-K is a great idea, many children are being held to ridiculously high developmentally inappropriate standards. I know quite a few young children, mainly (though not all) boys, who are growing to hate school because they are expected to sit for long periods of time doing worksheets at the age of 3 and having very little unstructured play time, indoors or outdoors. This makes me so sad for our children, who are supposedly being given an advantage by attending pre-school or pre-K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This type of situation is happening all over the city. While universal pre-K is a great idea, many children are being held to ridiculously high developmentally inappropriate standards. I know quite a few young children, mainly (though not all) boys, who are growing to hate school because they are expected to sit for long periods of time doing worksheets at the age of 3 and having very little unstructured play time, indoors or outdoors. This makes me so sad for our children, who are supposedly being given an advantage by attending pre-school or pre-K.

Most Preschool and PreK programs in DC don't have kids sitting and working on worksheets all day. Most of what they do IS unstructured play. Especially in a Montessori school. Know what you're talking about before you post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This type of situation is happening all over the city. While universal pre-K is a great idea, many children are being held to ridiculously high developmentally inappropriate standards. I know quite a few young children, mainly (though not all) boys, who are growing to hate school because they are expected to sit for long periods of time doing worksheets at the age of 3 and having very little unstructured play time, indoors or outdoors. This makes me so sad for our children, who are supposedly being given an advantage by attending pre-school or pre-K.

Most Preschool and PreK programs in DC don't have kids sitting and working on worksheets all day. Most of what they do IS unstructured play. Especially in a Montessori school. Know what you're talking about before you post.

As a preschool teacher, I know quite a bit. Maybe I should have specified that the children I know who are having difficulty are in schools in SE DC. Maybe that makes a difference.

[Anonymous]

OP here. The school definitely isn't in SE DC, and no one mentioned worksheets or 'busy work.' The problems are much more systemic.

[Anonymous]

I'm so sorry OP, I read your description of your little boy and he sounds just like mine: high energy, impulsive, creative, outgoing, dramatic, playful (ours also seems to have ADHD signs, whihc is in the family, but for the moment he is a lot like other very high energy 3 year old boys). We actually avoided Montessori when he was younger because I was concerned about his ability to self-direct in a highly stimulating environment like the place we looked (franklin montessori). I would see if you can get on the WL or get into Appletree. We ultimately went with a different school when we got in (and had a conference ahead of time, discussing our son's characteristics and discussing strategies for listening, circle time, discipline, etc) but we had been enrolled at Appletree and I was very impressed.

good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This type of situation is happening all over the city. While universal pre-K is a great idea, many children are being held to ridiculously high developmentally inappropriate standards. I know quite a few young children, mainly (though not all) boys, who are growing to hate school because they are expected to sit for long periods of time doing worksheets at the age of 3 and having very little unstructured play time, indoors or outdoors. This makes me so sad for our children, who are supposedly being given an advantage by attending pre-school or pre-K.

Most Preschool and PreK programs in DC don't have kids sitting and working on worksheets all day. Most of what they do IS unstructured play. Especially in a Montessori school. Know what you're talking about before you post.

OP said that he had previously been in a Montessori school - not that he currently is.

[Anonymous]

OP. If you live in Brookland, consider taking him to St. Ann's for their 3-4 year old program - its very close. I dont believe they are full for the 3 and 4 year old programs. We live in Brookland and have had both of our children there since they were babies. Only one remains now. They are amazing with kids (older kids too), loving and nurturing. It's also very inexpensive. The stuff you talk about would NEVER happen there. It's a solution that could work for the remainder of this school year. Call and ask for Cathy. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP - I know it's been a long time since you posted. Can you go us an update? Are things better? Are you still at the school? Hope your boy is happy wherever he is.