Traditional Preschool vs. Montessori

[Anonymous]

Hello DCUM---

I am hopefully going to have a choice between two preschools.

Northeast Stars Montessori on Capitol Hill and The Hill Preschool also on the hill.

Does anyone have any experience on either school? I am not sold on the idea of Montessori to begin with, but I am open to it and want to keep an open mind.

Thanks for any tips.

[Anonymous]

Montessori's book is pretty short, like a fat booklet. Why don't you read it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Montessori's book is pretty short, like a fat booklet. Why don't you read it?

I have read it obviously since I am debating sending my daughter there. Simply asking for other's personal experiences...isn't that the point of DCUM?

[Anonymous]

What are your concerns about the Montessori methodology?

[Anonymous]

I love Montessori for preschool aged kids. Helps them build confidence, independence, and self sufficiency skills better than traditional preschool, IM (limited) E. I think it set my kids up well to start kindergarten and be helpful members of the household. We started in Montessori at age 1.5 and one kid continued until kinder and the other switched earlier for traditional preschool at age 3.

[jsmith123]

Both my kids went to a Montessori preschool and we loved it. But, that was partly because the director and her staff are incredibly warm, and they focus a lot on community and taking care of each other. So, it's not all about peeling carrots and whatnot.

If you're really undecided, I would go with the school that will fit best into your life (location, start time, schedule etc)

[Anonymous]

We were accepted to both NE Stars Montessori and The Hill Preschool.

Anyone have input on either? Leaning towards Hill PS, but that’s only because I think that part of the hill is safer. I wish we could have taken a tour of both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were accepted to both NE Stars Montessori and The Hill Preschool.

Anyone have input on either? Leaning towards Hill PS, but that’s only because I think that part of the hill is safer. I wish we could have taken a tour of both.

Have you checked out their licensing inspection history? The Hill Preschool seems significantly better on that front based on having no complaints or violations (but I didn't look at all the reports - just the most recent

https://childcareconnections.osse.dc.gov/

[Anonymous]

I don't have personal experience with these two, but I went to Montessori and my older brother didn't (although my mom toured it when she was looking for him). Per my mom, it was clear that my brother would not have thrived in Montessori. He went to a traditional preschool, where he had a great experience.

When I came along, my mom high tailed it right over to that Montessori school. She knew it would be a great fit, and she was right, I thrived there.

All that to say - the feeling of which one fits your kid is a very valuable data point - trust it.

[Anonymous]

I personally don't like Montessori because of the continuous insistence of not allowing imaginary characters, fairy tales etc. I also don't like the siloed approach in that kids are encouraged to "not interrupt" each others "work", which literally defeats the purpose of preschool. At this age preschool is meant to develop social skills, problem solving, interacting. I much rather prefer Waldorf which is a mix of both.

[Anonymous]

I went to montessori and both my kids did too, and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about our experiences. I'm happy to address any specific montessori questions or concerns you have from my experience.

That said, it comes down to the individual school and the individual kid. Some montessori schools are terrible, just like some play based and walford and reggio schools are terrible.
And kids can thrive at any wonderful school with caring teachers, regardless of the underlying philosophy.

[Anonymous]

PP here...

I just did a quick look at the Northeast Stars website... It doesn't look like they are actually a montessori school. I don't see them mention AMI or AMS certification, and the director of the school is "pursuing" (ie, doesn't have) a montessori certification.
It also sounds like it's just a preschool and not a Kindergarten. Having the full three year cycle (3s, 4s, and Kindergarteners) is pretty fundamental to the montessori experience, both for the sake of the kindergarteners to get that experience and for the younger kids to have the older ones as leaders.

I'm a huge proponant of "real" montessori schools, and very skeptical of a school that would use the name and only some of the montessori philosophy without accurate training and implementation.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know anything about these particular schools but I loved Montessori for my younger son and have huge regrets about not putting my older son in Montessori. My older son especially would have benefited from the physical skills and concentration practiced in Montessori.