Our family is moving to NW DC this spring and looking at preschools for next fall. I toured St. Columba's recently and was impressed. At the open house the director emphasized repeatedly that it was a play-based school. She indicated that the school does not directly teach letters, early reading skills or basic math functions. Many children do pick these up along the way through the play activities, she said, but these skills are not taught. I was a little surprised by this point and it seems to stand in contrast to other schools I've visited, even others that were also deemed play-based. We'd like to hear from current and recent former parents whether they felt this was an issue. Did their children gain pre-reading or reading skills through St. Columba's program? If not, was that a problem? Was St. Columba's too play-based (if that's possible)?

We're considering Franklin Montessori for our two children, but are concerned about the class sizes and student:teacher ratios. We'd love to hear more from current parents about their experiences.