Deciding between play-based or Montessori or no preschool?

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[Post New]12/07/2008 12:01
Anonymous
You need to remember that Montessouri is a short-hand label, not a trademark, so programs can vary greatly. Some are more flexible, others try to adhere closely to the original model. For some (many) kids, the latter can be a problem - they want to use materials in unusual ways, develop unevenly, or are not as self-regulated as the teachers expect. I would neither rule-out or go for Montessouri without visiting specific schools to see how they function.
[Post New]12/07/2008 12:36
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:You need to remember that Montessouri is a short-hand label, not a trademark, so programs can vary greatly. Some are more flexible, others try to adhere closely to the original model. For some (many) kids, the latter can be a problem - they want to use materials in unusual ways, develop unevenly, or are not as self-regulated as the teachers expect. I would neither rule-out or go for Montessouri without visiting specific schools to see how they function.


totally agree! My daughter is attending the same montessori I attended many moons ago! They follow the philosophy of the program but are also very flexible when dealing with the children. My daughter loves it. Furthermore, the directress, her teacher, never focuses on what their weaknesses are (although she does address them, just not in a threatening manner). She shares her evaluations with parents (a very detailed checklist) and then highlights your child's strengths. Their focus is on how much their students love learning! And they stress that the results are slow - that you'll see the results slowly unfold at home, which I have seen again and again in how my daughter measures items, categorizes, traces letters, sounds out words, cleans (!), and puts away her toys.

My cousin, on the other hand, works at a montessori that is all about looks and focuses very little on correct use of the materials. The teachers are unprepared and disorganized, and the tuition is outrageous considering how little the children actually absorb.

So do your homework if you choose this route. Not all schools are alike.
[Post New]12/07/2008 13:58
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:You need to remember that Montessouri is a short-hand label, not a trademark, so programs can vary greatly. Some are more flexible, others try to adhere closely to the original model. For some (many) kids, the latter can be a problem - they want to use materials in unusual ways, develop unevenly, or are not as self-regulated as the teachers expect. I would neither rule-out or go for Montessouri without visiting specific schools to see how they function.



So which type of Montessori would be better for kids who lack self-regulation and want to use the materials in different ways? What should one look for when visiting a Montessori school? Are Montessori schools only for kids who come in w/ the ability to focus quietly on materials for long periods of time?
[Post New]12/08/2008 12:19
Anonymous
So which type of Montessori would be better for kids who lack self-regulation and want to use the materials in different ways?



How about .... a play-based school!

With deserved respect to the PPs who like the Montessori curriculum, I'm sensing a bit of denigration for other types of curricula when it comes to learning things (pincer grip came up, but there were other examples). Just as there are stellar Montessori schools and so-so ones, the same would be true of preschools with play-based curricula. IMO, the best ones will get your child to the same place re: skill set as a Montessori. We've been to three non-Montessori preschools now, the same child, and the latest school has blown the other two out of the water.


[Post New]12/08/2008 13:36
Anonymous
My DD goes to a play based preschool and she is learning the same type of skills as listed in the PPs Montessori school. I guess they cost so much b/c the teachers have to have Montessori degrees, they are usually everyday and the materials cost more? I just can't see spending $10K or more for preschool for a child. My DD learns the pincer grasp just like every other child when given the opportunity to use different materials. I would lose my mind if some teacher was always telling me the right way to do something.
[Post New]12/08/2008 15:20
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:My DD goes to a play based preschool and she is learning the same type of skills as listed in the PPs Montessori school. I guess they cost so much b/c the teachers have to have Montessori degrees, they are usually everyday and the materials cost more? I just can't see spending $10K or more for preschool for a child. My DD learns the pincer grasp just like every other child when given the opportunity to use different materials. I would lose my mind if some teacher was always telling me the right way to do something.


Not all montessoris are that expensive; it depends on the area. Our tuition is slightly under $5000 per year - about $1500 less that what we paid at her play-based cooperative. It's totally worth it, but that's b/c we do have a wonderful school. The montessori degrees do make a difference, but even with that, some montessori schools are all show and no substance and are only as good as their teachers.
[Post New]12/11/2008 22:51
Anonymous
I chose a play-based preschool for my son, after considering Montessori. I think he would have done well, objectively speaking, in the Montessori classroom because he is very literal minded and likes to do things exactly the way that you are supposed to do them. However, he did not have many opportunities for playmates at home, and he had a tough time with imaginative play. Unlike some preschoolers, he didn't play pretend much, not even with trucks and blocks and dress-up costumes. He nerv went through a phase where he pretended he was a puppy, or a train or whatever. So, I wanted him to go to a school where pretend play was actually emphasized. In some Montessori full day programs, the "work" is done in the morning, and then in the afternoon they have some time for pretend play, dress up, and blocks and such -- but in the Montessori preschool in our area, they did not have this. I also chose the playbased preschool because they allowed the chldren to paint every day, which was not an activity that the Montessori preschool had much of.

Although academics and early reading were not stressed much at the play based preschool, my son was well prepared for kindergarten and is reading, writing and doing math above grade level now in first grade, so I can't say it held him back any.
[Post New]12/12/2008 07:07
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My DD goes to a play based preschool and she is learning the same type of skills as listed in the PPs Montessori school. I guess they cost so much b/c the teachers have to have Montessori degrees, they are usually everyday and the materials cost more? I just can't see spending $10K or more for preschool for a child. My DD learns the pincer grasp just like every other child when given the opportunity to use different materials. I would lose my mind if some teacher was always telling me the right way to do something.


Not all montessoris are that expensive; it depends on the area. Our tuition is slightly under $5000 per year - about $1500 less that what we paid at her play-based cooperative. It's totally worth it, but that's b/c we do have a wonderful school. The montessori degrees do make a difference, but even with that, some montessori schools are all show and no substance and are only as good as their teachers.

what area are you in? I've never seen a Montessori so cheap around here!
[Post New]12/12/2008 23:46
Anonymous
My DC went to a Montessori and we greatly regret it. It was just a horrible experience.



By the time DC was to leave, we counted how many days DC still had to go to the school. When it was finally over, we feel we just had a nightmare.
[Post New]12/13/2008 09:39
Anonymous
OP - in answer to part of your original question -- no, you don't have to send your preschool-aged child to preschool. I recently pulled my daughter out of an unsuitable preschool and have just been doing stuff with her at home for a while. We're having so much fun!

I think you do need to make a bit more effort to plan some fun and educational activities with a preschooler than maybe you might have done with a toddler. And of course, be sure she gets plenty of play time with other children in ohter ways. We have been inviting friends from her half- day preschool over for lunch, rest, and some playtime. You might wish to have your child take a class or something as well, to get used to being with an adult that is not a parent. And, some kids don't go to preschool when they are three, but are ready when they are four. So doing home-for-preschool isn't setting yourself up for a lifetime of homeschool! It might be an option for you though.

If you are concerned that you don't know enough to provide age-appropriate preschool activities and wouldn't know what to do with your child, there are a gazillion items out there for free or for sale to help you out. Just google "Preschool Curriculum". Here's just one out of many samples out there, from section on fall leaves, just to give you an idea:

http://www.abchomepreschool.com/PreschoolEducationBlog/2007/10/21/leaf-crafts-for-kids

And here are two articles with tons of resources and links that I like on the subject of "homeschooling" for preschool:

http://www.besthomeschooling.org/articles/lillian_jones_ps_kdgtn.html

A quote:

We all come into homeschooling with some common preconceptions of what the program should be - but many who have been at it for a while or raised homeschool grads are likely to strongly suggest not setting up a structured study program for young children. This is where some misunderstanding can come into play.

Saying that a structured study program for a young child is inappropriate is not at all the same as saying that learning is unimportant during the early years. It's simply that many experienced homeschoolers and other educators feel there are certain kinds of activities that are much more important and appropriate in early childhood than studying the 3 R's - and that to establish a structure that emphasizes the 3 R's at that age can actually be detrimental. If a child is asking to learn to read, of course, that's a whole different matter - but it's simply a question of helping that child learn to read, which is very different thing from setting up a curriculum.


also good resources here:

http://www.besthomeschooling.org/gateway/inted16.html


[Post New]01/26/2009 13:26
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:My DC went to a Montessori and we greatly regret it. It was just a horrible experience.



By the time DC was to leave, we counted how many days DC still had to go to the school. When it was finally over, we feel we just had a nightmare.


Why did you feel that way?

[Post New]08/14/2009 16:52
Anonymous
We had my son in a Montessori school for two years.. this year we are moving him to a play-based program. There are pluses and minuses to Montessori in my experience. Certainly the schools can vary a lot so its hard to make generalizations. However, in my experience, the negatives were...
1. Very large classrooms - usually 24 kids. I did not think this was such a big deal the first year, but the second year my son had all new teachers and when we went in for our parent-teacher confernce they barely seemed to know him. Also, I think he is a child that benefits from more individualized attention
2. Can be very rigid ie when I went in for a parent's day, my son selected an activity where he was painting from a little paint set with different colors. I asked him "why don't you put some green on your picture?" And he said, "no I have to do all the colors in order". Um... ok. I thought painting was supposed to be creative.
3. At my son's school they did not go outside at all and the communication between parents and teachers was non-existent. Just limited to the once a year conference.
4. Little to no opportunity for socialization. Having observed the classroom from behind a two way mirror and visited on several occasions, the children did their own thing and did not interact at all. My son did not really make any friends in two years.

That being said, I do like the philosophy in concept, perhaps this school just was not a fit. We wills see how the play-based program works out!
[Post New]08/19/2009 13:37
nava_edelen
Member Offline
Hi, full disclosure, since I operate the new Chevy Chase Reggio preschool, I am a bit biased toward the “play-based” approach for kids 2-5. We use the Reggio-Emilia approach which was partly developed based on scientific observations that toddlers learn very differently than older children. In fact, toddler brain chemistry and cognitive patterns are quite different.

Sometimes Reggio is described as a “play-based” program which means we allow toddlers to learn through a range of structured play activities. However, play-time is not random play. Children are allowed to find specific activities that interest them and each day lessons are built around these activities. We do not use flash cards or rote memorization techniques. We do not require kids to sit quietly and work through one task at a time. We believe kids 2-5 years old need to learn from doing things, interacting with other toddlers, and explore their environment.

If anyone wants to learn more about Reggio-Emilia, please visit www.reggiochildren.it or my website, www.ChevyChaseReggio.com.

We are having an open house on Saturday, August 22 from 10 to 1 pm. You are welcome to bring your child to experience the playful side of learning. My telephone is 301-951-1885.

Patricia
[Post New]08/20/2009 11:14
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:PP, yes, that helps, thank you. Why would you choose Montessori for a child? I asked a friend and her only response was that the school had a good reputation. I don't think she really thought through what would be best for her child just what was considered in vogue. Are there certain personalities that do better in one vs. another? Also, is there a difference if your child starts preschool at 2 years old as opposed to age 3?


I don't really get the whole Montessori craze either. If someone sends their kids to Montessori, can you tell me why it is worth the $$? I do know that in Montessori they have mixed ages in classrooms. A boy in my son's playgroup goes to a Montessori school and his mom has been complaining that since her 3 year old hangs out with the older kids (4 and 5 year olds), he is picking up all their bad habits. Nothing major - just a lot of poop comments, etc. My own 3 year old son goes to a play based preschool 2 days a week and he has been very happy there. Like the pp said, we did it mostly for socialization with kids his own age as well as to get him to learn how to follow directions, share, play well with others, listen to his teachers, etc. I don't really expect him to get a ton of academic learning at age 3. We read a lot at home and he is learning colors, shapes, letters, numbers, etc so the play based preschool is working for us. It is also a lot cheaper than Montessori - we pay $180/month.


May I ask which pre-school your son attends?
[Post New]09/01/2009 23:58
Anonymous
Kids at this age want to DO stuff and have FUN and LEARN. All of the preschool programs you mentioned sound like they offer this combination of things. The next step is to find teachers and an administration that respect the intellect of developing minds and encourage it. Children can learn a lot more than sometimes we give them credit for... and they learn when they enjoy themselves with adults who are nurturing and challenging.

I think you'll be just fine choosing among any number of really great preschools in the area. Liking the teacher is #1.
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