Reply to Help! Shining Stars or AppleTree CH?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The parent community at Shining Stars was wonderful last year. There is probably going to be a bit of turnover this year (we are not coming back due to location and are not the only ones), but the core is pretty strong. Definitely my favorite part!

I can't really speak to what the instruction will be like this year. Three lead guides are not returning and I don't know anything about the new teachers. [/quote]

Thanks, pp. this is helpful. Will you be sticking with montesori? Can I ask if you have any advice on knowing if montesori will be a good fit for your child? How did you know? Watching montesori videos?[/quote]

PP here. No, we're not sticking with Montessori, and honestly, I have come to believe that unless you are willing to stick with Montessori for a couple of years (at least through the primary classroom), it might be better to go with another option. I've heard great things about AT, academic or not. The school we are going to uses the IB curriculum, which I think will be a better fit for my child. She didn't like the very Montessori-specific activities - like the metal insets and the binomial cube and such - but really excelled at the practical life stuff - cleaning and polishing, the rack where you practice buttons and snaps and laces etc. - and the art projects and music and movement components. Our choice to move her to an IB school was mostly driven by the things she specifically enjoyed during her year of Montessori. We'll see how it goes.

In the beginning, I thought she would do well with Montessori because of feedback from her daycare that she enjoyed self-directed play and learning at her own pace rather than with the group. I also thought (and still think!) that it's important for kids to feel mastery over those practical life skills that Montessori teaches so well. I was actually pretty disappointed that it wasn't a great fit for her. I thought maybe it was just a rough adjustment, but she was pretty clear about not enjoying that stuff from the very beginning and as the year went on, it became clear that she was adjusted to being in this school rather than her previous one just fine. It was just the material she didn't like.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I loved Shining Stars conceptually and the parent community is amazing. The aftercare is amazing. I was even told that the food was good (though I can't remember the name of the provider). I think it's going to be an amazing year for the school as they recover from the challenges of last year and get some stability and grow their program. [/quote]

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