Reply to University Park-What do parents do for preschool?

Forum Index » MD Public Schools other than MCPS

Reply to "University Park-What do parents do for preschool?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]You can't get on a waitlist without a due date. My kid is at the St Jerome's Montessori preschool. We also applied to St Ann's and Heritage - both offered us spots a year after applying, so if you get on the list as soon as you find out you're pregnant, plus take a few months of maternity leave, you should get an infant spot when you're ready to go back to work.

Preschools are good in the area and there are several options. Infant care is more limited, but the houses are large, so you could get an au pair, or hire a nanny. [/quote]

How is it?  We visited the SJA Montessori classroom, and were kind of disappointed.  It seemed like a regular preschool classroom with Montessori materials, but no real integration of the philosophy.  For example, the kids were having snack at a preset time, prepared and served by the preschool staff.  Similarly, the staff were putting kids' coats and hats on rather than teaching them to do it themselves.  The self-sufficiency that I'm used to seeing in Montessori classrooms (including where my oldest spent three years) was missing.

I'll admit the program was new and it was relatively early in the year, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.  [/quote]

There are two primary classrooms, my child is in the class that you saw and loves it. The other class is strict AMI Montessori and would be what you were looking for, but that teacher does not allow tours to look in and observe her room. In her class snack is a work that students can choose, like all of the other activities (called works in Montessori speak) in the room. My friend who is a "strict Montessorian" is pleased to have her child in that class.

With regard to my child's class, the slight hybrid style is something that we love. The group snack is a special time and the kids enjoy the social aspect of sitting together and they try new things. It is a very social class! There are some class "jobs" too, which the children look forward to like doing the calander, passing out napkins, feeding the fish, or leading the line. There are sometimes themes (like Antartica or bugs)in the books stocked in the in-class library area or in some of the crafts or activities available. This is all more "traditional preschool" stuff. On the other hand, it is predominately Montessori and the children are allotted a great deal of freedom to move about, choose works, engage with work on their own terms and for the length of time that they desire. My child is very independent and excited to learn about math, geography, and  phonics. I was amazed to see chairs pushed in and things neatly placed back where they belonged without any prompting. The children have lessons on and engage in authentic Montessori works. The teacher has many years of experience and I respect her a lot. In general, I have observed that the students in her class are more joyful and the parents prefer her communication style over that of the other teacher. DC was enrolled in PK at another private school, and hands down we prefer the freedom that our child is allowed to explore and engage in learning independently in the Montessori class. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics