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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP:
Thanks for all of the great information. Your discussion on this forum has been very useful, particularly for those of us that are relevantly new to learning about the Montessori philosophy.

I have a few questions that I think you could provide some useful insight to. Our son is starting this fall at a public Montessori school in DC that is very highly regarded. We are excited for him to enter the school as we believe Montessori could be a very good fit for him. He is an independent learner that likes to focus on individual work for long periods of time - he hates being interrupted and has been frustrated at his current preschool because of the short time periods that they allow him to engage on any one thing. Unfortunately, he has also proven VERY challenging to potty train. While he has been out of diapers for four months, he continues to have regular accidents (once a day) and will do whatever he can to get out of going to the potty. Our school requires children to be potty trained because they have larger classes and can't afford to give the individual attention to kids to take them to the potty. With his current track record, I am afraid that he will get kicked out of the new school. My question for you this: why is it necessary to insist that children be so potty independent? Isn't Montessoris focus on letting children develop and learn at their own pace? If so, forcing them to be completely toilet independent so early would seem to go against this philosophy for those of them that are not as ready to be toilet independent.

My second question for you is also related to this large classroom sizes and high teacher to child ratio . What age is the best age to enter this large classroom environment with so few teachers? Would it be better for him to enter when he is just four rather than just three? He is a September birthday so will be turning three the week that school. While we are very excited about his school, we are also concerned that we may be pushing him into this environment too early because of the birthday cutoff dates for school entrance.

Thanks in advance for your advice and experience! [/quote]

OP here: The person below me answered the potty inquiry beautifully. I've never been in a school where it's a requirement, but sadly, they exist.

Three is the best age because it helps them adapt and normalize faster- they loooove being with the "big kids." I know that freaks a lot of moms and dads out, but in my classroom, I work really hard to pump up the older kids to be buddies to my incoming littles.[/quote]

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