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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][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]

Weird. I wonder which classroom you were visiting. In my daughter's, the kids rotate in responsibility for snack prep. I do think snack is prepped all and once and generally eaten before they all go to the park, so there is a set-time. Lunch is also eaten at a designated time. To me, that's a non-issue but perhaps it matters more to others. The kids still do all the place setting, fruit-cutting, flower arranging, wash their own dishes after meals, etc.

They also hang up their own stuff. On day 2, I helped DD hang her coat and I was politely asked to let her to do it herself. [/quote]

A PP said that the more strict of the Montessori teachers doesn't allow visitors.  We only saw one class (the other one was off-limits), which now makes sense.  The frustrating thing is that the person giving the tour didn't make any distinction, or explain that the other class had a more AMI-aligned philosophy, so I walked away from the school with the impression that it was not the right choice for our family because we were looking for something more closely aligned with the Montessori pedagogy in order to provide my daughter with some continuity between her old preschool in another state, and her new kindergarten.

I wonder if he didn't know, or if he didn't think it was useful information.

[/quote]

Probably didn't know, honestly. The 1st-8th grades are based on a classical curriculum and most of the academy staff are more familiar with that. The Montessori preschool is a relatively new addition to the school. Now that I know which room you visited - that is with the younger, newer teacher who just recently completed her Montessori training. She seems very sweet, and I've liked all my interactions with her, and I hear only wonderful things from the parents with children in her class. The room  you didn't see was Ms. Spaulding's, who is the more traditional Montessori instructor and my daughter is in her class. Ms. Spaulding has 30+ of Montessori teaching experience and she is very dedicated to the methodology - and that includes minimal disruptions to the class. Even the parents have scheduled observations - not a free-flowing drop-in policy.

There's an open house for SJA's Montessori preschool usually in April. I recommend signing up for alerts and attending when that's organized. You'll get to tour both Montessori classrooms and can speak directly to Ms. Spaulding then. In fact, you could probably request to meet her sooner as well if you're sure that's the room you'd be more interested in.

There's also a toddler Montessori program that meets a couple times a week and the teacher for that is so warm and loving - really what you'd imagine as the ideal preschool teacher. [/quote]

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