Reply to Help! Shining Stars or AppleTree CH?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Because you have a neighborhood school as a back up option, I would hands down choose Montessori over AT.  You should be willing to, however, commit to the three year cycle.  Just because your child might not like an activity in year one is not a reason to take the child out,  because children change quickly and all of the activities, even the practical life skills, build on one another. Kids may not like everything and the beauty with Montessori is that there are multiple activities that attack the same skill in a little bit different way.  I have been pretty hard on SSMA and would not send my kid there--I would choose private Montessori before I would deal with their disorganization  (and in fact did) because of my personality; however, given the choice between AT and SSMA I would hands down choose Montessori over AT.  This is from a parent who has left Montessori because I think and IB/Expeditionary learning model is better for my kid, but absolutely the years she spent in Montessori were fantastic, she learned a great deal, and grew as well.  The inquiry based approach within a disciplined environment can't be beat.[/quote]

I'm the poster who is sending my child elsewhere for the rest of elementary school, despite liking Shining Stars. It wasn't that she didn't like one activity in year one - it was that she basically hated school for a year, cried about 1/3 of the time at drop off (had been in daycare for 2 years previously with no such issue). I agree generally that the year she spent in Montessori gave her skills she wouldn't have gotten in her play-based preschool/daycare before, but I also do not in any way doubt that Montessori was not a good fit for her. Some kids just don't take to it. [/quote]

PP and others who have had kids in montessori preschool, is it correct that there is no storytime or group reading? One poster above noted that her 4 YO was reading at AppleTree. Do children in Montessori learn to read at an early age? I know that they do tactile things with letters, arranging letters, etc, but are they acquiring a love of literacy?[/quote]

I'm another AT parent, FYI, and my child was reading before she started PK4 (still age 3) and reading chapter books a few months later.  Very self motivated but it was Appletree that did the preparation and fostered the interest, not us.  Like, I said previously, the results are nothing short of amazing.  (I know some will say that this is "too" young and they should be playing, but my child really WANTED to learn and just took the tools that they provided and very quickly became an avid reader - I know this is unusual but I do credit Appletree).  Unfortunately my younger child will likely not go to Appletree (so that both kids can be at the same school) and I'm very conscious that he almost certainly won't have as good an entry into education.[/quote]

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