WRT St. Jerome's Montessori, I asked someone there, and next year all classes will be the full age range 3-6 and the older children will stay the full day in the class that was mornings only this year. They will also have all materials out. They phased in the program with younger children -3 & 4 year olds- this year because this is how the official Montessori people recommend starting a program. The advanced work builds on foundations in the younger years and older children model the work and assist the younger children. So, it works better to start this way.

I did go tour Bowie Montessori and overall, the campus is absolutely beautiful. The work of the middle school students is very impressive. The "primary"/preschool classroom seemed rather chaotic. I've seen a few montessori preschools now and there does seem to be quite a bit of variety in terms of how much literacy and numeracy work is made available to younger kids in the primary room vs being held off for the older kids. Some schools seem more inclined to consider a kid ready than others. I'm not sure where Bowie Montessori fits on that spectrum based on what I saw and it's one of those things that asking about doesn't really give you a reliable answer for, because all the teachers think of themselves as following the child's lead - but that varies in practice.

Clearly by the older grades, everyone's gotten what they needed so I wouldn't be worried about it in terms of long term learning objectives, but I just have a really eager kid with immediate needs for certain kinds of stimulation and I just wasn't sure walking out of the tour how my kid would do there. Now, if I could have sent myself there as an elementary or middle school kid, it would have been the perfect fit! But I was a very different kid than my daughter is.

Anonymous wrote:I just learned about the Julia Brown Montessori School in Laurel. I assume this is in either Anne Arundel or Howard, but it may be close enough to the PG line for you to consider. The reviews on Great Schools are mixed, probably because it sounds like another rigid program.

We had one child at the Laurel Julia Brown Montessori School (Howard Co) for 4 years and we were quite pleased. We now have our 2nd there. We liked the environment and were amazed at how quickly our first child learned to read there. It is what some might call rigid and that might not be right for all folks.

I would not recommend Julia Brown schools. I interviewed there as a teacher and was struck by the complete silence in the classrooms. The kids are totally shushed! I think that if silence happens as part of the natural ebb and flow of the Montessori work cycle, it is healthy, but I do not think it was Dr. Montessori's real intention to stifle natural social exchanges between children.

Thanks for the feedback all!

Anonymous wrote:What did you think about the Montessori at St. Jerome's? How was it different besides the older grades not being Montessori?

Overall it's nice. There are two classrooms - one mostly for the kids who are there for a half day program and the other for kids who are there til 3pm. There are two main teachers - one very experienced who's worked at Montessori and Catholic schools her whole career and one very young teacher who just finished up her training a year ago.

What seemed different to me is that there is a more of separation of the age groups at St Jerome's than at other Montsesori preschools and that of course affects which works make it onto the shelves - the work stations in the half-day, and mostly younger room, weren't fully stocked with the range of activities we see in other Montessori classrooms that go all the way up until age 6. The students in the half day room are generally younger and the teacher didn't feel like the kids were ready for the next level of work, but largely what we liked about the Montessori model overall was that reach activities are within sight, younger kids get to see the older kids practicing it, and that allows the teacher to observe which kids are ready for it at a young age. That was kind of a bummer to me, but I'm sure some parents would consider it a plus that their kids are with their age cohort. Our way of dealing with it would have been to keep our kid in til 3pm so he'd have to be in the mostly older room and with tuition as affordable as it is, that's still less than what other schools are charging. So if you really want your kid in the more mixed age room, you can make that happen. If you don't mind your kid being with a younger cohort and having less exposure to the advanced work, then they can stay in the half day program.

Overall, the facilities for the whole school not just the preschool section, need upgrading but the classrooms themselves were nice and the preschoolers eat food from home, so the state of the cafeteria isn't really relevant for the montessori program.

What did you think about the Montessori at St. Jerome's? How was it different besides the older grades not being Montessori?

I just learned about the Julia Brown Montessori School in Laurel. I assume this is in either Anne Arundel or Howard, but it may be close enough to the PG line for you to consider. The reviews on Great Schools are mixed, probably because it sounds like another rigid program.

I hear you. I briefly considered Bowie Montessori for my children. I didn't apply, for reasons unrelated to the quality of the school. I have heard mostly good things about it. I spoke with an administrator at Patuxent Montessori, and my impression was that it was a bit rigid compared to Bowie. I spoke with another parent who echoed that impression. I believe Bowie Montessori is the larger and more popular of the two.

OP here, thanks for the comments so far. I had noticed Glenn Dale on the map and it is close, but would appreciate any feedback on Bowie or Patuxent. Seems like all the Montessori schools want you to tour before you can submit an application and I've already gone to so many preschool open houses, I don't want to take time off work to do another round of PG County Montessori tours. If one really stands out over the others, I'd like to just do one tour to confirm for myself it's what we're looking for, apply, and be done with it.

I strongly, strongly suggest you look at the online reviews of Glenn Dale Montessori. Also look under the previous name of Mitchellville Children's House.

I had a child in a preschool program there, briefly. I didn't like the staff or the way the program was implemented.

Look into Glenn Dale Montessori. My son has been attending since he was 2 and has had a great experience. Great, caring teachers and nice family atmosphere.

I tried posting in the preschools and daycare thread but got zero response and thought I'd try here. Any PG county parents able to provide feedback on the montessori preschools at Bowie and Patuxent? I've toured St Jerome's and it seemed pretty different from the other montessoris I've seen so I'd like to hear about the others. Just curious for feedback or any other montessori primary programs we should look at in PG county. Thanks!