Anonymous wrote:Also, use the phrase, "I know you can do it." (With a calm, reassuring, confident tone.) Sets a child up for success! Good luck!

ITA

OP here. This is a church based Montessori program and they have only 3 classes. A 2-3 and 2 3-5 classes.

The director said there's a lot of crying the first 2 weeks and even told me I could start DD 2 weeks later so the class will be less noisy since the other kids will be used to the routine then.

Well I'm so desperate for her to go somewhere that I don't know if I should wait.

IMO a Montessori program at a large school with a car line is too much for most 2 year olds. Be prepared for some crying. Ideas above are good, but at our school it seems like almost all the 2 year olds are crying at the beginning of the year. For this age group I think a co-op program or smaller play-based/church program is better. They don't do real Montessori work until 3 anyways. I know some people's kids thrive in the 2 year old montessori class but I think this is the exception rather than the rule.

Also, use the phrase, "I know you can do it." (With a calm, reassuring, confident tone.) Sets a child up for success! Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a little confused....why does such a young toddler need school?? How often is she going to this. Or is this like a daycare setting??

OP here. Montessori starts at 18months. She's going 4 days a week for 3 hours.

I'm the OP with the 2yo and 4mo old asking people about their routines. It was a consensus that I should put DD in school to give me a break and to fulfill her needs for engagement with other kids and activities to keep her little mind busy.

My twin 2.5 yolds are going 5X week for 3 hours. I CANNOT wait! They are so excited and ready.

I tried explaining it to her, we drive by the school and I show it but I don't think she gets it. I will take the pics during the open house and show it to her to help her assimilate. I also like the idea of the pic of her lovie with us for her to look at.

I'm super excited but also my hear aches to think that she's growing up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a little confused....why does such a young toddler need school?? How often is she going to this. Or is this like a daycare setting??

OP here. Montessori starts at 18months. She's going 4 days a week for 3 hours.

I'm the OP with the 2yo and 4mo old asking people about their routines. It was a consensus that I should put DD in school to give me a break and to fulfill her needs for engagement with other kids and activities to keep her little mind busy.

My twin 2.5 yolds are going 5X week for 3 hours. I CANNOT wait! They are so excited and ready.

Anonymous wrote:I am a little confused....why does such a young toddler need school?? How often is she going to this. Or is this like a daycare setting??

OP here. Montessori starts at 18months. She's going 4 days a week for 3 hours.

I'm the OP with the 2yo and 4mo old asking people about their routines. It was a consensus that I should put DD in school to give me a break and to fulfill her needs for engagement with other kids and activities to keep her little mind busy.

Montessori starts at 18 months (some programs at 2). Former Montessori kid here too, and I'm excited for your daughter too, OP!

Do know that while many schools have the drop-off line/car seat system, they probably gave you that information to know for later in the year---not for the first day. I can pretty much guarantee that every parent of a brand new student is going to walk the child in. They were likely sharing general policies for drop-off once things get rolling--and if it doesn't work for your child, you can always park elsewhere and walk her in. What they don't want is for you to park in the drop-off line, "quickly hop out!" and walk her in, because it makes life awful for everyone else. But I don't think they will have an issue at all with you walking her into school from elsewhere (and some kids may well walk to school from home or Metro, too!)

Good luck!!

I am a little confused....why does such a young toddler need school?? How often is she going to this. Or is this like a daycare setting??

She just turned 2

15:56 here. On my DD's first day I inconspicuously taped a picture of her beloved stuffed animal to her cubby, so she would at least have a pic of a friendly face somewhere on site. I also wrote her a note saying we were proud of her, we loved her, we knew shed have a great time at school, she was such a big girl, etc., and we read it together before she went in to her classroom then put the note in her cubby (we subsequently wound up reading it each morning for about four weeks after that!). "Llama Llama Misses Mama" was a book we read a lot before school started and then in the early days afterwards. Is your child a young 2 or closer to 3?

Anonymous wrote:Really? They come out and get kids from the car?? Why? Never heard of that before.

My school does this too- which is fantastic once the year starts. It becomes a drive through at drop off and pick up and saves a bunch of time each day. They take them out of their seats, and buckle them right in when it's over.

That said, Our school encourages new families to walk the kids in the first few days of school...

Really? They come out and get kids from the car?? Why? Never heard of that before.

Anonymous wrote:See if they're ok with you taking some pictures of the empty classroom, her cubby, the toilet, tables, etc. And then print those out at cvs asap and look at them a lot with her this weekend. Get her all excited about looking at the cool big girl stuff she'll get to use at school on Monday. Maybe the teacher will even be ok with a picture.

OMG this is AWESOME! Thanks a lot for the idea!