Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter went to Aidan Montessori for 3 years. Yes, Ms. Antonucci is not the best interviewer in the world. Yes, it is ridiculous that a 2 year child is interviewed. BUT, Aidan is a very good school, especially for younger kids. The teachers are very experienced. Despite the size of the classes (Montessori philosophy), my DD received individual attention. The teachers were always positive about her, never feeling obliged to find fault to earn their pay (as you see frequently in other private preschools). I really regretted not sending my elder DD to AM. Like some other people on this thread, I had been turned off by the school during my tour. BIG MISTAKE. Appearances can be very deceiving as I learned a few years later.

By the way, AM is a feeder school to some very good private schools in the area. It makes your life and your child's life much easier if you send her there. I speak from experience, trust me.

May I ask you to share to what schools the children in your dd's class were admitted after their time at Aidan?

And do people at Aidan typically apply for pre-K or for K entry to the ongoing privates?

TIA

Anonymous wrote:My daughter went to Aidan Montessori for 3 years. Yes, Ms. Antonucci is not the best interviewer in the world. Yes, it is ridiculous that a 2 year child is interviewed. BUT, Aidan is a very good school, especially for younger kids. The teachers are very experienced. Despite the size of the classes (Montessori philosophy), my DD received individual attention. The teachers were always positive about her, never feeling obliged to find fault to earn their pay (as you see frequently in other private preschools). I really regretted not sending my elder DD to AM. Like some other people on this thread, I had been turned off by the school during my tour. BIG MISTAKE. Appearances can be very deceiving as I learned a few years later.

By the way, AM is a feeder school to some very good private schools in the area. It makes your life and your child's life much easier if you send her there. I speak from experience, trust me.

Anonymous wrote:My DC interviewed at Aidan when he was 2 1/2. The interview was scheduled during his nap time. When he misses a nap, he gets a little manic. Regardless, he did pretty well during the classroom exercises. When he got out into the playground, he started running and climbing like crazy. The interviewer looked at me and said, "I don't think we can accomodate his energy at this school. He belongs in a play-based program." She's an idiot. First of all, the montessori method was originally created to teach children with developmental problems, so why wouldn't it work for an energetic little boy? My DC now goes to a different montessori school and is thriving.

Anonymous wrote:Me again from 11:00am.

At nearly all of the Montessori schools that we saw, the questions ran the gamut of very *very* personal (like, how long did you breastfeed? were there any birth complications?) to more general/understandable probes (like, how does your toddler deal with tantrums? how do you discipline your child? or how long do you plan to keep your child at the school?). They reminded me of how I felt once when asked when I intended to get married & how many children I wanted to have by my prospective employer in France!

The very personal ones can make you squirm, so get ready to deal with them the best that you can. Unlike job interviews, I don't think there is much that is forbidden in terms of questioning. Maybe someone else can answer why they ask such things. But for me, I just rolled with it and still feel strongly that the positives of the education style far outweigh any discomfort in questioning.

Anonymous wrote:I had two c-sections and did not breastfeed. I wonder what she would think of me?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[size=18][/siz
Get off the internet and spend some time with your child or with a book or enjoy some quiet time for yourself.

People come to this forum--on the Internet--for advice. Which they gave. And you gave. On the Internet.

I suppose the idea of a 2.5 year old being "interviewed" at all is distasteful to some people. But what is also distasteful is being quizzed on how long you breastfed and what your birth experience was like, and--oh--watching your toddler being set-up and then reprimanded by a stranger for "not following instructions" because he touched the roof of a playhouse. It's so very, very sad.

Anonymous wrote:
Is this a contest to see how often you can say "BLOSSOM" in connection with your daughter's interview at Aidan?? She had a good day - her personality fits well there - I understand these things - BUt a 2 yr old doesn't BLOSSOM at an interview, for gosh sakes. Give it a rest. You make it sound like the birds started chirping and the angels singing when your dd walked into Aidan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had such a different experience of our interview with Ms. Antonucci. However, I can understand why the process puts some people off.

Of all of the preschools we applied to, Aidan was the only one that very actively assessed our daughter during the process (NCRC was second in terms of really looking at her as an individual, imo). It was kind of uncomfortable to be present while she was clearly being evaluated for attention span, frustration tolerance, ability to follow directions, short-term memory, etc., and Ms. Antonucci's style was very directive and not particularly warm and fuzzy. It was definitely a situation in which the parents were of secondary concern. That, however, is as it should be, imho, since it is a school for our daughter and not for us.

Our daughter responded extremely well to this approach and really blossomed during the interview. If we had not seen her response, we would likely have chosen a play-based program and come away from Aidan thinking it was a little too structured. But our daughter loved it, so we were excited to accept the position we were offered there for this fall.

Is this a contest to see how often you can say "BLOSSOM" in connection with your daughter's interview at Aidan?? She had a good day - her personality fits well there - I understand these things - BUt a 2 yr old doesn't BLOSSOM at an interview, for gosh sakes. Give it a rest. You make it sound like the birds started chirping and the angels singing when your dd walked into Aidan.

Anonymous wrote:We had such a different experience of our interview with Ms. Antonucci. However, I can understand why the process puts some people off.

Of all of the preschools we applied to, Aidan was the only one that very actively assessed our daughter during the process (NCRC was second in terms of really looking at her as an individual, imo). It was kind of uncomfortable to be present while she was clearly being evaluated for attention span, frustration tolerance, ability to follow directions, short-term memory, etc., and Ms. Antonucci's style was very directive and not particularly warm and fuzzy. It was definitely a situation in which the parents were of secondary concern. That, however, is as it should be, imho, since it is a school for our daughter and not for us.

Our daughter responded extremely well to this approach and really blossomed during the interview. If we had not seen her response, we would likely have chosen a play-based program and come away from Aidan thinking it was a little too structured. But our daughter loved it, so we were excited to accept the position we were offered there for this fall.