are montessori schools really best the best for toddlers?

searcher30

are montessori schools really best the best for toddlers?
anyone got any experience. thanks in advance

troll35

It depends on what you want and the needs of your child. My son went to a montessori school for his nursery year. He was originally attending a local preschool but the setting was not right for him. He was fine there whilst it was quiet but as the year went on and it got busier and busier he had a real problem with crowds (or rather lots of people in the same room together) and it was getting very traumatic, he would cry when I left, after a few minutes he would stop, but he would then take himself off into a corner/under a table etc and go to sleep - it was his way of taking himself out of a situation he didn't like. He wasn't tired - if he was at home he wouldn't sleep until bedtime. We tried all sorts to try and get him to interact and have some fun but it just didn't work.

We visited and liked our local montessori and his place was subsidised by the early years grant. It was great for him as they had a huge space for the children in their children's house (3 to 6 yr olds), he was mixing with children of a variety of ages and they only had 15 children in total. He is very bright and they were able to accomodate this really easily.

After his nursery year I sent him to our local state school with no problems at all. I was glad I didn't send him to the nursery at our local school because although it is very good, it is very compact and I think he would have had the same problems there as he had at preschool.

culpepper

Do check the nursery school out. My DS went to one for 2 terms . I realised that the nursery he attended didn't actually follow the method at all (my son hated it too) .We took him out and took him to the local playgroup instead and he loved it.

searcher30

Thank you both

emg

I really believe that you have to go round lots of nurseries and choose the one that 'feels' best. Different approaches/accommodation/staff/equipment/age groups will all suit different children. Even Montessori nurseries can be very different from each other. All nurseries have to follow the Early Years curriculum so I wouldnt worry too much about the learning side of things, I would make sure I had found somewhere open and friendly that I felt comfortable leaving my child.