Ds has been going to the same day nursery part time for a couple of years. He is 3.1 and goes for 3 mornings and 1 afternoon all year round unless we are on holiday or it is a bank holiday.
I have the opportunity to move him to a Montessori nursery school which goes up to age 7.
The pros of moving him seem to be:
- the Montessori nursery is very well thought of and has a great reputation whereas where ds is now has mixed reports and I feel mixed about it (some of the staff are great but some are very young, a little immature and don't seem to be that experienced and they sometimes seem a bit understaffed - not quite on ratios at drop off for example as they always go out of the room to open the door)
- the Montessori school might be better at encouraging ds to be more comfortable with other children and improve his social skills (def something he needs help with as he prefers talking to adults and isn't that interested in kids!)
- ditto he is keen to learn but already knows all his letters, counting to 30 etc and I just don't think they can take this much further at the nursery as they don't have the staff and have no experience of going beyond letters. (I know this is controversial and kids just should play and I agree but he loves learning about words)
The cons seem to be:
- he will be disrupted for the sake of only 3 terms as he will start school Sept 09.
- he knows all the staff at his existing nursery and loves them
- he is comfortable with the kids (although I wouldn't say he has made friends as he isn't that sociable)
- the new place is a fair bit further away
- the new place means 6 weeks holiday and isn't all year (not a huge problem for my work although not ideal - we'll have to deal with this when he starts proper school and so in a way this is a gentle intro)
Any thoughts on this - I can't really decide what to do.
I've asked him in a round about way if he would settle at a new nursery and he says he would (I said the staff are nice!) as long as I go at first (which I obv would for settling sessions). Not sure if he really wouldn't get upset as he isn't great at being left with people he doesn't know.
Advice appreciated. Fundamentally I think it comes down to whether to disrupt him by moving him somewhere new for only 3 terms but which I think is a better nursery.