Montessori vs CM?

[Sastra]

Following on from another thread that pointed out that in a lot of areas you need to be looking for child care whilst you're still pregnant, I have been investigating what options are available to us.

There's a Montessori nursery locally, which im going to see next week. Intriguingly, it would cost the same as a child minder.

I'd be really interested to know why you would choose one over the other (of course taking into account what they're like in RL etc)? What are the relative merits/draw backs?

I don't really know enough about Montessori to be able to judge whether it would be a good environment for a baby. BUT as a childminder who once used a nursery I can give you some of the more general pros and cons that I discovered.

The big problem with a nursery is that it's only as good as the staff that are there on the day you look round. Even a nursery with a low turn over of staff can't guarantee who will be looking after your child in a few months time. And one crap nursery worker can have a huge effect on your child even if the others are largely ok. The nursery we used had fantastic staff in the baby room, they really couldn't have been any better. Then our DD moved into the toddler room and it all went horribly wrong. Put me right off using a nursery ever again.

On the other hand, what you need to consider with a childminder is that you will need a back up plan or an understanding employer. If they or their children are ill or on holiday their service won't be available whereas a nursery is open all year round.

Ultimately though, I'd look at both options if you haven't already.

Thank you, that's really helpful!

Hi there

Montessori nurseries in our area only take kids from 2 and up so it's worth checking out if they take babies.

I would see a selection of both CM and nurseries in your area. Some may have no places and some may show you clearly what is vital/not so vital for you in the childcare world.

For example, I was set on a CM but couldn't find one I liked with spaces in my area at all. I also saw a lot of nurseries, many of which I didn't like, until I found the one where my son goes now. It is a family run nursery with lots of cuddling. It doesn't have swanky premises but it is a very warm, caring place and the same selection of people have cared for my son over the past 18 months.

So I don't think you can know what suits you until you see different places. Also I saw a couple of places before my son was born and the rest afterwards. Once I had him, I had a totally different set of priorities than before. I thought things like a nursery being extremely educational were super important before I had him, but actually the warmth and homeliness of the people turned out to be more vital for me once I had him in my arms.

Good luck.

I have worked in a Montessori nursery and was shocked that only 2 staff were actually Montessori trained and that thy didn't work at this specific nursery but across three others in the chain. The Montessori 'toys' were NEVER used and sat in expensive units on show but never played with!

Pressed send too early. What I'm saying is if you are set on the Montessori approach then be sure to ask how many staff are trained and how often the children access the equipment ......

we use both a montesorri and cm, I only looked at montesorri nursery we have 2 different companies in our area who run them so looked at those but didnt want nursery 4 days a week for a baby at the time he is now nearly 2, we did 3 days cm and 1 day nursery and then earlier this year changed to 2 days of both as we made a cm change.

We looked for childcare from the feb for me to return end of the May to work and we found cm for the 3 days and then I actually used annual leave 1 day a week for nearly 4mths so didnt start nursery until the end of sept and we had looked round twice and then signed up a mth beforehand.

I had been told by nurseries when I was pregnant oh you need to get baby place booked now etc etc but actually where we are I didnt need to and wouldnt have been happy to choose beforehand as I sometimes think you can only choose childcare once child is here as you will know whats right for that child.

I'm a cm and sent my son to a Montessori nursery at 2.5 even though I was at home as I felt the Montessori approach would be beneficial to his concentration(he's a boisterous, active, typical boy...).i may be biased as my mother ran Montessori nurseries all my life and I was brought up with a strong knowledge of what Montessori could offer particular children. However, I don't really see the benefits to a baby specifically and don't know of any proper Montessori nurseries I.e, where the vast majority of staff are Montessori trained and not just one or two, who take babies, they usually start from 2. I, personally feel that a baby benefits from the close, personal relationship they form at a cm's but that's just me- there's plenty time to do a combination of cm/nursery as they get older and you get to know your child's personality better-some children thrive in a nursery environment, others don't...As other posters have said, visit both and go with your gut as only you know what you want for your child at the end of the day and you are best placed to decide that obviously!