Montessori nursery - your experience?

[user1469903358]

Hi momies,

We are searching for the right nursery for our DS to start when he is about 2.5-3 and we really liked a Montessori nursery near us, but I have some concerns:

• the kids were too quiet - it just didn't feel normal
• is it too structured for them? does it feel like they can't choose to work/play with their friends when they want to?
• do they find it difficult to move to a mainstream school afterwards?
• how do they develop socially?
• any other experiences you'd like to share?

Thanks!

Do you like the actual nursery or are you looking at the name? True Montessori can be vey rigid and some argue it stifles creativity and individual spontaneity in its purist form. Other settings take bits of the approach and adapt it.
Originally it was developed to support SEN particularly Autism where structure and organisation make a child on the spectrum more secure, most settings now adopt something in between with the holistic approach to development but less the we all do it this way together, stand up put your chair in pick up the toy return to shelf, select next toy take to table put down, pull out chair sit down on.

I have two children in a Montessori preschool, and I wish we'd never chosen it. It has been good in some respects (we are not in the UK so it has given our daughter the chance to do some of the things she might do in reception class in the UK at the same age, whereas in a non Montessori school she might not necessarily have done so, meaning that she might be somewhat behind if we move back to the UK) but otherwise we've not loved it. For precisely the reasons you point out. My daughter actually burst into tears the other day because she found out her friends could play at their preschools and, in her own words, "all we do is work work work" apart from when they are outside. We are trying to move our son out. Sorry if this is rather negative - I know others who have had great experiences at different Montessori preschools.

Each individual nursery varies greatly. Personally I prefer nurseries which take the best ideas from a range of childcare ideologies rather than just adopt one.

It wouldn’t suit me, I like children to be childlike and free.....I manage a “loose parts” nursery but we’re very organic, lots of outdoor and messy play.....and we have aspects of Montessori and other approaches woven in.

It’s very much down to a feel you get when you walk in, visit as many as possible.

I’ve worked in both mainstream and Montessori, so here’s my two cents.

Mainstream: If you’d like your child to experience messy play, crafts, novelty & free play I’d say mainstream Nursery is for you. The drawbacks are the amount of plastic crap that piles up everywhere, and some Nursery settings (particularly if they’re in/attached to a School) are very hung up on ‘tick boxing’ everything when it comes to the EYFS.

Montessori: if you’d prefer your child to gain early independence, use real life objects and be exposed to academics very early, Montessori is for you.

My DC was at Montessori for about a year. He had lovely relationships with some of the staff, but he never seemed happy to be there. He was often a state in the evenings- like he'd been repressed all day. They did teach him a lot of independent skills like using cutlery etc.
We moved him to mainstream last year. He now loves nursery- we have to persuade him to leave! He has gone a little wild, but I prefer the happy wildling!