Montessori and traditional nursery together ?

[Lollzzl]

Hi everyone,

My son turns 2 in June and will start Montessori, but it closes mid-July for the summer holidays. During the holidays, he’ll go to a traditional nursery with holiday provision.

From September, I’m planning two mornings in Montessori alongside two mornings in the traditional nursery, with Fridays off. So he will attend two mornings in the traditional nursery all year, plus two additional mornings in Montessori during term time. This is a proper Montessori school, not just Montessori-inspired.

I’m a bit worried this might be too much for a just-turned 2-year-old, especially as he’s currently used to grabbing toys and free play, mixing and mucking in.

That said, I really value the Montessori approach, as I think it will help him develop boundaries, focus, and respect for others. I’m sure he’ll adapt quickly, but I’m wondering: would starting Montessori, stopping for the summer, and then mixing the two settings from September be super confusing for him?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

IMO the question isn’t ’Montessori and non-Montessori’ it’s - ‘is it confusing and disruptive to go to two different settings very part-time’.

I would stick with just one setting personally. Only going to each two mornings a week will really impact on how well he settles.

Also it's unclear from your post but is he starting the Montessori in June and then not attending in July and August when it is closed. If so then I honestly wouldn't put him in that setting at all as any nursery thinking he will settle by attending for just one month before having a two month gap isn't very child focused.

I think it would be confusing to go to two settings, yes, regardless of their approach. You'd always be reminding him which nursery it was today (as two year olds don't have much concept of days of the week) and who will be there etc.

You need a nursery that is open full time, the ones that close for holidays are only useful for SAHMs or people with reliable holiday childcare in the form of grandparents/siblings. I wouldn't send a two year old to what is essentially a holiday club, it takes them a while to settle in. Tbh my son was a bit young for holiday club in Reception (but needs must at that point).

I do think you should choose 1 or other, children need routine day to day and he might get confused withdifferent routines, are you using the other nursery for childcare ?

Thanks for the responses - forgot to mention my daughter attended both and she was fine…. She did a few days Montessori and then one day traditional and just understood diff settings / diff rules.

She thrived in both

my concern with my son is starting and then stopping over summer holidays and then attending both at same time. But my daughter did manage absolutely fine and enjoyed the variety!

I've known some kids attend 2 settings like that (divorced parents living some distance from each other) and it worked fine. I don't think it'll be a problem once they're in a routine. My eldest went to nursery 3 days and spent 2 days with me, and that worked out well too. I think 2 mornings doesn't feel quite enough to get the benefits of Montessori though.

But it's worth looking around to see if there are any Montessori nurseries which can combine the 2 needs. We had ours in a day nursery which ran all year around, 5 days a week, but used Montessori teaching with all the learning cycles and apparatus and Montessori trained teachers. I know of at least 2 others run like that nearby (though we are in London where there is the demand for it).