Help! Pressure from pre-school to increase days!

[loulourw]

Hi my daughter started Montessori pre-sch in Sept and is very happy there. She attends 3 mornings a week. When we enrolled, the principle made it clear that they ideally wanted children to quickly increase from 3-5 mornings a week (it's all money!!)

This week, we have been asked about increasing to a 4 morning week. I really don't feel my daughter is ready and for now, I feel the school/home balance is just right. She is not 3 until end of January.

What can I say? Where do I stand? Can they put the pressure on like this and if I say no, could they potentially say we no longer have a place?

I'm a teacher myself though am not sure of the policies with regards to nursery/private pre-school.

Please help. I'm looking for advice as to what I should say.

Thanks all x

Check the terms and conditions. Usually pre-schools recommend a minimim of 5 half-days but they can't usually force you to take up that many.

When we enrolled, the principle made it clear that they ideally wanted children to quickly increase from 3-5 mornings a week (it's all money!!)

The principle obviously made her expectations very clear did you make yours? You will need to make an appointment to speak to them. You may need to pay for the full time place to keep it even if your dd is not going every day or perhaps you could agree a time when she will increase her days i.e. after the summer holidays.

Does the increasing of days was only verbal or was been given in writtern terms and condition. If it show, you have to obey the rule of the school. It therefore always been recommended to get your ward admitted to any preschool after no. of checklists. Though you can request them for not increase the day.

I'm not really what the problem is with less than 5 mornings a week at nursery. Both DS's attended private nurseries. DS2 attended 5 mornings from the Sept before he started school but then dropped to 4 mornings so he could go to the pre-school of his school. DS1 never did 5 mornings- he did 2 mornings and a full day at a different nursery, the year before he started school but before that he did 3 mornings a week. Both nurseries were full but had no problem with this. There were children on all kinds of different patterns from 1 morning to 5 full days. Changing or increasing sessions was subject to availability/ first come first served however so if you were doing 3 mornings you didn't have an automatic right to increase sessions so had to make clear plans for changes at least 6 months in advance to be sure if getting the sessions you wanted. The nurseries didn't seem to be losing out.

Are you sure it's all about the money? Is it a very purist Montessori?

DS is at a preschool that is very pure Montessori in the morning sessions. Although 3 sessions is technically the minimum I think they would say dc benefit most from being in all 5 Montessori sessions because Montessori methods take time and exposure to take root or sonething. Anyway, seems to be working on DS!!