Hi,
I need to ramble and get my thoughts written down, any advice welcome.
My three year old boy is starting nursery after Christmas. I am a stay at home mum and am finding the nursery decisions difficult. He was supposed to be going to a nursery nearby and I was initially attracted by the outdoors space and lovely building and nice toys. We;ve attended a weekly toddler group there this term and I became a bit concerned with the strictness of the staff. They told me they encourage use of worksheets even though they are not to according to OFSTED. And they said he absolutely had to be potty trained to attend as they have no facilites for nappies. Anyway, I became a bit concerned about all the discipline and worried about the effects on a 3 year old (he still seems so young). Last week I discovered a Montessori nursery a short drive away that accept his vouchers and have the right mornings that I want. I did a bit of research online and went along for a visit and was really impressed. I think the fact that he will be able to choose his own activities will suit him better as he likes to play with one thing for a long time, investigating every possibility before moving on to something else and the more he is asked to do something, the less likely he is to do it. They seem to run quite like I do things at home, his toys are accessible and I just let him potter around or help me with my jobs. So I think i'm happy that it's a good place for him. But I'm concerned about the fact that Montessori is kind of 'alternative'. If it's so great why isn't every nursery Montessori? Will he find it difficult to move to a mainstream primary school? Will it make him play differently from his other friends that go to mainstream nursery, and will he be percieved as 'different'? I want him to think for himself and be individual but I don't want my issues with disciplinarian methods to ostricize him. Then I get really crazy thoughts that he won't respect authority and wind up in jail....I know, I'm being silly, but I just want to get things right for him, and I am finding it hard to hand him over to someone else.
I've also read about Montessori not encouraging fantasy/imagination. I'm all for a bit of daftness and think it's an important part of childhood. I like some of the steiner philosophies but am not entirely convinced. Does anybody know if you can compensate for the montessori lack of silliness or fantasy by adopting a more steiner approach at home?
Please help me. All the other mums i know don't seem to worry about their mainstream nurseries. Am I just being precious about him?
Any thoughts?
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41 replies
Montessorimumblings · 07/12/2007 14:19
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