Is Montessori Worth The $$$$?

My kids attend kensington and enjoy it along with other kids from my moms group. the price is reasonable and it's locally owned

I own a Montessori school and as one of the previous posters said they can range from mediocre to wonderful. Anyone can call themselves a Montessori school and claim to have a program, but do your research. Make sure they are an accredited Montessori school. AMS is very strict and particular on who they will certify and consider an accredited school. The staff must be certified to teach Montessori and the program will be checked in person by an AMS representative to make sure the program is being implemented and the Montessori materials are being used. If it is an accredited school then yes it is worth the money and yes children transition in without any issues. Good luck with your decision!!

I loved my daughter's Montessori program. She transitioned easily to public school. Each site and program will look a bit different. The best thing you can do is take the tours of various programs and go in with an open mind. You will pick up if the program feels right to you and what you think is best for your son.

I didn't put my kids in montessori - not only because of the price but because I'm not crazy about the program. I don't know about your area, but here it seems like many of the "Montessori" programs are glorified day care, not at all following with the founder's vision of education. (The original phiolosophy was to provide a rich environment where kids could explore and build their own understanding of concepts, with only facilitation by the teachers, very little direct teaching. It has goods and not-so-goods, but unless you are really into the philosophy I wouldn't spend that kind of money. ANd I really don't know what the schools there actually teach, either)

Why don't you check with the local school district and see what the preschool program there is like? The teachers there probably have to go through a lot more training than average preschools (any good preschool should have teachers with a degree in Early Childhood Development or Early Childhood Education) and, at least here, they use strategies that are appropriate for little kids to get them ready for Kindergarten. And it will probably cost a whole lot less than Montessori.

make sure the teachers are trained in montessori. i taught at a school who hired women who did not do the montessori because they did not know how.
the parents caught on, but after school started.

My son went to a wonderful Montessori school from when he was 3 1/2 yrs old through kindergarten (the oldest grade they taught). We loved it. He went to a private school for 1st/2nd grade and he did very well.

I think it depends on what you're comparing to. I'm sure there are mediocre Montessori's and great traditional preschools. We had our daughters mainly in Montessori and really liked it. My thought was they might as well spend some time really learning if we're paying anyway and they're going to be there. They never went full time so they had ample regular play time. Both of them also attend/attended a big, regular preschool to get used to a big, more typical setting before K. Maybe my daughters are just average intellligence because I can't say they're way ahead of other kids because of the Montessori. Flip side is would they have been kind of behind if they didn't go? The big, typical preschool they attended is considered good but they really don't learn much there at all. So overall, no right answer and it depends on the program and how much extra money. If it's not a lot extra, you could take the approach that unless your kids are brilliant, you're taking steps to make sure they are being exposed to letters etc enough to at least get a good start and you don't have to do as much teaching at home. If they are brilliant, they'd do fine anywhere but probably be less bored after awhile at a Montessori.

I'm sure the quality is different from school to school, because any school (of any kind) is only as good as the people who teach it and run it.

That being said, my older son and daughter were in a Montessori preschool and it was a really good experience for them. There was no problem making a transition to a more traditional teaching system. I would have put my other children in preschool there if the school hadn't closed.

My niece has three of her daughters in a Montessori school that runs through eighth grade, and she's been very happy with it. Her girls are excelling academically and socially. Her oldest daughter has just started high school and is doing very well.

We had a very wonderful experience with Montessori. My daughter went for 2 years prior to kindergarten. Her transition was great, no problems at all. I would highly recommend it!