At 4 years old, you might want to consider Pre-K rather than a Preschool. My 3 year old is currently in preschool and my 5 (missed the August Kindergarten cut off) in is private Kindergarten at Primrose of Parkwood Hill. He attended the Pre-K last year and it was a great jumpstart.
I looked into the Montessori downtown FW and was not impressed with their “TRUE Montessori vision”. I was also looking for structure and academics; they explained to me that they don’t operate that way. They let the children learn at their own pace and don’t really push or challenge them. They want children to “enjoy” what they are doing and encourage themselves… please, my kids would have played Candy Land all day :-) I was also confused with the age span, my 4 year old would have been in a class that ranged from 3-6 year olds.
The Primrose that we attend is challenging for the kids. My older son who just turned 5 is spelling 6 letter words, counts by 5s and 10s along with simple addition and subtraction and understands clocks and can draw the O’clock and half hours. He also just started writing 3 word sentences! They spend the afternoons on art and science projects and also encourage group play. Please let me know if you would like additional information, the Pre-K teacher there has a Bachelors in Education and is great with the kiddos.
Good Luck!
E.
