Montessori pre school

have you looked atthe cost of motessori recently? it's just I know that ours in Gisborne is free in July due to the new government initiatve and Kidicorp bought Montessori and it's no longer private - or something like that - read in the dominion today.

thanks Mummy-becks, I will have a look over there.
Lizzle, sadly the NP still is expensive, I called them on Friday and they didn't mention anything about it becoming free here, wouldn't that be great if it was though!!!!

Maya goes to Montessori and IMHO (for Maya at least) it is definitely worth the cost. For us the cost wasn't much more than having her in daycare (up until she was 3 she was in daycare 3 days a week) and she is absolutely thriving there.

I guess there are good Montessoris, and not-so-good ones just like any type of kindy/school/daycare etc. but we chose the one Maya goes to coz it has such a great reputation, even tho it is slightly further away than a couple of others.

Maya's been there just over a year and now, having just turned four, is able to recognise and write all of her numbers and letters, read simple, repetitive books, add single digits, can tell you which colors mix to make which colors etc.

What I like most about her particular preschool is that they have a monthly focus and really go the distance to extend the kids. I nearly fell over backwards when Maya came home and told me about Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus Rex and Pteranadons and could tell me which ones flew/ate meat/had horns etc. after they'd been studying dinosaurs. They did a topic on planets, now she can name them all. And at the moment they are creating a garden and have planted seeds and small shrubs, are learning about how to care for their gardens and even built a scarecrow.

They have six-monthly parent-teacher sessions where you meet with one of the teachers and review their portfolios (the last one Maya had I was very pregnant with the gremlins and a little embarrassed that I had no idea how well she could read and write until I saw her portfolio as I'd been too tired to work on it with her).

If you have any other questions feel free to PM me...

And following on from what emeldee said, if there is a Montessori primary in your area, I guess you'll then have to think about how kids are gonna be when they get to high school.

If they've been to a Montessori pre-school and primary school all their life, then suddenly turn 13 and head off to college, with a totally different way of doing things and alot more structure, different way of learning etc.. it would be very very different! I know I would probably be freaked out and not manage if it was me!

Just another thing to think about I guess...

My son goes to a Montessori Preschool... I would definately recommend it!! They have an educational program, he is learning to read and write and it will give him a great head start at school.