montessori vs kindy

I seriously looked into Montessori for Brenna and the main thing that put me off was the distance it is from our house! Montessoris can vary greatly from place to place as to how 'strict' their philosophy is. The one on Bains Ave (Claudelands) is where I was looking for Brenna. It's lovely! I liked how the environment was quite peaceful and alot of their learning acitivites were real life based. It's not for everyone though...there are no 'toys' and children can't bring something like a Barbie to share.

If you can go and look at your local one you'll soon get a feel for the place. A friends son goes to the one on Rimu(?) St in Forest Lake and she raves about it! (and he loves it)

Edited by Brenna

It all depends....
We chose not to as we believe in learn as you play and my son is very active and I don't think that this structured environment would suit him. I preffer for him to gather social skills. There is plenty of time for expanding his ABC and 123 at school. However my friend's son thrives in the monessori environment and her other son didn't so again you would need to look at you child and what would suit them.

all good points...............the reason i was thinking of it is because my son needs discipline in the way that he thinks hes 20 so he needs someone firm .............he is an outdoor boy but i dont mind leaving that too after school (as it is only until lunch) and weekends when he plays sport......i also believe in the playing etc but i think that can be weighed into us as parents doing that and so far so good..............at the moment the little nutta is a bit out of control........im hoping joining jumping beans will help a little..............i do like the idea of kindy as i went but not too sure if it will actually work for him or make him worse...........thought i better nip the attitude in the butt before he turns five and tells the teachers what to do

I agree with McPloppy that the structure wouldn't suit every child, but it's not true that they do less outdoor play. Maya went to Montessori and over the course of an 8 hour day they had 3 hours of scheduled outdoor time. The only difference from daycare in that respect was that at Montessori everyone had to be outside during outside time, whereas at daycare they could wander in and out as they chose.

I don't regret sending her for a moment, she absolutely thrived there. The gremlins are starting in October.