Montessori or not?

My DH and I have been looking at Daycare/Preschools for the girls (they are currently with my mom while I work, but are looking to get them into a place) and we have seen both some Montessori schools and non-Montessori.

My DH likes the Montessori (partly because it is less expensive) then one I like that is not a Montessori. For those of you that have your kids in a Montessori can you give me the pluses and minuses to it? I need help before I make this decisions.

 

You will really need to visit the center. Montessori can be done VERY VERY well and VERY VERY BADLY! A good program will let the children lead their own learning, but within a structure of reality. A bad program will be a free-for-all. The true, good Montessori approach is that each child develops at his or her own pace and that older children can guide the younger childrens' learning. There is a good group of multi-aged children in each classroom (in your case, they should be with kids ranging from 18 mo. to 3 years or so). Check and see if the school is certified by the International Montessori Association (Association Montessori Internationale--it's actual name). Do a search on Montessori and check out some of the better developed websites to see if that school follows those curriculum guidelines. Both my DD's were raised in an in-home Montessori school and LOVED it! As a teacher I loved the way their teacher interacted with them and encouraged their learning. If you want any more feedback, please feel free to PM me!!
Good luck!
Nicole

 

^ITA
Some schools claim to be Montessori, but are not.

We are huge Montessori advocates, here's a link about Maria Montessori that explains the philosophy behind it:
http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/montessori.html

My in-laws thought it was hokey when we enrolled Berkley in it at 3. They were used to other preschools that DH's cousins had put their children in so they were less than enthusiastic.
Berkley is 6 now and my FIL still talks about how amazing it is.
He's VERY hard to change his mind!

 

We looked at a Montessori and I was very excited about it. I knew the history behind them and thought it would be perfect for my kids, however it was very rigid and structured. Not what I pictured at all. We chose a different center. If I were you I would go in and tour the facility while kids are there. Look around, I took HH with me and he noticed two tvs w/vcrs and the carts were loaded with movies...that did it for me. If I want them to sit in front of a tv, I could do that at home for free.

 

^that's not common.
Most true Montessori classrooms do not have televisions in them and are not considered rigid at all.

The only time Berkley had a TV/DVD in her Montessori classroom was on rainy days or if there was a speacial news bulletin and they would rool one in.

They did yoga on rainy days when they couldn't go outside and play! I thought that was cute!

Touring a school is a MUST.