A few years ago my child was enrolled in a Montessori program in the US and it was excellent. The children were learning, but there was space and time to play and interact with other children. When we came to Canada we decided we would like to put our child back into a Montessori program and were thoroughly impressed by the website and first interactions we had with the B&D Montessori Learning Academy. The Academy boasts of specialized programs including art, music, French, etc. During the time that our child attended the academy she did experience the music program and a little bit of french. She never got to experience the art program and any art projects that the kids did do, were mainly done by the teachers. My child would come home with these beautifully made magnets, picture frames and other things, only to break down in tears telling us she was only allowed to put stickers on them, not do the coloring, gluing, cutting, etc. The music program was intense, it was always incorporated into celebrations (mother's day, the graduation ceremony, Christmas, etc.). But because the celebrations invited parents, the performances were expected to be perfect. The kids would practice every day... and the performances were flawless, but also incredibly long! The mother's day celebration was about 45 minutes long and Graduation was close to 2 hours (those poor children between the ages of 2.5 and 5 sitting up there on the stage for 2 hours!!!).The second difficulty we had with the program is that parents aren't allowed inside. You drop off your child outside of the program and they are brought back out to you when you pick them up. You never have the opportunity to observe the class and your child (besides the intro day and 20 minutes one day/term). The third problem we had with the academy was that our child was never able to make friends with any of the kids. She is very outgoing normally, but during the day, while the kids are working or singing or doing whatever they are supposed to be doing, they are not supposed to talk or interact with one another - at least not enough that they actually get close friends, in fact, several times our child told us that another child had been unable to go outside (there is only 1h/day of outside time, starting at 4pm, and only if there is no rain) because he or she had been talking or playing with one of the other kids, or a child wet their pants during music class, lunch or work time. Of course, we never actually got to witness any of this, because we weren't allowed to go into the classroom, but my child isn't yet old enough that she lies to us. Most mornings my child wouldn't want to go to the daycare for fear she would wet her pants or do something "wrong", also, because she was unable to make friends she hated it there. The fourth reason we didn't like the program was that it is like grade 1, even for those children who are 2.5-4 years old. They sit at desks and write, or do math, or whatever else, quietly. I believe that there is a lot to be learned from social interactions and playtime. I come from a family of educators and my mother, who used to be a kindergarten teacher, always told me that the kids that came to her class without a lot of play experience had little imagination and didn't know what to do when they were given play time. They had a harder time making friends and usually disliked school from an early age. Finally, the things my child was learning were incorrect. She was given no instruction on how to form letters, so she was doing it from the bottom up and just trying to make the right shapes, something that we have been trying to correct. Apparently (again, I was never allowed in the classroom, so I don't know if this is correct, but I don't believe my child would lie to me) the kids were only allowed to ask a certain number of times/day for help... too many times and there were repercussions. All in all, it was a very strict school with too much improper education and too little play and interaction time for us. Those of you who are worried about your child "catching up" in elementary school should remember that your child only has a few years of play before they spend the next 13+ years in school. All of the children will be at the same level by the end of kindergarten. Let them play for a while. read more
