Montessori day nurserys, anyone have any info?

[SatanInHeels 10]

hi, I'm due to start university at Hallam in September and although my daughter is down to go to the university nursery, it is quite a long way from the psalter lane campus so have been looking for one a little nearer. there is a montessori nursery on psalter lane which would be ideal because of where it is.. am finding it rather difficult to find out about montessori nurseries though so dunno whether she would be better going to the other one despite the extra travelling. has anyone any experience of these or could give any adive on the subject? thanks

[Tricky 10]

Hi SatanInHeels, my advice would be to visit 4 or so nurseries in the area and make your mind up then. I've used the Hallam one and I've been really pleased with it. It may also work out cheaper as the student contract fits in with term-time.

 

It's not always a straightforward process as sometimes a child will take against a place for no reason that anyone can see, (maybe because it associates it with negative feelings of separation) and will be quite happy somewhere else.

[SatanInHeels 10]

thanks, the uni one seemed okay but guess i should see others too before making a decision, quite a lot of others in the area say they do student contracts too so they are only there in term time. think they will mind if we ask to go and look around? didnt really have this problem before as she was quite happy in the college nursery as she was too tiny to know any different

[fox20thc 10]

think they will mind if we ask to go and look around?

 

No Satan, no nursery will mind you having a look around. Or they shouldnt if the do have a problem with it cross them off your list immediately.

[Tricky 10]

thanks, the uni one seemed okay but guess i should see others too before making a decision, quite a lot of others in the area say they do student contracts too so they are only there in term time. think they will mind if we ask to go and look around? didnt really have this problem before as she was quite happy in the college nursery as she was too tiny to know any different

 

You need to look around as there is a surprisingly large difference in approach.

 

Some things to look out for might be:-

 

Variety of menu

Level of noise - somewhere between silence and anarchy

Age profile of staff - high number of 17 year-olds indicates high staff turn-over

Cleanliness

Feedback - Some is good, but some places seem to overdo it.

Facilities

Outdoor Play area

Cost and what is included/excluded

Do they seem organised/well run?

 

I'll add some more when they occur to me

[medusa 16]

My neighbour's little girl attends the Montessori nursery on Psalter Lane, and is one of the most engaging and lovely children you could ever wish to meet. She comes home from nursery obviously tired but happy, and my neighbour is happy to ferry her daughter from Hillsborough to Hunter's Bar to nursery.

 

I'm sure they would be more than happy for you to go to visit them, and to take yor daughter with you.

[SL31 10]

If you search in google you will see many useful results, i have pasted a couple below -

 

http://montessori.org/

http://www.montessori.org.uk/schools.php

http://www.montessori-uk.org/whatis.htm

[SatanInHeels 10]

do you know if it is much different to other nurseries med? n thanks sarahlorna, i have looked at a few before on the net but being a little dim as i am at time, didnt quite undersand what their ways etc would mean for the child. think im going to give them a call see if i can go though anyways. thanks

[fox20thc 10]

quite a few moons ago I worked at the Psalter lane montessori. Though it was a great place for the children I did have a problem with it. My own personal experience was a child was spitting at another and calling him a Bas**rd. I told him not to do that and that it was naughty.

 

I was taken to the heads office and told off, saying "we don't have naughty montessori children but silly ones"

[medusa 16]

As far as I understand it, the Montessori concept is around giving the learners (in this case the tots) more freedom to do what they want to do and going with that rather than a prescribed schedule. This apparently is a handy thing with wilful child because less time is spent trying to persuade them to fit into other people's plans, and more time doing what the child wants to do and is receptive to. It means that the teaching element of the nursery has to be much more flexible than with a standard nursery, but the nursery still accomplishes everything that they need to do (just not necessarily in the manner planned).

[fox20thc 10]

Actually Medusa that is the line all nurseries have to take now. Its called child led learning.

 

The physicality of actually sitting at a table and saying "now we shall all do shapes/mark making/painting is no more.

[SatanInHeels 10]

was taken to the heads office and told off, saying "we don't have naughty montessori children but silly ones"

ah ive heard that before from another nursery i think... not entirely sure about that

 

..thanks med, thats a little clearer than the info they give on the websites and stuff.. jayden much prefers to do what she likes doing and ive seen her getting rather upset a couple of times at nursery when they have tried to persuade her to do things that dont appeal to her at that particular time. although im sure they dont push it and let them do as they please if they dont want to to the activity planned. perhaps its a a good thing to try and get them involved though to get them into the habit of doing as they are told in preperation for school, although maybe more suitable closer to school time and not when they are a few months- a year old.. i dunno.

 

any ideas on if the facilities and stuff are decent there?