Day care or pre schools near Castle hills Lewis ville (Coppell: home, preschool)

[gkamreddy]

Hi,

We recently moved to Castle hills. I am in dilama to choose b/w Primrose School Of Castle Hills and castle hills montessori. My son is 19 months old.
Appreciate your help .

Thanks,

[gkamreddy]

sonshinelife , TriumphOfTheSprint or anybody ....please provide your views.

[BlosmTX]

I'm going to be moving to the area in a couple of months, and toured both Primrose and the Montessori school.
I liked them both a lot, but ended up going with Primrose. I actually liked the Montessori just a little bit better, but the dealbreaker was they don't take children under 18months. Since my husband and I are planning to have another kid in the next year, it would be too much of a hassle to have 2 kids in 2 different pre-schools/daycares.
My impression was that both seemed like excellent schools that valued learning and creativity in children, and the teachers seemed to really care about the kids and about doing a good job. The fact that the Montessori felt better to me is just a personal preference.

[gkamreddy]

Thank you very much for your views. That really helps.

[sonshinelife]

I don't have experience with daycares in this area for this age. We do after school care with Children's Lighthouse and just started They have a program that they use for your child's age called the Abeka. Not real familiar with it but I know it has some religious basis.

We used a daycare in Coppell for preschool and private K. Sorry I can't help much in this area. I did look at Primrose when my son was younger and I think I would go with montessori over Primrose. Montessori provides more time to explore and hands-on for toddlers and three year olds. Primrose provides more structure. I don't however agree with montessori much after the age of 4 1/2.

Hope this helps some.

[sandybrown]

We have been attending Primrose School of Castle Hills for 2 years. They have a fantastic curriculum and the owner and director are both great.

When the montessori opened, we did check them out, but I never got the concept that in a perfect montessori school the classroom teacher is to remain silent. I don't get that. I need my kids to learn not to be just observed. While I see the benefit of self discovery, I believe the balanced approach of teacher directed/child initiated is much better. This means that there are times in the day where the child does get to free explore (like montessori) BUT there are other times when they are being taught. My children have learned so much at Primrose, it's amazing!

You can't go wrong with the Primrose School of Castle Hills! IMHO.

[mommee]

My sons have been at Primrose since they were 6 weeks old. They love it there. We decided on Primrose because of the loving teachers, very clean and safe environment, curriculum, and overall great reputation! I heard about Primrose from so many of my friends and decided to tour the school. They have their own curriculum which includes so much besides the 3Rs. They even go next door to the retirement home to sing to the grandparents! As my older son is now 4, he is learning so much. He can spell and read simple words! WOW! He can also count to 100.

I haven't heard much about the Montessori... but any school can call themselves a Montesourri. In order to be a Primrose school, there are certifications through the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities. It's not arbitrary. Also in a Montessori the mixed classrooms are a big turn off for me. Your child can be in a class with kids that are more than a year older than he is. That's a problem when it comes to safety of kids and with learning. The kids in that class cannot possibly be on the same ability level and the teacher can't be instructing students on 10 different ability levels. A child's mental, social, and academic development does not work like that.

Anyhow, these are just my thoughts.

[megs65]

I would definitely not recommend Castle Hills Montessori. We signed up our 17 month old after a tour and meeting with the original director (Ginger). Unfortunately, by the time we enrolled management had changed & not for the better.

In my opinion, the current management is more concerned about profit than the welfare of the children. For instance, the before care (anytime before 8:30) consists of all of the children (including the 6 yr olds) running around the gym. I witnessed toddlers being bumped into and yelled at by the older kids. After care is somewhat similar - classrooms being merged, etc. - which creates a chaotic environment. The school may work for someone whose child only attends the Montessori portion of the day (8:30 a.m.- 3:00 pm), but personally I still wouldn't recommend it due to the current mgmt.

[nsumner]

You can always ask each school to bring your child in for a whole day and then decide which one you/and your child like better. You child has to "click" with his teacher.

I have several clients from Castle Hill that have their children in both schools and they are all very happy with both schools...

[megs65]

Yes, that would be ideal to "try" out a school for a day, but unfortunately I don't think that's realistic. There are enrollment fees, registration fees, paperwork, one month's tuition deposit, etc. before your child can attend. These schools aren't "drop-in" daycare centers.

I'm sure some people are happy with Castle Hills Montessori - the facility is great & one of the reasons we chose it - but I'd just give anyone interested in it a word of warning. Make sure to check out the morning care, acutal Montessori classroom time, and after-school time before you make a decision. I wish someone would have given us that advice - it would have saved us a lot of money!