Montessori school recommendation (Austin, West, Sunset Valley: house, pre-school, live in)

[SS_PDX]

Hi All:

We live in South/SW Austin and looking to find a suitable Montessori school for our soon to be 3 yr old. Obviously for commute reasons, I would prefer S/SW Austin based schools.

Would greatly appreciate your recommendations and personal experience.

Thanks in advance!

[Trainwreck20]

The schools that claim the 'montessori' label can vary wildly. I *think* there is a list of some of the local ones somewhere in this forum. Anyway, hard to recommend one for your 3 y/o w/o knowing what you are looking for. Some have 'requirements' for what you do at home (watch TV, what you eat, etc) and at least one dissuades reading until the kids are quite a bit older (like 7 or 8?). Some are more 'traditional'.

[FalconheadWest]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

... at least one dissuades reading until the kids are quite a bit older (like 7 or 8?).

Are you serious? I've never heard of this. Even my 4 year old reads basic words. My 7 year won't stop reading and goes well past her bedtime!

[Trainwreck20]

I would have to look it up again, but, iirc, it was based on something along the lines of "they need to be free to learn in their own direction rather than be directed by reading". Something like that. Not my thing, anyway .

[SS_PDX]

Well, requirements wise, nothing in specific. The montessori philosophy is a little different than traditional pre-school programs at this age...so outside of the obvious difference in education, I guess there isn't much to ask for here. Most schools do encourage a similar kind of "montessori" setup at home to give a sense of continuity.

You are right, there are quite a few schools that have the montessori tag...but I believe that generally the better programs tend to attract more kids and hence grow their profile and the less popular/effective ones tend to fold in. And this is the kind of feedback that I'm hoping to hear from parents here.

Any personal experience sending their kids to montessori schools and how well they would recommend them.

[centralaustinite]

"Montessori" is a generic term, not copyrighted or licensed, there is no regulation of anyone who wants to use it. So you have to look for a certified school with certified teachers.

You want a certified Montessori Academy right? AMI is the best certification. Just do google search, there is Austin Montessori which has a location in Sunset Valley, I know many people who have sent their kids there and they have been around forever. Same with Parkside.

Mariposa and Primevera are newer but generally well thought of. You need to determine what exactly Montessori means to you and how that fits with the philosophy of the schools you are looking at.

[SS_PDX]

Thanks. Yes, I agree with your note. Only those with either AMI or AMS certification are of interest here.

[tuesday2]

Check out ami/usa.org - use the school locator to find any ami schools in your area.

[AMJ27]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The schools that claim the 'montessori' label can vary wildly. I *think* there is a list of some of the local ones somewhere in this forum. Anyway, hard to recommend one for your 3 y/o w/o knowing what you are looking for. Some have 'requirements' for what you do at home (watch TV, what you eat, etc) and at least one dissuades reading until the kids are quite a bit older (like 7 or 8?). Some are more 'traditional'.

I think that you are thinking about Waldorf when it comes to the requirements at home and reading at age 7 or 8. Waldorf and Montessori are two very different education models.

[jedd1]

Both our boys went to International Montessori off Far West Blvd.
International Montessori House of Children

Back then, our Montessori were staffed by women from India. They were very supportive, patient, and knew how to deal w/ kids of all emotional types. We had parents from Circle C and Westlake drop their kids off at our Montessori.