Observing a Montessori play group next week

[Amahoro]

What should I keep an eye out for, what questions should I ask & what should I expect?

I've like what I've read so far about Montessori & we now live about ten minutes from a school. They run a play group for 0-3 year olds which is one day a week, 2.5 hours long & the mum or dad is expected to stay with them.

I'm observing the group next week with Rhino & hopefully will start going next term.

I'd just like to hear other people's experiences of Montessori & if you've got suggestions as to what I should ask or what I need to be aware of, that would be great.

Thanks! :)

[Kiara.I]

We have Sparks in a Montessori preschool. Mostly, I'm quite happy with it.

However, I have noticed a tendency to *push* academics a bit, which I'm not as thrilled with. I think our school suffers from being used as private school prep by a number of parents, so they're "familiar with the entrance requirements for the private school" and it kind of influences the environment. :doh You might want to watch for that, though in a 0-3 playgroup it shouldn't be evident. ;)

One other thing I noticed when visiting preschools--one of them started washing the desks down with bleach while the kids were still in the room. :jawdrop The smell was awful. You might want to ask about their sanitizing/cleaning regime and see if it fits with your comfort levels.