Pre-School vs. Montessori vs. MDO programs?

Re: Pre-School vs. Montessori vs. MDO programs?

• TexasSmith

  February 2009

  I send Natalie to MDO once a week (it goes from 9-2). I am a SAHM, and I enjoy spending the days with her, but this is a nice break for me. At 1 year old, I don't think she is ready for "preschool." She will be going 2 days a week from 9-4 this summer. I think she is ready for it and will love it. Yes, they do have structured teaching time where we send her, but also independent play time, which I like.

  She has been going for about a month now. Luckily, the program at our church had an opening for her, so I snatched it up. I think that is pretty rare...they fill up quickly and the wait lists stay long throughout the year, for the most part.

  Most MDO/preschool programs are registering now for the fall. Good luck deciding!

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• KKMMex

  February 2009

  I'll answer your questions for my almost 3yo:

  1. She attends both a MDO program and preschool.

  2.  I chose these programs based on quality, location, size and cost.

  3. Both programs she attends are church-based.  I first started sending her to MDO when she was 12 months old.  The program was 2x per week for 4 hours a day.  I think I enrolled her a few weeks in advance.  Yes, enrollment takes place at certain times of the year.

  At 18 months old, I enrolled her in preschool.  She currently goes 2 days a week for 6 hours a day.  Her MDO program is now only once a week.  So she's going to two different programs at two different places. 

  At preschool they teach the usual, numbers, colors, crafts, Spanish, music, plus she goes to chapel.  She plays outside twice a day, has lunch and a nap.  There are 13 kids total in the class.

  Enrollment for the fall at Sarah's preschool begins in February!!!  So both of my girls are already registered for Fall 2009 preschool.

  MDO has very similar activities but not as structured.  Her day there is 2 hours shorter.

  FYI - I enrolled my second child in MDO when she was 4 months old!  I was a lot braver having already gone through it once. 

  GOOD LUCK!  I couldn't keep my sanity while staying at home without preschool and MDO.  I could kiss the feet of those ladies every time I drop my kids off.  It's SO worth it.

   

  

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• ccc'swife

  February 2009

  I have a one year old, and here are my answers.

  ~I chose MDO because I'm not "working" FT (I work at my mom's right now helping her get organized, and I'm also starting my own business).  There was no need to commit to FT daycare, and I wanted her to be in a church environment.  I just felt safer with her there.  Plus, it is super close to my mom's house and very inexpensive. 

  ~She goes to a Presbyterian church in the Memorial area.  She was six months old when I started sending her.  I enrolled her in the middle of the summer for that fall, and I think I just got lucky that they had spots in 3 out of the 4 days a week they offer. 

  ~For this church, you can enroll at any time assuming they have spots open.  However, they have an enrollment period for families already in the program, and for us, that was just a couple of weeks ago - and they enrolled for both summer AND fall, so they start early.  The spots go QUICKLY.

  ~They don't really "teach" the kids in the baby room where Charlotte goes in her MDO because of the wide range of ages.  In her room, there's anywhere from 3 months old to a little over a year old, and they stay in this room throughout the summer.  They take them outside, play, nap, eat, and do crafts, but there's really no "teaching".

  After all this, though, we're moving her into a "real" daycare starting in August of this summer.  I am getting my business off the ground and in order to devote the time to marketing/getting clients/serving clients that I need to make my business successful, I have to have her in a full time program where I can drop her off early and pick her up late if I need to (the MDO right now has extended hours, but it's not enough).  So, she'll go to MDO through July and then in August, we're likely going to put her in a Montessori school out in Pearland. We're going to check them out in March and then enroll her in the one we like best.  You've still got time to enroll her for the fall, but I would start soon.

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• jen5-03 member

  February 2009

  I started sending DD to MDO at 8.5mo because I was working part time from home and needed the time to work. We switched programs at 15mo because her old program shut down. At that age, I don't think Montessori or Preschool are available.

  I chose the MDO programs that I did because they also offered extended care, so basically you could use them as fulltime care if needed (and if space was available). So there have been times when I needed an extra day or a few extra hours and I find it MUCH cheaper to buy an extra day/hour at school than pay for a sitter.

  At 19mo (in January), I switched her to parttime daycare (3 days a week of fulltime care). The fantastic part about this is that she is still at the same school with the same teachers! I really love the flexibility of a church program with lots of options. And she lOVES her teachers.

  At DD's age, they have craft activities and a learning theme for the week. She learns new words and new animal sounds at school. They play outside 3 or 4 times a day when the weather is nice like today and on rainy days they go run around in the church hall.

  She goes to St Christopher's Day School on Blalock just north of I-10. You can enroll whenever as long as there is space available.

  - Jena
  
  

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• lilycat

  February 2009

  DS goes to a daycare and they are teaching him.

  At 3 years of age, we hope to send him to a formal preschool that feeds into an elementary program, eventually.
  

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