Which preschool?

[halfpint]

I have two that I'm choosing from. 

The first is a Montessori school. 
They are connected to a local school district for some things, but otherwise private. They offer early pre-school as soon as 18 months, but don't start "true" preschool until age 3. It's kind of a moot point, because they're full this year anyway. 
The soonest we could start would be with their special summer programs in June 2016, and then he'd start 3 year old preschool in September 2016. This is fine, we'd keep our nanny until then. They do offer full day preschool, but it's like 8-3:30. We probably need a little childcare help after school, but our schedules are relatively flexible. Alternately, they offer half days, and we could have nanny do pick up and reduce her hours to part time (if she were open to that). 
I love the idea of Montessori, and ideally would like to see him in that classroom structure from 3-6. 
The school is clean and bright, the teachers seem very friendly, the director seems competent and responsive
There is some diversity, about as much as I could expect from a Midwestern suburb. They do offer a Spanish immersion program, which sounds kind of awesome. 
They follow the local school district calendar, so we'd need to pay for extra childcare during holidays and breaks - I believe they offer some programs to help with that. 
They also use the local school district for meals, so he'd basically be eating school lunch. Not sure I'm wild about that, but I could send lunch with him. 
ETA: I just confirmed they do offer before/after care, I would just have to pay for it, making this the more expensive choice

The second is more of a traditional daycare/preschool, but it's run by Easter Seals. We have a camp nearby, and the child development center is on the grounds of the camp. 
The classes are primarily non-disabled children, but there might also be disabled children in his class. He would also have the opportunity to spend time with disabled teens and adults during their annual summer camps. I really love this in so many ways. 
Because it's part of the camp, there are a lot of outdoor activities and amenities - an indoor pool for swimming lessons (they swim once/week with preschoolers), ponies that they ride in the summer, a climbing wall, nature walks. 
Food is homemade by their chef - but it's pretty typical stuff. I feel moderately better about their menu than the school district's menu. 
They operate more like a child care center - so more hours, a little more flexibility. We wouldn't need before/after care for sure. They do not offer part-time or half days. 
Also - they operate more like a child care center, so a little less focus on a preschool curriculum. 
They have immediate openings, but I'm not in a huge hurry - I want to give our nanny at least a few months notice before either reducing hours or ending her employment. 
It is further away from us, but not much. It may actually end up taking less time because we wouldn't have to get on any busy commuter routes to get there. 

Cost is about the same for each - but it covers more hours at the Easter Seals center. 

I'm torn - I really like the idea of the amenities at the Easter Seals center, and love that they have disabled and non-disabled children learning together. But I also love the Montessori setting, especially for early learning and independence. 

[arch01]

Honestly, the having to find additional child care on top of what you already would have at the Montessori school is a huge turn-off for me. Nanny's sick? Scramble for pick-up plans. Do they also take off for teacher work days?

I'd go with number 2, hands down.

[ilikedonuts]

Number 2 for sure. The additional child care for #1 sounds like so much work and extra money.

[lauralala]

I would go with #2. The amenities are nice, and better food is always a plus, but the big deal for me would be one stop child care - not having to juggle early closing or school breaks. We used a preschool that was like that for a while, and it really was a pain to find back up care when we needed it.

[spankswife]

I love Montessori! I also like how you mention it's more of a preschool than a day care center. Sounds like the schedule isn't that big of an issue. I vote 1.

[bcarp30]

Those both sound like awesome places. I would also want to know what you think the ES school struggles with academically. Is it something you could try and make up on your own? the programs they offer sound awesome and like a great life-skills learning environment. Montessori is great but I know it wouldn't be a good fit for my DD so knowing that I would pick ES and supplement her education where I thought necessary.

[zarapipe]

No question, 2

[halfpint]

Aug 14, 2015 14:42:31 GMT -5 @mrswindycity said:

I'm a huge proponent of Montessori but if they can't do full day, that would definitely be a turn off. Plus it sounds like the other place is great, so I'd go with #2.

I think they do offer before/after care, but I would have to pay extra for it. 

[halfpint]

I don't know that I think the ES lacks anything academically, per se, they just don't really seem to focus on it. When we spoke with the Montessori school, there was a lot of emphasis on the learning, the structure of the day, the educational focus. With the Easter Seals school, it was more about the amenities - they didn't talk a lot about the curriculum, just that they follow a "preschool curriculum". So not necessarily lacking, just not as much of a focus.

Maybe I'm ridiculous, I mean...it's frigging preschool, right?

[halfpint]

Aug 14, 2015 15:06:45 GMT -5 @littlemoxie said:

I'm not sure I'd want my 3 year old in a hectic pre-school class with an indoor pool and ponies and stuff. That's my big hesitation with that school.

But the first one sounds like a PITA, so I guess #2.

Same. I mean, it all sounds cool in theory, but it's not like they have extra staff on hand to make sure there aren't pony stampedes. 

Now, my two year old isn't taking swim lessons there, but as he gets older, it could be an option...I'm just not okay with a 4:1 ratio around water. They also have a big pond at the camp, and I got a little panicky thinking about how easy it would be for a fast-moving toddler to break away before someone noticed. 

[namasteak]

#2 for sure

[Ashley&Scott]

#1

My worry with #2 is the ratios aren't any different when doing the activities. Water & pony rides with a 4:1 ratio would give me panic attacks, but really even a nature walk with a 4:1 ratio could be chaos.