I myself was a student here 30 years ago. Now I'm a Mom and my 3-year-old daughter is in the preschool class, and I plan to keep here there through kindergarten at least. The Skinner sisters have built a wonderful educational institution, true to the principles of Montessori teaching. It's amazing how they are able to "tame" my very active daughter and encourage her to direct her energy toward educational exploration and learning. They very much value independence self-sufficiency, which is something I think a lot of schools lack these days in favor of only the formal sit-down-and-listen type of teaching (which they also incorporate, but in a good balance with independent exploration.) For those who wonder if "independent exploration" means unorganized playtime, it very much does not. It works like this: there are a variety of "tools" and stations set up around the classroom, running the gamut from numbers and letters to sensory to life skills. Kids are given a formal lesson on a tool or activity by the teacher, usually one-on-one, and once they've shown they understand how to use it properly they are able to choose that station during independent study time. The days are intermixed with lots of larger group lessons and activities/projects. I love how in addition to learning about the letters, numbers and geography (and French, of course), the preschool children also learn life tasks such as washing their dishes, wiping and sweeping up their messes, pouring water into a glass from a pitcher, caring for plants, slicing foods, using zippers, clasps and buttons, tying shoes, etc. The children are encouraged to take responsibility for their learning actions- not in an overly strict way, but in a way that makes them feel proud to do so. It's a great thing they have going here, and I think there's a reason that kindergarten and 1st grade teachers uniformly love kids who came from Montessori preschool. And Skinner School does Montessori right, as they have been for generations!
All USA
I myself was a student here 30 years ago. Now I'm a Mom and my 3-year-old daughter is in the preschool class, and I plan to keep here there through kindergarten at least. The Skinner sisters have built a wonderful educational institution, true to the principles of Montessori teaching. It's amazing how they are able to "tame" my very active daughter and encourage her to direct her energy toward educational exploration and learning. They very much value independence self-sufficiency, which is something I think a lot of schools lack these days in favor of only the formal sit-down-and-listen type of teaching (which they also incorporate, but in a good balance with independent exploration.) For those who wonder if "independent exploration" means unorganized playtime, it very much does not. It works like this: there are a variety of "tools" and stations set up around the classroom, running the gamut from numbers and letters to sensory to life skills. Kids are given a formal lesson on a tool or activity by the teacher, usually one-on-one, and once they've shown they understand how to use it properly they are able to choose that station during independent study time. The days are intermixed with lots of larger group lessons and activities/projects. I love how in addition to learning about the letters, numbers and geography (and French, of course), the preschool children also learn life tasks such as washing their dishes, wiping and sweeping up their messes, pouring water into a glass from a pitcher, caring for plants, slicing foods, using zippers, clasps and buttons, tying shoes, etc. The children are encouraged to take responsibility for their learning actions- not in an overly strict way, but in a way that makes them feel proud to do so. It's a great thing they have going here, and I think there's a reason that kindergarten and 1st grade teachers uniformly love kids who came from Montessori preschool. And Skinner School does Montessori right, as they have been for generations!