Moving EV to another playgroup

EV has been attending playgroup at My Montessori My World near my mom's place this quarter. While the location is perfect, and the principal was nice to give EV make-up classes (she was sick and missed classes for about three weeks), we felt that there didn't seem to have any curriculum, even the simplest one, and we had not idea what EV was learning. There were only two toddlers, including her, in her group, and often, they had to be integrated with the older kids from the nursery and kindergarten sessions, which isn't a bad thing, but like I mentioned, we didn't know what she was getting out of it. And a group of two toddlers doesn't give her much opportunity to socialise with kids of her age. Plus, the feeds were expensive – almost $1100 for a three-day weekly programme. While we believe that the Montessori environment is a good one, we weren't certain EV was benefitting at this preschool. Convenience and location were some deciding factors for enrolling in this expensive playgroup, but really, we weren't sure there's much return value. So we decided to look at alternatives.

We found out that the Residents' Committee near our home was offering a part-Montesorri programme just a few blocks away. Location was also perfect, and when we enquired about the fees, we were surprised at just how affordable it was. $130 per month for a two-hour daily programme. Plus, we were happy to find out that it already had eight kids enrolled for the 2012 January intake. This would give EV more opportunities to socialise and develop her social skills. So we decided to give it at try for the January term. More on how EV is taking the class when it starts next year.