That is the question.

Please indulge me with a little over-dramatic hand-wringing over this whole preschool thing.

So, I visited three local preschools last week.  One more “traditional” preschool, which several friends have sent their kids to, and two Montessori schools (I’ll just call them “Hometown” and “Nexttown”).  Those were the three I found that were most accessible to our house, as I nixed anything that was more than about a 10 minute drive.  There are another handful of daycare/preschool centers in the area, but I decided to stick with more of a straight preschool setting.

Traditional Preschool was just fine. Nice classrooms, nice people. Three days a week, very reasonable tuition with a generous (25%!) sibling discount.  But… I didn’t love it. And they managed to hit two personal pet peeves in our 20 minute visit. 1: a little too much on the twin-fascination thing. 2: is it really necessary to talk to my (Jewish, not that they knew that) kids about Santa coming to visit? Twice? In 20 minutes? On December first?  Obviously, that would not be a problem for some people, but it was for me.  I mean, honestly.  Maybe think to ask me, first? I don’t know. It bugged me.

Hometown Montessori was the second place I visited. I have always thought the whole Montessori method was a pretty cool one, so I was eager to check it out.  And I left that open house… underwhelmed. The materials and philosophy were nice and all (I appreciated the lack of Dora the Explorer in the classroom, frankly), but the teachers were actually somewhat off-putting.  The school’s director and lead teacher struck me as rigid and somewhat cold. And while I know that Montessori classrooms aren’t as teacher-centric as others, I still want a preschool teacher for my kids who is warm and welcoming.  Not pissed that the state no longer allows preschools to deny entrance based on a lack of potty training. (Seriously, she seemed pretty cranky about that.)  Like I said, underwhelmed with the whole thing.

And then I went to Nexttown Montessori.  The two administrators greeted me kindly at the door and remembered my name from my phone call earlier in the week.  The three teachers have all been there the better part of 20 years and were friendly and spoke warmly of their students, the school, and the gorgeous new building. I just got an awesome vibe.  The vibe I had been missing from the other places I visited.  The classrooms are bright and airy, the outdoor play area has two beautiful swingsets and a small hill where they let the kids slide down in the snow.  The three classrooms are each mixed-age (3-6), and the kids stay with the same teacher for all three years (preschool, pre-k, kindergarten).  The rooms had standard Montessori materials, but each also felt personal and interesting.

So, what’s the problem here?

1. Price. Both Montessori schools are expensive, with beloved Nexttown being the most expensive. Even controlling for hours per week, it’s close to twice as expensive as Traditional Preschool.

2. Speaking of hours per week… it’s five days. As most Montessori programs are.  Still only 3 hours a day, but five days a week.

Honestly, the money is a big factor, but we wouldn’t send ourselves into the poorhouse by paying preschool tuition. If we decide we love it, we can make the money happen. That’s not my biggest area of concern.

My bigger sticking point is just that five days seems like a lot.  Especially if they’re still taking an afternoon nap, there goes almost the whole day, all week.  Am I ready to send my kids to school every day? Already?  Am I ready to stop doing things like gymnastics with them? Well, who am I kidding, once they’re 3, I don’t do the class with them anymore, anyways.  But still. it’s a big transition, you know?  It’s a lot of days.  And I chose to stay at home with them for a reason: so I could be there and spend time with them. Is it time to cut back on that already?

Also, the structure of the classrooms is such that they would be split up into separate rooms (unless I really insisted otherwise) from the beginning.  In my mind’s eye, I had imagined keeping them together in preschool and not separating until elementary school.  That said, I actually think they’d benefit in the end, even if the transition was a little harder. Especially Rebecca, who I think tends to get a little overshadowed by her more-outgoing brother in new situations.

I really do dig the curriculum/philosophy. I love the mixed-age classrooms.  I think Rebecca would love the independence and choice.  I think Daniel would do well with all of the hands-on tactile learning (the boy has to touch EVERYTHING).  I love that it’s a situation that really takes advantage of the fact that they’re such incredible sponges at this age, that they can learn so much in such a low-pressure environment.

But… I just don’t know.  I don’t know if we’re ready. I don’t know if I’m ready. I don’t know if it’s pushing too much at too young an age.  Or if I’m just needlessly freaking out.

If you’ve made it this far, please weigh in.  I’d especially love to hear from people who have considered or sent their kids to Montessori, or any teachers who have worked with kids either in that program or who have come out of it.  Feedback, people! I need feedback!