Is $350.00 for a half day (8:30am-11:30am) of preschool per month to much? Kindermusik is offered for free.?

Question

My daughter is 3 years old and we are looking to enrol her in a preschool program. There is one being offered near our home. It cost $350 per month for a half day 5 days a week(8:30am-11:30am M-F or 12:30pm-3:30pm M-F). It's a 3-hour program. The preschool is a homebased Montessori Preschool, and as part of the program they also offer kindermusik for preschoolers at no extra charge. They provide 1 snack. As a bonus they also offer an extended day (before and after preschool) for parents who need it. So if we need to drop her of earlier we can. They do charge extra for it though $5.00 for care needed either 7:00am-8:30am or $6.00 for care needed 3:30pm-5:00pm). Their 2 day a week program M & F is $130.00 a month or T & Th $150.00 a month. Their full time program is $600 a month for and they provide lunch and 2 snacks. The teacher to child ratio is 1:6 per session. So my daughter would get a lot of one on one attention and still be able to interact with other children.

Answer 1

The director of a Montessori school I worked at made a chart for the parents one time.

3 hours a day, 5 days a week.  That's 15 hours a week.

There are about 4.2 weeks in a month.  So 4.2 x 15 = 63.

That's 63 hours in a month.

Now divide $350 by 63 and you see you are paying $5.55 per hour.  

The low student:teacher ratio bothers me a little.  The more students there are, the better run a Montessori class is, but it's not necessarily a bad thing to have that, just has a different dynamic and one that takes a little more work for it to work effectively.  

I would make sure you're getting a good Montessori-based education before you spend money to get it.  What is the teachers' experience?    Go to youtube.com and type in "Montessori"  Watch a few classrooms in action and see how similar it is.

I am not saying don't put her in the school if it's still not a wonderful environment. I am actually saying quite the opposite.  However, if you're paying for Montessori, and expect it to be one, just make sure you get what you're paying for.

As far as 5 days a week, that is preferential.  You want your child to not be confused by a strange routine and want them to feel like they know what is going on.

Matt

Answer 2

Sounds extremely reasonable to me.

Answer 3

I don't think so. My son goes to the YMCA preschool and it's almost 70 $ a week for 3 mornings a week.

Answer 4

The price is high compared to regular preschool, but normal for a Montessori. If you go to a non Montessori/regular preschool it should be less. Do you need so many days/hours? Normally a 3 yr. old would go 3 days a week for about 3 1/2 hrs a day, usually in the morning so the child can nap in the afternoon. This runs around $180.  Then at 4, they go 4 days ($220) and at 5 they go full 5 days at regular school (K).

Answer 5

good price for a montessori.go for it.