Primrose and Montessori. Which is a better school and why?

Question

Primrose and Montessori. Which is a better school and why?

Answer 1

Montessori for its confidence the child builds up. If your child is the type who likes learning.

Answer 2

What is said above about Montessori is true, it is not for every child.  Are you talking about a school which is a franchised Primrose school?  One of the big downsides of the Primrose schools is that they, to protect the children from danger, bolt all of their furniture to the floor.  They also put it around the outside of the room to keep a child from being unseen by the teachers.  These both sound like great ideas...but they each have a major drawback.  The first doesn't allow the teacher to move furniture to accommodate her lesson plans or the personal needs of her students, like making a science center the prominent feature when doing a unit on snow or knowing the the children love legos and so moving the block center to a better location than by the door.  The second is that a large room with no furniture in the middle  will cause running and general "wildness" from most children.  Primrose does have fairly good curriculum and they compensate their teachers well, so their teacher turn-over is low.  Either school could also be good or bad depending on their director or teaching staff.  Your best bet is to visit naeyc.org and find some schools in your area which have submitted themselves to the voluntary accreditation.  You will also find a list of questions to ask and things to look for when you visit a site.

Answer 3

Interesting question, and not an easy one to answer.

To begin with, there are a lot of misconceptions about Montessori, some were stated above by other posters. To set the record straight, Montessori is not just for children who are self motivated.  Yes, it works well for children who are, but a good Montessori school will facilitate self confidence and motivation in most children. A recent scientifically based study published in the Journal of Science by Angeline Lillard confirms this.

As far a Montessori vs Primrose, well I had never heard of Primrose and so researched it on the web.  Except for promotional material, there is little else. I did find out that they "launched" their curriculum in 2001 and became a "franchise" in 2006. They state that their curriculum is accredited by such organizations as CITA, SACS CASI,  and  NCA-CASI and that "For more than 100 years, these prestigious associations have been recognized as the gold standard in evaluating schools and colleges". Yet CITA was founded in 1994, and SACS CASI and NCA-CASI combined in 2006. Granted NCA has been around for over 100 years, but I can't help but get the feeling that they are deliberately misleading the public into thinking that all of these old and prestigious organizations are giving them the “thumbs up”.  Just my opinion though.

I assume the lack of personal antidotes, criticisms, and affidavits come from the fact that they haven't been around long enough for people to actually come up with opinions about them, good and bad.  The program they tote on their website does sound good; child centered, but with standards and expectations, but then, so do most things do on commercial websites.

The fact that they are franchised does indicate that there is control over the curriculum and that each school needs to adhere to certain criteria.  I see this as a great plus, you shouldn't find a school that states that it is "Primrose" that does not follow their curriculum, a definite problem that Montessori schools have. On the other hand though, the fact that they are franchised does mean that they are in the business of making money and that may at times interfere with what is in the best interests for the child. Yet, I would be lying if I said that there weren't "Montessori" schools whose only purpose was to make money.

See what I mean, nothing is as cut and dry as we would like.

My suggestion is to read Angline Lillards article on Montessori and then visit the Montessori schools and Primrose schools in your area. See which ones you like the most. Which ones seem to be the most prepared, organized and effective. Talk to parents of graduates and to teachers from each philosophy about their own philosophy and school. (Don’t ask them to compare their philosophy to the other, they might not know or understand the other philosophy and what info they give you might just be hearsay.)

One last thought.  On the Primrose site, they stated that 90 percent of their graduates achieved test scores above the national average. I have no reason to doubt this statement, yet since Primrose is private and there aren't any scholarships given to low income children who aren't high achievers in the first place, this statement also is highly misleading. To be truly accurate and therefore valid, they need to compare their scores with programs that have a similar socio-economic make up.

Good-luck- feel free to e-mail me and tell me what you decide and why.  I am always interested in people’s educational choices.

Answer 4

I don't know what primrose is but Montessori is good for self motivated, curious learners...not so good for followers or those that lack a desire to learn....evaluate the learner to find a school to match his/her learning style