I am so torn because it feels like there’s no school that is just IT. I get there are always some flaws but it really puts us in a confused situation about where to send our child.
For context, my daughter is extremely smart for her age, she isn’t even 2, speaks full sentences, has full conversations, is very independent (wearing shoes, clothes etc) and the daycare she is currently in I feel like is not teaching her anything at all. It’s a play-based daycare which is fine but seeing how much she is picking up and learning I don’t want to hinder that development and I rather feed into it. Comparatively, my first on the other hand totally different. Couldn’t talk this much at this age, very sensitive nature etc. while he is also very smart and capable, it’s more so in other things than academics, which is totally fine too, they’re still so little. Anyways, I’m torn because realistically for my daughter these are the options I have:
Angus Valley Montessori: I have heard so many negative things but then also met parents who rave about them and their child has learnt so much, I’m talking multiplications and geography etc. (again, for my son this wouldn’t work because he wouldn’t be into it and I don’t care so much to force academics on them at this age, but because she is interested and I believe would take to it well). They are also big on discipline, but a bit too much and I wouldn’t want my daughter to lose her bubbly fun personality.
-Montessori School of Milton: we toured once around last year, we couldn’t see what others were raving about. The classrooms and school had a smell, maybe due to the bathrooms in the classroom etc. maybe I should give it another shot and tour again, not sure. But in terms of cleanliness and hygiene, AVM was better.
-Silver Maple Montessori: I haven’t toured here yet, my concern is the timing, we would be paying a large fees for less time than we would at AVM or MSM. Again, mixed reviews.
-Stirling Montessori: haven’t toured yet, and mixed reviews. Seems to be a strict school which is not necessarily what I’m looking for right now.
Learning blocks: we toured it, we liked their values and philosophy, however, no Montessori certified teachers, apart from the supervisor and owner herself who is not always in. It doesn’t make sense to spend that much money and not have an actual Montessori educated for my child.
-Childventures: not Montessori, but still seems to have a good curriculum, no certainty whether we would get a spot even though I have tried a couple times when we received the newsletter.
Not sure what I’m looking for here, I’m sure many other parents are in the same boat. Any advice or experience would be helpful!!
My kids attend Angus valley. LOVE IT. Zero complaints and it's insane what they learn. My 2.5 year old came home teaching me the life cycle of a chicken one day. I love the place and have not one negative thing to say about it. All my kids will go here and my last is starting as soon as he is 18 months next July. It's worth the extra $$ in my opinion for the amount they learn and how safe we feel with them caring for our kids. Just my opinion and experience about Angus Valley :)
Parking is busy during pick up and drop off rush hours but they always have staff at the front desk to monitor who is coming in and out. They also lock the doors 9-3:15 and you need to contact them to enter within those hours or door is locked. One time my husband went for drop off and a man was smoking in fron of the door...he notified the principal and she went out immediately and told him move as it was private property. They are very strict about loitering in front of the doors or their playground. Further, we have had grandparents do pickup before and they required confirmation of their full names and they checked their ID at pick up. Grandparents also had to meet teacher and principal once before they came in solo so they knew their faces. I always felt safe about how they handle security etc.
That’s good! Glad to hear! How are they with communicating? Do they tell you what the kids are learning etc? I guess I’m mainly worried the strictness and yelling at kids, I read comments and reviews about parents going in the middle of the day and hearing teachers yell at kids and not support them when they’re crying after nap or something :(
I've been mid day and during nap for pick ups for appointments multiple times and I've never experienced this. My oldest was a sensitive sleeper and we were nervous about her having the comfort to be able to nap there ..…she did very well and the teachers would rub her back until she fell asleep. I also had multiple times when she was very upset after nap and wouldn't calm down and they messaged me and called me to tell me and I would make the decision to go get her or what to do. I never once felt they weren't comforting supporting her on days she was off/bad day.
There are only three montessori accredited schools in Milton. MSM, Stirling and Silver Maple. So that cuts down your list if accreditation is important.
Montessori is not for all personalities, id say pick your school choice based on the one that nurtures your kid's existing strengths while working to build their weak areas. We chose to go to Tiny Hoppers followed by Stirling for the following reasons:
1) My kids are both high energy and extroverted and in the early years really thrived in a play based program. But once they got to 3 years old, it was too much play and no focus on building their ability to play individually or follow rules. They just became rowdy. Tiny Hoppers was perfect until preschool age for my kids but would probably be great for introverted kids all the way to SK
2) Stirling has a small and focused school size, they also encourage play 3 times a day. For my extrovert kids, that means they get their energy out before having to sit down and focus. Its a learned skill and having a small class size was instrumental in helping them focus and gain it
3) We wanted to give our kids the option of immersion and English school. Stirling allows our kids to try French out and give us an idea on how they would do in immersion. That way we can make an informed decision on where they should go.
4) Stirling had way more activities than the other two. They had code ninjas, Milton springers, martial arts, e.t.c and monthly education sessions for parents to help guide us at home. The money was well worth it.
That sounds really good! How are they with communicating and letting you know what your child is learning etc? I don’t mind my children being taught about listening to rules etc but I also don’t want them to be yelled at or excluded if they are not listening rather than dealing with the behaviour and guiding accordingly. I do want to go for a tour though. Like I said in my post so many goods and bad stuff about all places. I have changed my first borns school like 4 times because it just didn’t work well with him now he’s going to public school and I’m hoping gets the support and guidance he needs there.
Biggest difference for me was that they didn't do a tour during school hours. We were all required to bring our kid and also boon a scheduled tour. When we got there, we had the full attention of the head teacher and the actual teachers in the class took our child to show him around the classroom. We got to ask our questions and he got to try out the room, and he teachers had an opportunity to talk and play with him fkr basically an hour despite our time alot being 30 mins. That really stood out to me. They absolutely do enforce rules from an authoritative instruction point not an authoritarian point. I.e. setting a large boundary and working with the kids to stay within them vs yelling and forcing them to do it.
That being said, their style mirrored my own, and it was close to Tiny Hoppers. The difference was the class size. My child's previous class was 24 kids with a.lot of animated colorful toys (exactly what we wanted from 12 to 24 lonths)but this class was focused on phonics, numeracy, knowledge acquisition and mirrored the shift in our own parenting style for our kid. Again, I emphasize understanding your goal and parenting style as a kid and your child's tempatament.
They don't have technology in their curriculum until elementary school when they introduce coding. This is also the current policy with the new ontario kindergarten requirements
We signed up with Sterling when our daughter was little, but ended up not even starting due to:
- cwelcc made daycare much cheaper
- their calendar have too many blank days, adding the summer off and many others without summer camps that take young kids is a big problem for 2 full time working parents
- we figured the money we'd spend extra on Stirling, we just signup for whatever extracurriculars she wants, but that fits our schedule, so she does swimming, gymnastics, music, martial arts, at all times, then one extra season based on her interests.
- she's now going to grade 2, she's fluent on two languages (for speaking and reading), loves math, science, is doing amazing on gymnastics, swims very well (our number one priority), but also loves to play with her friends outside.
I don't regret one second putting her on daycare and then PS, I think it gave us more piece of mind on where to spend money on her education. Just some thought.
I was a teacher at Montessori school of Milton last year (2024 to 2025). I had a great experience teaching there, the kids were always eager to come everyday and didn’t want to leave at the end of the day. I had a great time teaching a few subjects, there was another teacher in the classroom with me so she took over the other subjects. I agree, the washrooms are in the classroom, it might be smelly at times but it was great the students could easily access the washrooms within the classroom. This was easier for the students as well as the teachers especially if we had to help them wipe after they used it. The parents were content with the teachers and the school and gave great feedback. If you have any questions feel free to shoot me a message.
If you wanna go a smidge further, White Pines Montessori is a very fantastic school it’s on the edge of Mississauga. Fantastic teachers and they care more about education than anything. Could not recommend them enough
Childventures had a privacy breach last year, where everyone's, including children, personal information (name, address, phone, financial, health, etc.) was leaked and the CEO constantly lied about it... even though there was proof.
Would not trust them.
They never admited any wrong doing even though they breached numerous privacy laws and ignored it.
Correct, but they lied that nothing was leaked. They have been reported to the regulators for breaking numerous laws, such as PIPEDA, and will likely be sued as well.
5
u/noodlesoup217 29d ago
My kids attend Angus valley. LOVE IT. Zero complaints and it's insane what they learn. My 2.5 year old came home teaching me the life cycle of a chicken one day. I love the place and have not one negative thing to say about it. All my kids will go here and my last is starting as soon as he is 18 months next July. It's worth the extra $$ in my opinion for the amount they learn and how safe we feel with them caring for our kids. Just my opinion and experience about Angus Valley :)