Moving to Orlando area and need some natural parenting resources from knowledgeable Orlando Mamas

[lmacri]

Hi All,

My partner and I and our two girls, Olivia, nearly three, and Sylvie, now 15 months, may soon be relocating to the Orlando area (Hunter's Creek, Williamsburg neighborhoods possibly) and we wanted to reach out to the like-minded folks on Mothering to see if anyone could give us any suggestions on child/family resources in this area.

Could any Orlando folks share any great experiences with local preschools/VPK programs they might have had? We are just considering what our options are and would love a Waldorf or Montessori environment, however we just can't afford to pass up the free VPK programs provided in Florida and would love it if you could share your thoughts on preschools/VPK in Orlando.

Also, we would appreciate any suggestions regarding great area pediatricians that are vax choice supportive and natural parenting supportive. We are distraught that we have to leave the wonderful and wise Doc. that we are seeing now and I am hoping we can find someone we can trust and feel comfortable with in the Orlando area.

Finally, we are still exploring the very, many different and diverse neighborhoods that make up the Orlando area and are extremely interested in finding out more about great public schools and communities. We would greatly appreciate if any kind folks could let us know about their public schools in the Orlando area and their experiences with them, pros, cons, suggestions, anything at all.

I thank you all so much for your thoughts and your help!

Lisa

[xtin]

Hey mama

I love the forums on city-data.com if you want specific info about neighborhoods in Orlando

I think the Dr. Phillips area is beautiful and great for young families like yours :)

[lmacri]

Thanks sister, checking out city-data site asap!

Lisa

[xtin]

It's great for finding out median age, how family friendly a certain area is, crime data etc etc

Do you want to live IN Orlando or are you looking at the burbs? I'm asking because Seminole County north of Orlando has amazing schools and really family friendly. We are moving there next month

[happymommy1]

I live in winter springs across town from where u are looking. i would google montessori schools. Most of them do vpk at least half day and ask you to pay a small fee for the other half. This gets you out of the mandatory nap if your kids do not take kindly to nap. One of my kids would still nap at 7 but the other two DO NOT SLEEP and one is a baby! He is driving me nuts!:)

[ErikaG]

We're not ready for VPK yet-my girls are 3 and 15 months, although TBH, the VPK thing is influencing us as we consider nursery school for our older daughter-we'd hate to find a place we loved for her only to have to move her for VPK and  again if we opt not to homeschool.    I don't have any suggestions about that other than to consider West Orange Montessori (http://www.westorangemontessori.com/) -Montessori charter for grades k-8.   We're hoping to get our older daughter in there when she's old enough.  It'll be a little bit of a drive for us, but worth it for the right education, I think.  

We also have The Learning Center down in Dr. Phillips, which I think is Reggio Emilia-too far for us to go from where I live, but something I'd consider if we lived closer. 

As for pediatricians...the ones who tend to be popular among the crunchy Moms around here:

Dr Ramey (in Oviedo, but AFAIK, she's closed her practice and moved elsewhere)

Dr. Franz (downtown-ish)

Dr. Carr (he's with Pediatrics Plus, which is downtown-ish)

Dr. Rodriguez (Dr Rich-he's at Sunshine Pediatrics in Maitland-this is where I take my girls)

Dr. Cannizzaro (in Altamonte Springs/Longwood.)  

You might check out the Orlando Peaceful Parents list or the East Orlando Busy Bees list for more information too. 

Do either you or your partner have a job that you're planning to relocate for?  If so, where in the area is it-that might help us point you at resources closer to where you might want to be....for example, it would be really silly for someone who worked out near the airport to be looking for stuff over where I live.  

Best of luck, and welcome to Orlando.  

[happymommy1]

Be careful which ped you choose if your child is intact. We are int eh process of educating one of those drs. The dr is awesome other than the intact care issue we had so we are trying to educate rather than drop the dr. Message em if you want to know more. I am happy t o help if possible. We have kids w food allergies, in need of epi pens, nursed all 3 kids and co slept as well as have a child with excema and delay vaxing.:)

[jesrox]

My son has gone to Dr. Carr since he was an infant, and I have nothing but good things to say about his practice as it relates to breastfeeding support and intact care. His ARNP and partner MD are also great. His office is in downtown Orlando so if you are in Hunter's Creek it may be a little far. There is a great huge whole foods over on that side of town ( Sand Lake and Turkey Lake road). Winter Garden La Leche might be closest for you http://www.lllflorida.com/New%20Site%20Map%20of%20FL/New%20Site%20Central/Central%20Florida.html. I     

I used to go to the East Orlando LLL and they were wonderful, supportive ladies there. I am from the NE side of town and so don't know the Hunter's Creek area as well. Good luck!

[Fnord]

One neighborhood to take a look at is College Park in the 32804 area code. It's a really nice centrally located neighborhood with tons of cute little bungalows and young families and not too many McMansions. Pretty much everything you need is in walking distance and there's lots of beautiful old growth oak trees too! And the public school in the district is Princeton Elementary, which is one of the best public schools in Orlando.

[l3erly]

Hello: I'm wondering if you are already here in Orlando. I have an 8 yr old DS and a 16 mo old DD. They both see Dr. Canizzaro and we are happy there. We live in the Sanford, Lake Mary area and are happy with the Elementary school my son attends. I hear good things about most of the Seminole County Public Schools near us. You can go to their website at www.scps.k12.fl.us . I realize this is much further from where you initially are relocating to, but just wanted to share :)

Welcome :)