Drop Off / Pick Up

[SunRise]

Does your Montessori school allow you to walk your child to the class room or do they meet you at the car and take you child from the car or do they have some other setup?

My son will more then likely start pre-school at the Montessori in the fall.

This particular Montessori does not allow you to walk your child to the class room. They have a circle driveway and parents are to drive up to the door and the teacher comesout to meet, greet and take your child out of the carseat.
One reason they do this is for safety / not enough parking ...
2nd reason is they believe it is easier on the child to take them from the car rather then have you try to say good bye to them in the class room.

So I was wondering if this was a standard or unique.

I can understand doing this for safety reasons ... 90 pre-schoolers / 90 cars arriving at the same .... Not sure how 6 teachers can meet 90 kids at the approximate same time!
BUT I dont relate to the 2nd reason... I cherish the walk from the car to his daycare and taking off his jacket and seeing him off this way. I dont like the idea of the teacher taking him out of my car. I think my child will be more likely to resist this way rather then the other way (he has been going to daycare for a year so he knows the routine ... maybe its different for pre-schoolers going to school for the first time)

I hope to negotiate some inbetween drop off option with the Director, but I was curious about other schools

Thanks,
Sara

[momto1QT]

I don't have first-hand knowledge of this yet but since nobody else has responded yet I'll just let you in on what I have experienced. DD is going to start montessori in the fall in the toddler pre-school class and I do not yet know what their drop-off policy is yet for her age-group. But I have been there at pick-up time for the 3-6 class and have seen what you described: the parents line up in their cars and stay in their vehicles while the teachers bring the children to the car and I believe it is the same way for drop-off too.
It seems to me that this is a pretty common practice for montessori schools. I think I would like to walk dd in also, however I can imagine the chaos you would have if you have so many parents coming into the classroom and dropping their kids off all at the same time. I guess it just allows the drop-off to 'flow' more easily if the teacher takes the child into the clasroom? That's just my guess. I look forward to seeing what other people's experiences are.

[dziejen]

We are not Montessori but the two families that we knew who were (one was 20 yrs ago, one a few years ago) also had dropoff/pickup in the parking lot so I always thought that this was just how it was done. Perhaps others have a different experience...

[kaydee]

Parents bring the children to the classroom in our Montessori. Some stay a few minutes to help the child get settled; some just usher the child in and leave. We also go into the classroom to pick the children up, chat with the teacher, look at the work the children did that day, etc. I have heard of some Montessori's having a very rigid drop off program and have to say I personally would not like that one bit.

[kyliew]

My DD is in Montessori schooling and I take her to the door or if my DD is a bit unsettled I take her to the circle and sit with her for a while.

[fluffernutter]

The one DD will go to this fall, parents walk their kid to the classroom door, but the parents are asked not to linger, or enter the classroom. For pickup the parents stay in the car and the teachers bring the kids out.

[Golden]

The school my son goes to has a "zipline". Arrival is a 15 minute window. You pull up and a teacher comes to your car. You have to unclip your child though and have him ready to go (hard to do while you're driving up the driveway, but that's another grumble for another time...). It is recommended that you do this, but not required. Mainly a safety thing.
However, if you choose to bring your child in, you are greeted in the lobby by a teacher. You are not allowed to walk your child down the hall into the classroom. You pick your kid up in the lobby at the end of the day...again, not at the classroom.

The school he goes to is fairly dogmatic at least in other Montessori principles too.

[StillForest]

We also have a "zipline" at DD's school. DD's school also has the circular driveway/limited parking safety and space issues. But DD's teachers are very flexible and are often so busy in the AM that parents end up walking kids into the classroom anyway....especially those of us who tend to run a bit on the late side :. I was able to walk in with DD and help her transition on days when she was a bit uneasy or worried.

The car drop-off, which I'd worried about before she started, really worked fine for us. DD adored school and typically ran in to join her friends.

[SunRise]

hmmm. double post - deleted one

[SunRise]

Thanks for the replies! Seems typical then, part of their model. I am glad to hear some of you had the same concerns as me, about this strict drop off, but found it to not be soooo bad

Thanks for the tip - I'll make a mental note of arriving late ... so I'll get to walk with my child

Sara