On Dec 7, 5:34 pm, Chookie wrote:
In article
,

wrote:
Most schools I talked to said I can drop in any time and observe
through the large glass window but I can't go inside and disturb the
class. This is of course assuming that the day care is not home
based.

The thing that leaps out at me is that they call them "classes" and
"teachers". They are sometimes called teachers here, too -- I suspect because
some parents/staff use the Chinese courtesy title for teacher -- but
officially, they staff are *carers*, and they do not have teacher training.
It is a *day care centre*, not a school, and learning should be informal. The
day care centres I have used refer to rooms (eg, Toddlers' Room) rather than
classes.


Well, It's a montessori school. The rooms are called classes. The kids
do what they do in regular day care centers but montessori is more
organized rather than random play. Even at 2 years of age, they have
dipping/pouring, cleaning, brushing their own teeth, brushing hair,
folding kitchen towels etc. I was really impressed that kids that
young can learn so many things. They say that montessori is for all
kids but not for all parents. It may be a cliche. I liked the school
so far.

To describe a parent's entry into a room of two-year-olds as "disturbing the
class" suggests to me either extreme regimentation or extreme pomposity!

Why wouldn't it disturb a toddler to see parent in the middle of the
day? Most 2 year olds will throw a fit and want to go with the parent
no matter how much they love the school. If one toddler throws a fit
crying "I want mommy", I'm sure atleast one more will follow. That is
very disturbing to the other kids.


I should also add a caveat: there are times when staff will advise you not to
approach your child, in the interests of the child. For example, if a child
is at the stage where they become distressed when the parent leaves, it would
be really silly for the parent to keep coming in to see how the child is
going. *That's* when you need to look through the window.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/