WWYD - RE: moving up through daycare/Montessori rooms?

[bzeetyd]

Our Bug is almost 13mo old and goes to a Montessori/Reggio program 4 days a week. We love it and feel she's getting great care. They know her well and have worked with our school district on her IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan).

Bug doesn't have a diagnosis yet, but we're working on sussing it out. She's got a gross motor developmental delay, recently got glasses and will have bifocals this week, and is going to be getting orthotics to help her stand. Her MRI came back "normal," she's cognitively and socially on track with her peers. She isn't talking yet but on track with her babbling and expression. She see a PT once a week through our children's hospital and she has another PT appt weekly through the school district. We're looking to add OT to her children's hospital experience to work on some fine motor elements now that she's got her specs. Bug isn't crawling yet, and is still far from walking. She's been making awesome steady progress in PT.

She's been at the school since she was 14 weeks old and has so far been in 2 of their "rooms", which are typically set up by age/ability(?) but are flexible. Initially she was in their infant room. Then she was moved to the next step in rooms, which is where older infants go, typically they stay until the child is actively walking & communicating with words at which point they move to the 1st toddler room. She started this older infant room as the youngest in the group and stayed the youngest for a long time. She's still in this room now but many of her age associated peers have moved on (not surprising since she was the youngest) and anyone who remains is mobile, crawling and/or walking. An influx of younger kids are starting to come into the room now and Bug will be one of the oldest, which is fine - these younger room-mates will also be working on crawling and all of that.

I don't know what the school's plan is, as far as when they think she'd move into the next room. My gut says to ask to keep her in this room until she can walk, because I believe in this room (with a lower kid to adult ratio) her teachers can work to provide the right stimulus, cognitively. I'm going to ask her Montessori what they think, and I'm going to talk with our IFSP peeps to see what they think, and her hospital PT, too. Then I'll set up a conference with her teachers at the Montessori.

I don't want to sell her short, cognitively, but if she moved up a room, I don't want her to be the only non-mobile one in the corner with wandering, active toddlers and not be able to participate fully in what the class is doing.

Just curious if anyone's had experience with this and/or what you would do. I realize this may be the first in a long line of similar situations in Bug's life. Thanks in advance for your opinions.

[akafred]

Help me understand the way the school sets up their ages. It sounds different than how Montessori usually is. Montessoris tend to be infant, toddler at the point of crawling or walking, usually 9-18 months depending on the school to 2.5 or 3 years, so a long time. Then from 2.5 or 3 years up to 6 years (through K), and again from 6-9 (1st to 3rd) and 9-12 (4th to 6th).

If your school will move her into the toddler class to last until she's approx 3 years, I wouldn't so much worry about whether she moves at 13 months or 18 months. But if the classroom structure is such that she would move before that timeframe then it may be different.

Do talk to the Montessori folks though because there are some specific guidelines for determining when the child is in a different plane of development. For example, primary kids are ready for elementary when their hair gets thicker and their teeth start getting loose (physically) and when they are moving from concrete to abstract thinking. There may be similar markers for moving to the toddler class.

[bzeetyd]

Mar 18, 2015 20:17:59 GMT -5 akafred said:

Help me understand the way the school sets up their ages. It sounds different than how Montessori usually is. Montessoris tend to be infant, toddler at the point of crawling or walking, usually 9-18 months depending on the school to 2.5 or 3 years, so a long time. Then from 2.5 or 3 years up to 6 years (through K), and again from 6-9 (1st to 3rd) and 9-12 (4th to 6th).

If your school will move her into the toddler class to last until she's approx 3 years, I wouldn't so much worry about whether she moves at 13 months or 18 months. But if the classroom structure is such that she would move before that timeframe then it may be different.

Do talk to the Montessori folks though because there are some specific guidelines for determining when the child is in a different plane of development. For example, primary kids are ready for elementary when their hair gets thicker and their teeth start getting loose (physically) and when they are moving from concrete to abstract thinking. There may be similar markers for moving to the toddler class.

Here's how they break it down.

Infant: 6 weeks to 16 months Toddler: 16 months to 33 months Preschool: 33 months to 5 years

The school sets up their classrooms like a typical Montessori (I think) other than they have 2 graduated infant rooms. This facility takes children as young as 6 weeks so usually those teeny ones are in the first room until they are sitting up and/or starting to become mobile. Then there's the 2nd infant room, which is where Bug is right now and that encompasses being mobile to walking/communicating - the kids in this room do much more exploring on their own and are starting to become active in the space. The next room in the progression are toddlers (and would align with your assessment of walking+) and they are doing little tasks themselves and are much more active around the room space. And it goes on from there.

Bug was moved before she was mobile and before she could really sit up by herself, she was the youngest in the new room for a long time. When she was moved we were ok with it but we also didn't know about her delay.

She's 13mo now and I don't think she'll be walking by 16mo, maybe by 18...but like I said they've been accommodating and they are not especially rigid.

I was hoping to see what others thought or experienced.

I will ask not only about this "leveling up" but how the other levels are determined, too. Thanks for the heads up.