Mixed Emotions with Montessori

H has started at a new pre school this term (his last one closed down!) and I'm already starting to have doubts about it.

I was really excited about him starting because I loved the whole ethos that the place has. Think hippy, free play, yoga and nature. It sounded ideal, they even learn Mandarin. 

It is a Montessori nursery...

' Montessori education is characterized by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological development, as well as technological advancements in society.'

Image by Rjabinnik

My main concern started this morning when I dropped H off. All of the doors were open (as usual) so we just walked straight in, hung up his bag and put on his indoor shoes. He went straight off to play, no problems there. It wasn't until I looked around me ane realised that there wasn't another adult in sight. Just masses of little people running around, doing their free play bit. I didn't really know what to do, did I just walk off and leave him there? Should I stay and make sure all of these children were safe? What if H decided to go for a walk, they wouldn't even know I had dropped him off. (There is a signing in sheet somewhere, if you can find it!)

Image by Ian Britton

In the end I decided that maybe I was just be over paranoid as all of the other mummies appeared to be just dropping off and going. So I did the same. 

Can't say that I haven't been worrying about it all day though so I thought I'd just have a look at their ofsted report. Oh my I wish I hadn't! In brief... no CRB checks for any staff, no children observation and achievment folders, no key workers, The effectiveness of safeguarding scored inadequate and overall the quality of the provision is satisfactory.

Image by Isaac Bowen

Now lets be honest here a three year old doesn't care whether he has a key worker or his own folder with chapter and verse on how he is developing. He just knows that when he goes there he has fun with his friends in a nice relaxed atmosphere. What more could you ask for for your child? 

Image by Mark Tomlinson

I like to think of myself as a fairly laid back kind of person, (the OH calls me his little hippy chick) but I fail to be laid back when it comes to my childrens safety. So what do you think, am I just falling into the trap of our ridiculous modern day obsession with health and safety and ticking all of the right boxes? Is this nursery bad for H just because they're not fullfilling the government written standards on how our children should be learning?

Big Fat Gypsy Wedding

I've recently been watching Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and I find it fascinating learing about their values and ways of life.

I was watching it the other night and I felt a bit jealous of the massive support system that the mothers have around them at all times. It must make raising children that bit easier.
Maybe that is why they all seem to have a lot of children and appear to cope really well. (I have two and struggle to cope most of the time.)
These women are actually quite amazing, they still live in a very male dominated society, they are expected to get married and have children when they are still just children themselves and on top of that they are expected to keep an immaculate home. I say hats off to them.

Photo by beamillion

I have been reading a lot of articles recently about mothers of today and how they cope with motherhood and the general consensous seems to be that modern day mothers are struggling more with raising children than our grandparents did because of the lack of support from family. The main reason for the lack of support is because families now tend to live further apart than we did before. This to me makes a lot of sense and I often feel that if I had better support from family it might make, raising children, just a bit more bearable.

This is why I love watching Gypsy Weddings, I love the fact that they hold on to traditional old fashioned values. They all look out for each other and it must be comforting to have that around you, especially in the child raising years which can be very isolating and lonely.
I look forward to watching it again tonight.