Montessori Here I Come?
Yesterday morning we had an interview at the local Montessori school. Your comments and emails about public school vs. homeschooling helped a lot – thank you again.
Today Randy is going to call them with a business plan to play “Let’s Make a Deal.”
We didn’t decide to do this completely out of the blue.
At the interview, my kids were amazing. They knew there were kids in every room off of the lobby we were in, but they did their best (as toddlers) to stay where they were supposed to. We wanted to give the children a chance to show their stuff, and the director and admin to see their stuff before deciding.
Turned out to be a good plan. The admin got misty when she watched my girls go into the bathroom because they wanted to wash their hands. The teamwork and the ability to use a soap dispenser and using a small chair when a stepstool wasn’t avaialble made her look in the bathroom (they left the door open) sigh, and say, “See, those are kids that belong here.” Could it have been a savvy sales pitch? Sure! Was it? Nope. The admin was a bad salesman and kept trying to compare the cost of the school to a daycare, and I kept telling her we’ve never used a daycare so the analogy didn’t work for us. Finally I gave up and let her talk about daycare. I don’t judge the sales techniques of people that were not hired to sell, but to inform.
The director came in as we were getting ready to leave. We ended up staying another fifteen minutes talking to him, and he also spoke to the children. Of course, the director coming in prompted Sadie to stand and talk to him while Abby ran like her ass was on fire straight into her sister, arms outstretched, pushing her right to the ground.
Thanks Abby, now you look like a violent, insane kid – which is awesome because that makes me look like the mother of a kid that turned out like that. *sigh*
But the admin and the director were totally unfazed by this, and engaged Abby in conversation.
Then the director asked us what we thought our plans might be. This is when I realized this guy was the salesman. He looked like Mr. Rogers for the new melinnium. I mean, he was wearing a starched shirt, tie, and maroon sweater vest. His hair was as white as an unpolluted snowflake. I immediately wanted him to be my cool, educated uncle.
We told them we’d have to look at our budget, because taking the girls to school required us buying a second car to get them there. I talked about being frugal and our choice to only have one car, my choice to work from home, and our saga of the budget and the Excel spreadsheet that keeps the family together. I may have slipped in our meager stock portfolio.
I was doing my best to communicate to Mr. Rogers without saying it, “We are not rich, but we are not friviolous – love us.”
We said our goodbyes and walked out the front door. That’s when I realized the director had followed us out. He asked me again, “You said you had to look at your budget?” I said, “Yes, we only expected to have one child in school, having two is a serious leap.” Then I laid it on about the not having credit cards, living within our means, the importance of a good education for my girls. Blah, blah blah. It was all true, I just presented it in the best light possible.
He gave me this weird, kind of intense look, and said, “I am the one who decides pricing, no one else. So you give me a call and we will talk.” I did my best to emphasize the sentence exactly how he said it. It totally gave me a chill. I felt like I was being given an offer I couldn’t refuse. It gave me the impression at first that he and the admin had a power issue going on, but then I realized – he really liked my kids. He wants them in his school.
Awesome.
At first we just planned to give him a call today and see what he was going to offer us as a reduced tuition. Then we revisited the website and cringed again at how poorly it was put together.
A light bulb went off over Randy’s head and he started putting together a business proposal for Mr. Rogers (not his real name, btw) to barter for our children’s education.
I mean, what follows a great speech about how awesome we are even though we aren’t moneyed enough to afford tuition that would make you choke on your coffee than an offer to work for our children’s education. Seriously. It’s so Little House on the Prairie where you work for what you want and it’s not charity and we all have our pride at the end of the day.
It feels like something that will go over very well with the director. Just a hunch, but someone that meticulous that wants to attract more students like ours needs a better Internet presence than they have. Between my ability to throw up a blog site that looks like a pro website and Randy’s ability to throw down with the AdWords we could get them more interest and more interaction. Plus, if they let my kids go there free, and we can get them three students, they’ve made a profit.
Here’s hoping he sees it the same way. If nothing else, he’ll see we are trying to offer something in return, not just asking for charity.
Because we could afford to send both kids for the half year that’s left, but next year? Whoo Doggie. This Montessori (get ready to cringe – I sure did) for the three hour day from 8:30am – 11:30am costs $5450 for a full year. That’s for the three year olds. The older the kid is, the more expensive they are.
Because, in case I didn’t mention it, even though Abby is 2, after meeting her they decided that since she was turning 3 in January she should really be in with the 3-6 year olds because she wouldn’t be a good fit for the toddler room – she’s too advanced for it.
We had the option to put them in from 8:30am – 3pm and then they’d get a hot lunch and nap…but I figure that I can pick them up at 11:30am, talk to them over lunch about what they did in school, and then put them down for a nap here at home. Considering it’s almost $2k more for the extra 3.5 hours, and they clearly stated all the academic stuff was done by 11:30am….yeah…I can do that at home. They’re babies, I don’t want them gone until 3pm for five days a week.
I need a more gradual separation from my girls.
Last but not least, I know I’m probably worrying too early and all, but what happens next year? Is Abby still only going to go till 11:30 and Sadie till 3pm? (the 4yo program goes until 3pm, there is no shorter option.) Or will both girls be considered in the 4yo program? Montessori might be the perfect environment for them (I really think it will be) but it’s going to confuse the hell out fo me for a while, I fear.
And we all know my kids’ education is all about me. *grin*
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2 Responses to “Montessori Here I Come?”
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Yep – I’m a Joiner!
Wow. Ouch. Montessori is something we are considering, but we do have a little more time. Ouch.
Which school did you talk to? I know of three montessori schools in the area.
Wow.
Do they have a 3 day a week program? 5 days seems like a lot for preschool.
I have been sitting on my hands, trying to not ask you for your phone number so I could talk to you about this stuff….for DAYS.
I’m glad you’re making steps forward. I still have a lot of thoughts for you, but they’re probably not that crucial. I’m going to just sit on my hands a little more.