Preschools in Ellicott City/Columbia/Elkridge (Hebron: preschool, garden, moving)

[calebs]

Hello:
Any suggestions on good preschools in the Ellicott/Columbia/Elkridge area?

thanks,
calebs

[TuborgP]

Childs Garden in Simpsonville

[livein21043]

Depends on what you are looking for. HCRP and most churches (Mt Hebron, Glen Mar, Bethel) run nice 2-3 hour programs that focus on socialization. My son went to Childrens Manor Montessori on Red Branch Rd and I cannot say enough about them. It is an extremley diverse group (most of the kids are Indian or Asian), the teachers don't turn over much and they are "older" (40s sorry but compared to most preschool teachers this is older). Their approach to montessori is actually unique because it is quite structured.

Truthfully, my son entered there at 3.5 and left at 5.5. He has always been "energetic" (not hyper enough to get into trouble but not one to be happy sitting and reading). They keep the kids moving enough to not bore them while focusing on reading, writing and math. They approach many different science and social topics (planets, botany, cultures). The kids are extremely respectful (I don't know if this is attributed to the structure, the teachers or the kids backgrounds). The one really troubled child I saw there was "expelled" but only after a lot of trying by the school and his parents (he had been adopted from Russia and it appeared that many of his probls were from his experience there).

Bottom line, my son started kindergarten being able to 1) MATH - add, identify and write numbers up to 100 2) LANGUAGE - knew and write all upper and lower case letters; could sound out and read simple words; write name; phonetically spell some words; "read" from left to right 3. OTHER - knew names and recognized all the planets, lifecycle of plants and butterflies; identify and name continents and oceans; basics of holidays and different cultures.