This morning, I got to do my favorite pre-parenting thing other than getting an ultrasound. I went to a local Montessori pre-school that accepts children as young as 6 weeks.

It was awesome!

The school is set up in three different little buildings, one just for infants and toddlers, and two for children aged 3-6. They also have two small playgrounds, one for the younger children and one for the older ones, and a beautiful garden.

In contrast to the other pre-school we looked at and liked, this school was very quiet and calm. The children seemed very focused on the different tasks they were working on, and in the older children’s rooms, some of the "big kids" were helping the "little kids" or the "little kids" watched the "big kids"  do something — with great interest.

The rooms were much less colorful and filled with toys than at the other school, and the tour guide explained that especially with the small children and infants, they bring out a few different toys each day, so as to avoid overwhelming the children. The infants looked like they were very happy, mostly playing by themselves. The older children clustered in groups of two or three, mostly, with one little girl very busily taking one long block at a time and moving it from a disorganized heap on one side of the room to a row in-order-by-length on the other side of the room. A slightly younger girl watched her, wide-eyed.

At this school, they also promote the children to the next classroom in a gradual, individual way. Starting around 12 months, the infants visit the toddler classroom and begin to play outside with them. Depending on their individual development, an infant will begin spending more time with the toddlers and then fully transition to the toddler class between 14-18 months. The other school admits and promotes everyone from classroom to classroom, either in June or September, and we were already #49 on the June 2006 waiting list for the 8 infant slots.

I have to admit, I’m biased towards Montessori education.

I was lucky enough to go to a very diverse Montessori preschool myself, and I remember having a great time. I could also read and do basic arithmatic before I started kindergarten in my local public school. And I loved playing with the Cylinder Block — watching the little boy in the Montessori video figure it out gave me a huge flashback. But my favorite memories are of trying new things, like coconut milk fresh from the coconut, and going for walks where *everyone* got to push the walk signal button on the traffic pole.

I want that love, freedom, and sense of adventure in learning for Lil Smudge.

Is it weird to already want that even though Lil Smudge won’t even be born yet for almost 6 months? Too bad.