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San Francisco, CA
Belvedere Montessori

Parents at this school would recommend this school to other parents.

Review this preschool

neighborhood: Cole Valley ·  Telephone: (415) 564-3173

• Summary
• General Info
• Curriculum &
  Teaching Approach
• Quality of
  Teaching
• Home/School
  Connection
• Discipline,
  Health & Safety
• Ages, Schedule
  & Tuition
• Application &
  Admissions
• Kindergarten
  Placement&Tips

General Approach to Learning

	Play-based
	Play-based with some structure
	Predominantly teacher-led instruction
	Montessori
	Waldorf
	Co-op
	Reggio-Emilia

source:

Social Skills & Work Habits

OVERALL RATING (4.2)
This school has increased my child's:
Ability to listen and follow directions
Ability to sit still for longer periods of time
Ability to be a part of a group of children
Self-sufficiency and independence
Awareness of others’ feelings
Cooperation with other children

source:

Curriculum and Teaching Approach

	PLAY-BASED	PLAY-BASED WITH SOME STRUCTURE	MOSTLY TEACHER LED	NOT FORMALLY IN CURRICULUM	CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT
Language					-
Oral language	-	-	-	-
Nursery rhymes, poems, songs	-	-	-	-
Storybook reading	-	-	-	-
Emerging literacy skills	-	-	-	-
Cognitive Development
Math and number sense	-	-		-	-
Time & space	-	-	-	-	-
Sci. reasoning/physical world	-	-	-	-	-
Music	-	-	-	-	-
Visual arts	-	-	-	-	-
Physical activity	-	-	-	-	-
Other subjects taught

source:

Parents' Comments

Parent #1
While most of my answers were 'teacher-led instruction' there is often a balance going on. While some kids might be writing in their journals being 'instructed', others may be playing in the garden looking for slugs. This being Montessori, the teachers follow the pace of the individual child. The kids also cook quite a bit in the classroom.

Parent #2
Older children keep daily journals in which they copy a new sentence each day. But these sentences are often the director's own quirky reflections about the day's news or other matters and are not really appropriate material for the children. They seemed chosen to amuse the parents, not inspire the children.

Parent #3
The days at Belvedere Montessori are so action-packed, the teachers' focus is on keeping everything on schedule and crowd control, not on engaging students one-on-one. We love the daily field trips though it makes us a tad nervous knowing the director refuses to carry a cellphone even though the parents offered to buy the phone and pay for the service plan. Stay-at-home Moms in the neighborhood have commented that when the kids are on the playground, there is little interaction with the teachers, who sit on the sidelines and do their own thing.

Parent #4
One thing that is certain is that the director has a routine for the children. A routine with daily activities that I, to this day, can not figure out how she packs so much into one day. Unless is pouring down rain, the children physically walk to a local playground (not just a fenced in play yard) EVERY DAY. After having our son in this environment, I can't imagine him being stuck another preschool in one building looking at the same four walls all day. The weekly routine includes: at least one major field trip, a daily playground jaunt, knitting, music, library visits, swimming, cooking, dancing, gardening, art and of course free play for example.

Parent #5
These kids get more physical activity than at any other school of which I am aware. They walk, swim, and play for hours every day.