Allen & Frisco Montessori Schools Compared to Apple Creek Preschool

Apple Creek Private Preschool prepares your young child for success in kindergarten and in the years beyond using the very best of today’s educational approaches. We accomplish this by blending learning through joyful play, and modeling and encouraging respectful and collaborative team work. We provide a fun, developmentally-appropriate environment in which each individual child is challenged to learn at his or her own pace.

When researching early childhood educational programs, parents of our Frisco and Allen preschools often ask us how Apple Creek differs from the Montessori Method of teaching. Apple Creek Private Preschool is not classified as a Montessori school, although we incorporate many of the Montessori techniques into our program. Montessori programs vary from school to school, so we have adopted approaches from the Montessori Method developed by Maria Montessori in Italy in the early 1900’s.

Both Apple Creek and the Montessori Method place an emphasis on developing self-help skills and problem-solving as an individual and as a group. Both approaches view the child holistically, and address their social, cognitive, and creative development and needs with great respect. Courtesy and manners are a part of the daily classroom in both programs, and the multi-disciplinary and interwoven curriculums foster a life-long love of learning using hands-on activities.

At Apple Creek Private Preschool, we recognize that most of our students will advance to traditional public elementary schools, and we prepare them for success in that environment. In kindergarten, children need to be able to work individually and cooperatively, and to be able to meet the academic standards set forth by the Texas Education Agency. Keeping this in mind, we have created a preschool experience that blends the joy of learning with the necessary structure of the classroom. Children graduate from our programs academically and socially ready to flourish in the traditional kindergarten classroom.

Here are some traits that distinguish the differences between the two programs:

Montessori Method	Apple Creek Preschool (Frisco & Allen)
Children are in Multi Age groups	Children are grouped by school year
Teachers are certified by Montessori organizations (AMS/AMI)	Teachers have college degrees or are actively working on degrees in Education or Early Childhood Education
Schools may or may not be accredited with AMS/AMI	NAEYC Accredited
Serious, work-oriented environment	Playful academic environment
Utilizes contained work trays and materials	Utilizes a variety of Learning materials including some from the Montessori Method

Apple Creek Private Preschool is proud to be NAEYC-Accredited. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) ensures through its annual accreditation review that we are providing your child with a developmentally-appropriate, high-quality education that meets the “best practices in the field.” To learn more about the prestigious NAEYC accreditation we maintain, please visit the NAEYC site at http://www.naeyc.org/academy/primary/standardsintro

Please feel welcome to contact us at any time with questions you may have. We look forward to being a part of your child’s education.