Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
98% of AP parents don't truly understand what AP is. Most simply think "Don't let Billy cry" and 'wear' him until he gets on the bus and heads of to Kindy.[/i]
Oy vey! I've only had one family so far who said they were AP, but half the other families have kids who are anxiety-ridden from being petted all the time at home. It's a loop: The parents soothe the kids because otherwise the parents will never get any peace, but then the kids are unable to stay soothed because they believe they need to be in full contact with their parents at all times.
We're one of only a few middle-income families at the school and I'm also one of the only parents who's native to the region. Montessori was developed for the working-class poor, but it didn't take off in the US and so it's not available to the poor and the poor are mostly unaware of it. (We're in a region with crushing poverty and also a booming tech and startup industry.) So a lot of the families who immigrate to the US know about Montessori and seek it out. And a lot of the families are older--the type to work for years, then get married, then work for more years, then have kids as they approach middle age. I don't think these are the AP-type families.