My wife was a Montessori 'lifer', this topic actually came up in conversation no our second date, and our child is currently the happiest Montessori pre-k kid,

My wife was a Montessori 'lifer', this topic actually came up in conversation no our second date, and our child is currently the happiest Montessori pre-k kid, perhaps ever. As others have pointed out, the Montessori program is strong, but the execution is everything. FWIW my wife, who is in her 40s, regularly visits her Montessori campus when visiting her hometown, and is friends with several of her classmates from the time, all of whom might give you the impression that Montessori is some sort of MLM thing to judge by their unbridled enthusiasm. EDIT - we plan to start our child in public kindergarten, because money. Tough choice, but that $12k isn't peanuts to us.