Beanstalk Montessori and Daycare

My son was at Beanstalk for 3 years and started kindergarten this year. Beanstalk has not only prepared him to take on the academics, but has also prepared him socially and emotionally to interact in a positive manner with his peers. He has loved his time at Beanstalk, but was fully ready for the next step and kindergarten.

His teachers have not only nurtured his curiosity and interest in learning, but have also challenged him when he needed it. Beanstalk has helped my guy to become a confident, independent child. I can't thank Beanstalk and the wonderful staff enough for all they have done for him!

My daughter (age 3) is currently enrolled in Beanstalk Montessori Preschool and Day Care. My husband and I feel its been one of the best decisions we have made so far to enroll her a year ago.

We did take a bit of a gamble admittedly.... Beanstalk was only a few months into operations (opened May 2014). However what the school lacks in longevity, it makes up for in the unconditional love and attention it provides to its young pupils. Looking back then to one year later, we couldn't be happier!

And actually, Beanstalk grew from being a highly valued, popular mommy and me program in Bethesda to being a full-time Montessori-based preschool/daycare so it had tested the academic waters. Despite it being a new preschool, they have assembled seasoned staff. The head teacher, Miss Earnestine, is affiliated with the esteemed Barrie School and the Head Mistress, Zahra, has more than a decade of teaching experience, and certification in Montessori education.

The children have music every day (Miss Keyty, the music teacher, is wonderful), go outside to the nearby park twice a day, do daily art projects, select their "work" etc. Lessons have centered around geography, science and language arts. Our 3 year old knows all of the continents, sings songs in Spanish, and is learning about the solar system. She is also sounding out her words, cutting using scissors, and is learning how to hold a pencil properly to write. Our only challenging is knowing she will be far ahead when she starts public school, and therefore, how to keep her engaged at that time.

Besides academics, and what is arguably more important, the children are learning how to be pleasant, use grace, and good manners. True, Its a boutique school with 18 students (2-5 years old) so behavior management is easier than larger schools, but, even so, the children hug their friends, say please and thank you, take turns, and are kind to one another and their teachers.

Because its so small, it is difficult to get in and there is often a wait list. If you have the chance to enroll your little one, give it some thought. We couldn't be happier with this special little school!

Our son was at Beanstalk beginning at age two, and I was very upset and disappointed by the way they treated him. It astonishes me to see so many parents say they think the teachers are nurturing-- I found the exact opposite. They were negative every time I heard anything from them, mainly because my two year old was not living up to their expectations. He had a speech delay and wasn't really talking yet, but he was working with a therapist once a week. The head teacher and the owner sat my husband and I down and said-- you have to do something to make him talk. I was flabbergasted, and said something like, "as you know, we can't MAKE him..." The response was comical, they openly disagreed with me and lectured me on how I should make him talk. With what, a magic wand? I am not sure what they thought was going to happen. It got to the point that my little boy was grinding his teeth at night and getting clingy with us, which he never had been before, and I was crying at night wondering if I was a horrible mom.

After a few painful months we switched, and I am only upset at myself that we didn't switch sooner. We went to WCC, also in Bethesda, where my son relaxed and seemed happy at the end of every day, and loved and hugged his teachers and classmates, even started to talk more and thrive in this more nurturing environment. The staff there clearly understood that two year olds are not four year olds, and had appropriate expectations. We have since moved to the Boston area, where he now *is* 4 years old, talking up a storm, and loving preschool.

Beanstalk was my first experience with preschool or daycare, and I regret very much not noticing how cold and wrong it was for my child sooner. If I had been more experienced and trusted myself, I would have known. If you have older preschoolers who are very independent and well-socialized, then this might work for you. For younger kids in a first time daycare experience, I would strongly suggest staying away and looking for staff who are not so rigid.

Beanstalk is an excellent Montessori program set in a clean, cheery environment with a diverse group of teachers and students, and a low teacher student ratio. What makes Beanstalk EXCEPTIONAL is the "mommy and me" transitional program and that certain element that is difficult to describe.

Besides being able to transition your child ( which personally, was hugely important to me as I have a son who is shy and very reserved), the "mommy and me" program allows the parents to personally see how their child responds to this environment -the Montessori aspect and in general. In addition, it's beneficial and really enjoyable to have this time to get to know the teachers, and the other parents. I also found it just plain fun to go to the classes with my son.

Beanstalk is also exceptional for those elements that just combine to create a very warm, fun and inviting environment. The teachers are warm, caring, friendly, FUN. The teachers also, go beyond seeing how the child functions, but take the time to get to know that child's individual personality.

My shy, reserved, attached son very happily attended the "drop-off" classes this past year. Sadly, we are moving from the area, otherwise I would continue to send my son here for another year ( and I have looked at many preschool programs in the area.) I can also honestly say, one of my greatest concerns with our move is that I will not be able to find a program comparable to Beanstalk. Seriously.

My daughter has been attending Beanstalk Montessori for the past 2 1/2 years (started at 2 yrs old and is now 4 1/2) and we just love the environment here. She has grown so much during her time here into a very sweet, talkative, helpful, and balanced person initially being helped by the older children when she was 2 and now becoming the helper as one of the older children in the classroom. We love the teachers (particularly Ernestine - head teacher and Keyty - music teacher) who have been at the school since my daughter arrived. This is a pleasant positive in preschools to retain the best teachers for a long period of time which brings consistency and stability to an early child's' education. She gets personalized attention and in addition to Montessori work where she has excelled, gets plenty of play (they go outside twice a day). Zahra plans thoughtful activities for the kids all the time (I.e. Water play days, trips to Imagination Stage kids theater productions, celebrates birthdays) and is a very responsive owner/Director. She takes the time to get to know every child very well. I love that this school/daycare is smaller (20 children capacity) which affords the kids more personalized care as well as bring a "family like" feeling between parents, teachers, and children. I have 2 other children that I plan to send to Zahra (assuming we can make it through her forever full waitlist!). We have been very happy at Beanstalk. It is a gem of a school within affluent Bethesda with still very reasonable rates relative to other bethesda daycares.

Beanstalk Montessori offers the only Mommy and Me Montessori program I could find anywhere in the area. It has been a WONDERFUL way to introduce my daughter to a school setting and Montessori philosophy in a gradual way before she has to make the transition to a full time preschool. She has thrived in the environment, both intellectually and socially. The founder and teacher, Zahra, is amazing...professional, personable, and the kids love her. She is like part of our family now. I would suggest this as a precursor to preschool for anyone...It is particularly useful for stay-at-home parents or those with nannies who want to introduce their kids to a school environment but are concerned about initial separation anxiety. (But there is also a drop-off program available). Check this one out!!

I started with my son in the M&Me program which we did for 12 weeks, then switched him to the 2 day, then 3 day drop off prgm. This made transitioning to preschool smooth, as both he and I were comfortable with the teachers and the environment. The teachers are kind, caring and give the children plenty of individual attention. My son went from being attached to me (literally during M&Me) and not wanting to go to school alone (start of drop off), to loving school and his teachers and stayed in the prgm through the summer. He has become a confident 4 year old and transitioned to a 36 student class at a larger 5 day Montessori school (to get ready for kindergarten). Now my daughter and I are in the M&Me program and she'll start the drop off when she turns 3. loved sharing the experience. highly recommend it.

Attentive, dependable and knowlegeable instructors- Everyday is a new learning experience for your child. After taking a series of Zahra's classes with my daughter, have learned how to play/ teach / instruct my daughter.

This school is terrific! My older son has been in a 5 day a week Montessori program (at a different school) since he was 2 years old, but when my younger son turned 2 - neither of us was ready for a 5 day a week school. Luckily, we found Beanstalk. It was the perfect solution. A wonderful, nuturing, montessori class setting that allowed me to stay with my child. I got to see him learn new things and was able to comfort his need to be near mom. He has now "graduated" to the drop off class and is doing wonderfully. I am continually surprised at all that he knows and has learned at school. But more than that, Beanstalk has provided us the montessori education we sought in an environment that worked for our family. The staff is fabulous and both my son and I treasure them!

i'm blown away by this wonderful montessori school in the heart of bethesda.

i'm a mom of a 2 year old. we interviewed 90 nannies to get to the one who we ultimately hired for months 4-18. she was a great nanny (in her prior job she was nanny to a duchess), but it took a LOT of interviewing to get to her. i've thrown similar energy into touring bethesda area schools and daycares, have visited around 15 of them. beanstalk is my #1 pick. here's what is so great about this very special school:
1) great location across from imagination stage
2) clean, light filled room. why is it light filled? because it's not in the basement like so many programs for little people. we don't have our kid's room in a basement, why would we want our kid's school to be in a basement, with windows looking out on concrete, for their waking hours? depressing! in contrast, beanstalk's classroom is chipper and happy.
3) montessori. so it's an actual school, with a cool approach.
4) very exceptionally reasonable prices. hard to imagine how long that can go on...
5) 80% international kids (with 1 or both parents international), a lot of parents working at the nih apparently.
6) the kids look REALLY good. kids at other schools and daycares sometimes have the look of being drained, sapped of energy and life force. not these kids. these kids are happy, with sparkling eyes, full of life and joy. (i put beanstalk a notch ahead of waldorf at this age because the waldorf kids are more muted/whispering, although also very clearly well cared for.)
7) the teachers are exceptional...loving, with spirit in the eyes
8) the director zahra totally knows what she's doing...knows how to recruit great teachers, knows how to put together a fantastic school for kids, i even like how she designed her office to be central in the room, with glass on both sides, so she can see everything. she's a likeable, with-it, director, someone you'd want to be friends with, someone i would definitely entrust my son and his education to.
9) mixed age 2/3/4 classroom...so kids spanning 3 years all together in a room, learning from each other, teaching each other by way of example, how completely wonderful is that?! and it also means less transition than with other schools. these kids don't change rooms and teachers each year. everyone stays put. with the solidity of that structure in place, they can then focus on learning...vs adjusting to yearly discombobulation at a young age.
10) my son is very discerning, shows through his actions that he doesn't like babysitter candidates or schools. however he really enjoyed his visit to this school.
11) i've sent 3 discerning friends of mine to check out this school, all 3 came away from their visits super impressed, and 1 of the 3 moved her daughter to beanstalk from the shoe, the other 1 plans to enroll once her son is 2, and the other is still deciding.
12) beyond all the "reasons" for this school being superb, there is the matter of gut vibe. my gut vibe felt very comfortable and happy to be in this warm space where the look of the kids is huge testament to what's going on.

we haven't enrolled my son in this school yet (currently no spaces), but this school is so special, and so deserves this review, that this is the review from a visitor to the school, who visited for 90 minutes. in that time i saw free play, circle time, snack time, and the beginning of work time.

as a parent, you may be mulling on the idea of whether to keep your young child with their nanny or some other scenario they've been in. what i would recommend is that you go to the playground and study the faces of kids your child's age, with nannies of any quality (from awful to fantastic). look at the kids, really study how they seem, and then compare that look to the look of the kids at beanstalk, who are delighted to be with other little friends, with warm skilled teachers as guides. i can see the point of various scenarios for the under 2 group, but i think 2 and forward, it's become increasingly clear to me that social interaction, group instruction, loving wise adults who can hold boundaries through the day, all of this is very helpful.

while bethesda is a fancy area, the situation with nannies and daycares and schools for kids 4 and under, i would describe as depressing at best.

lucky the child whose parent finds their way to beanstalk. cute name to this school, too!