Pls help me choose!

I would def say not the first on. The adult to kid ratio is completely not ok. Isn't there a legal minimum of 1 adult per 9 kids under 5y?

To me the second option sounds the best. Maybe check the teachers are first aid certified and maybe ask to sit in on a class or two? You don't need fancy equipment if the staff have imagination and see excited about what they are doing.

Which school does your gut prefer?

Hi Ladies

Let me start with the history...

At 18 months my LG started going to a pre-school. It was a structured environment with max 7 kids per class with the ages in her class ranging from 18months to 3 years. They did activities such as artwork, puzzles, singing, free play, etc all in a structured environment.

Now we've moved towns & i'm really struggling to find her a school. There are no spaces in the good schools and i've found 3 options and none of them seem like a good fit.

Option 1

R660 per month for 3 half days a week. It's supposed to be a Montessori school, but somehow i don't think she's running the place like a proper Montessori should be (although she's been going since 2003). She says they have 40 kids and 3 adults, her the main women who i imagine is the trained one and then she has 2 domestic ladies who she's trained to help. The "classroom" is jammed packed with tons of stuff & it seems a bit chaotic in there & very quiet, not sure if the kids are free to run around & be crazy... She says the kids are left to get on with things on their own, not sure if they do things like sing rings or artwork or anything like a "normal" school environment. What worries me is that she'll get lost and behind in this environment. It's not that i don't believe in Montessori, i just don't think this Montessori is as it shoudl be.

Option 2

R750 per month for 3 half days a week. This place was started in January of this year by two moms, not sure if any of them are trained in anything or not. As they are new they only have 5 kids at the moment. The daycare is run from a granny cottage in the one moms garden. It's a very small room & they don't have much but they are free to run & play and go crazy. Yet they still do structured things like sing, art, etc... However, they don't have much equipment at the moment by the looks of things...

Option 3

R950 per month for 5 full days a week, she is going to let me know what 3x half days would be. I think this is more of a daymother environment. It's run from the lounge & spare room of a womans house. She had quite a few nanny's there, not sure if they are hers, or belong to the kids. Not sure how structured things are and what she'll learn there. It's quite cheap compared to the others, but i don't want her going backwards educationally...

What are your ladies thoughts? What would you do?