Montessori school gave our daughter a great start. We still switched to a public school for first grade.

The author's daughter went to a Montessori school until first grade. aire images/Getty Images Our daughter attended a Montessori school for preschool and kindergarten. Getting a Montessori education was great for her, but we still switched to public school. While there are some things about it I don't love, it was the right choice for our family. Kindergarten — a monumental milestone in childhood — was a dream year for our daughter. She won the lottery to attend a public Montessori charter school , a schooling option we felt lucky to have in our small mountain city. She had attended a private Montessori preschool, and so we applied to the charter, thinking it'd be nice if she could have the "capstone experience" of a primary Montessori classroom (ages 3-6) — and for free, at that.