The most expensive preschools in America bear a pine-scented resemblance to those senna-tinted photographs of a world before plastics, albeit with no unseemly hint of poverty. Within the world of Waldorf, Montessori and Wild Forest schools the hand dominates the machine, wood and stone beat oil and metal, and the screen has been banished. Just as organic milk is more expensive than soda pop, simple hand-crafted toys have become the hallmark of the wealthy.
It’s not just the toys which are different (a Montessori-educated teacher would reject ‘toys’ in favor of ‘work’). It’s the steady routines, non-cluttered spaces, slow and comforting songs, and a now rare type of children’s book. A visitor will find no shadow of “F is for Fart” or “Cora the Cow Plops a Patty” in a 30,000 dollars a year classroom.
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