montessori schools

Has anyone had experience with this type of school? Can you tell me more about it? How did you like it? I've heard it's very expensive as well.

 

I looked into it as I think they are fantastic!! Unfortunatly they are way too expensive for us.

My brother went to one for a couple years and my mom loved it as well. But once again cost seemed to come into play.

 

I took an early childhood class eons ago that talked about it. I don't remember details, just the lasting impression I have. Basically I feel it's too rigid for young children. There was the expectation that the child sit alone to play with one thing until mastered. It may be different than I remember, but I would go observe a montessori classroom to help make your decision.

 

I am an early childhood educator who worked in a Montessori school for a couple years. My teaching style defintly didn't fit in there. (it also wasn't a well run place from the owners, I made the decision there never to work for a for profit school)

It also takes a certain type of child. One who can play very independently with little adult interaction. It is very routine and very little leave is left for deviation from that routine.

I find it very interesting that Maria Montessori developed her theories for the children in the slums of Rome and now its a very high end "brand" of education.

 

I guess like anything, it's subjective. . .
some love it, some don't.
You have to visit a few of them to see really.
Our's followed the true Montessori ethics and it was anything but 'rigid'. In fact, one of their 'things' is that they children are able to work at their own pace.
It may take one child 30 minutes to finish their task and the next one 2 hours and that's perfectly fine.
And there's a lot of teacher ineraction at a lot of them, in fact, teh teacher is supposed to move about the room constantly so as to interact one on one w/ each child most of the day.
One warning, a lot of schools claim to be Montessori, but are definitely not.
They have a 'Practical Life' center where children learn real life things, like cleaning up their space when finished, using mops and brooms. . .
they do a lot of spatial learning and math w/o even realizing it.
Most children are full readers before ever leaving, Berkley is in K and it reading at a 2nd grade level.

It's not for everyone, just like everything else.
I suggest visiting 2 of them, you'll see how different 2 of them are, you'll quickly know what's best for your kids.
Berkley went for 2-3 yrs and the boys will be going this Fall.

 

My son went to a Montessori School for 2yrs. Montessori is not a rigid routine. The theory is that the teachers in the class room are there to guide the children. The children interests and strength is what they want to encourage. If a child is interested in Math then the child is encouraged(not told)to choose a math subject. If a child is interested in Art then they try to teach the other areas in a art fashion. For example in preschool my son learned the 7 continents. He colored them and then cut the shapes our and clued them onto the shape of the world. Children work at their own pace. All ages are in a classroom. The older children are encouraged to help the younger children. Yes Montessori encourages children to be independant. The younger ones are encouraged to pour from a class to another class(one of the things that they encourage). The older ones are encouraged to get certain subjects done within the week however they can choose what to do when to do it. I personally like the theory of Maria Montessori. I like children being taught to be independant. I like the idea of childrens interests being encouraged and using that interest to develope other areas to such as reading,writing,math,history........... My problem with it is that not the theory of the teaching but if you get a teacher that does not teach it the way it was meant to be taught. My son went to montessori for 2yrs. I put him in public schools this year because I was not happy with the way that they were teaching montessori. My sons teacher didnt really guide him. She let him choose what he wanted to do which was drawing the majority of the time. His preschool teacher in montessori got him reading before kinder(which was GREAT!!) But the kinder teacher at montessori didnt seem to know the difference between guiding the children and just letting them do what they want. That is the trick getting a teacher that will guide your child and not just let him/her do what he or she wants. For example instead of saying what do you want to do? I wish his teacher would have said... "Okay right now you need to work in the math area. You can choose anthing you want as long as you are in the math area." She seemed to just let him choose way to much what he wanted.

Make sure that you know the school and you speak to a few parents that take their kids there and if you find some that stopped taking their kids there talk to them as well. Montessori is a great way to teach children as long as it is taught the correct way. You can look online about more info on Maria Montessori. She was a interesting woman and when she died her son continued her legacy. Make sure the school is teaching it the way it is suppose to or your money will be wasted(like me). Ask when they were taught montessori? How long have they taught? If they use ditto papers in the class that is a clue that they are not teaching montessori the correct way(which is what the school did that my son went to). All work in Montessori is hands on and you rarely get work sent home like the public schools so you really need to keep in touch with teacher to make sure that your child is learning. They encourage parent involvment such as volunterring at the school for reading, cleaning, planting. The school my son went to took advantage of the parents that volunterred. They expected the parents to do all the up keep in the school and that is NOT what Marie Montessori wanted. She wanted parents to be involved in their childs learning process.

Sorry so long........If you find a school that teaches Montessori the way Maria Montessori wanted it to be taught then if you have the money do it. I have seen kids reading at extremly young ages. This one girl I knew was in kinder and she was doing math problems in the thousands,millions. It was amazing to see her. She was taught the right way.

Cherie
Ramzie 6/8/00
Malena & Sofia 6/27/03

 

My niece goes to a Montessori school. My brother and SIL love it, and apparently so does my niece. It is a little expensive though.

 

I was told that in an extreme montessori environment children may be discouraged from imaginaary play. For example the montessori approach stresses "real" environment and teaches kids independence and how to gain independence by using real tools. This is great for helping children gain confidence, however, I did hear that traditionally if children were playing with pots and pans learning to cook something and a child put a pot on thier head and called it a hat, they would be corrected and instructed that it is a pot for cooking. I'm not sure all still use the approach with this much rigidness so I think by interviewing teachers you could get a feel for what it would be like.

My Matthew lives in a completely imaginary world where he is always pretending things are used differently. A strict montessori environment would be really difficult for him.

 

I have been an educator for the past 9 years as a first grade teacher. I have never been to a Montessori school. But I will tell you what my observances are of a Montessori child in a public school system. This is what most public school teachers will tell you of a Montessori student. They don't like to follow the routine you have set up. They like to do things on their own and own pace. They take a lot of time to do things, like writing assignments. It is hard for them to transition to a timed assignment,etc. Now most of my students were girls from MOntessori. They were not happy at first with the routine and centers in class but eventually they came around.
THey also were way ahead of the game. As far as 1st grade level material, it was way too easy. I provided some higher level material but they could have skipped first grade. They were reading at 5th grade or higher. But you cannot find chapter books with first grade material at the 5th grade level.
I am not going to send my girls to Montessori based on the fact that I am an educator so they will get a lot from me at home just being the teacher I am. I also don't want them to be bored in school. Public school will probably be a drag unless you have a gate program that they can begin at a young age, not 4th grade like most schools. A pull out won't be helpful either.
My mother has taught 1st/2nd grade GATE for 20+ years and when she gets a Montessori student, they too have a difficult time. And she is a GATE teacher. She also advised me to not put the girls in Montessori.
I don't have anything against it and I have heard from many parents how wonderful it is. I think you ultimately need to observe and see how your child will fit in and how good of a match the program is. Good luck!