Montessori Schools

Just wanting some info on these schools. Since we're moving my oldest is not going to be able to go to a private catholic school as planned and I'm definitely not sending him to a giant public school so I'm checking out my options. I read their mission statement, which didn't really make any sense so I figured someone here would have some knowledge about them. TIA

Be sure that the montessori school you're looking at is accridated. There are a few different versions out there. If your child is a good self learner and can stay on task with out a lot of help a montessori school may be right for them. They can be expensive though depending on the area.

They are basically self paced schools. If your child is 3 grades ahead in reading and 1 behind in math it doesn't matter they teach it all. They're usually in groups of kids by age. I don't know a ton about them but that's what I've read.

I encourage you to tour the school, observe the interaction of the teachers and students and find out what their days are like.

I *love* true Montessori Method education, but sadly any school can call themselves Montessori, even if they aren't.

My dd has gone to an awesome Montessori school for the last 3 years, this year is her last year the teachers are amazing, the administration is wonderful -- the entire school is nut free because of my dd! but they only go to kindergarten age. If they had a 1st grade I would absolutely enroll her for that!

http://www.michaelolaf.net/1CW312MI.html

Hmm, the one in dayton goes to 6th grade. Their website was really hard to navigate but I'll go back and check it out again.

We would love to do Montessori if we don't homeschool. But not sure if we can afford it... Hence, homeschooling! I love the Montessori method and the Montessori schools near us are really good.

mominabigtruck said:

Hmm, the one in dayton goes to 6th grade. Their website was really hard to navigate but I'll go back and check it out again.

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I'm not doubting that, it's just the school my dd is in only goes to K. There *are* Montessori schools that go through high school, though they are hard to find.

Gypsy said:

I'm not doubting that, it's just the school my dd is in only goes to K. There *are* Montessori schools that go through high school, though they are hard to find.

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The ones near us go to 6th grade. That's what we would love to do if we would afford it: send Nolan to Montessori for elementary then public school for middle/high school. That's what our friends did.

ANY school can be excellent or awful -- it depends on the fit of the child to the environment.... I also urge you to visit any school you're considering: preferably to observe teachers/students in action & also to get your child's feel for it.

Have you looked up Waldorf & Reggio Emilia?
http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/edwards.html

I had a hard time deciding which school to put DD in. I'd love to homeschool her, unfortunately that's totally not an option since i'm one of those single moms and all and someone has to work to pay the bills around here

I do LOVE the philosophy of Montessori, but I guess my big setback is that montessori is basically child led schooling- right? Unfortunately Montessori schools only go to K or 6th grade here. What happens after 6th grade? How do they acclimate into a "normal" school with "forced" learning, KWIM? I just worry about integration and being "forced" to learn concepts if all they've ever known in 5-11 years of "child led" activities. Then again, i'm not saying all schools need to force our kids to learn whether they like it or not.

I guess i just look at it from a "business" perspective. There are tons of things I don't want to do when i'm working, but I have to. It's in my job description. If I got to pick which tasks I wanted to do and didn't want to do, i'd never ever complain about my job Aren't we sending our kiddos to school to be proactive, functional, educatied, intellegent and productive members of society?

I think Montessori is awesome in theory- I'd just worry about transitioning into grade school, high school, college, and eventually the work force. I'm sure many children do it and they do it sucessfully, but not knowing how my child could sucessfully transition into a small private school was the dealbreaker for me. Now my DD is enrolled into an awesome small preschool/daycare that has a Kindergarten, after Kindergarten I have the option of sending her to the same private school (1-12th, it's just in a different town) or start her in a small parochial school system.

We know several families who did Montessori for elementary then moved their kids over to public schools starting in middle school. They said there was no problem b/c they had friends going over to public schools, too, and knew the other kids.

As far as different environments (moving from child led to teacher led), I just feel like childhood ends so soon these days! And I'd love to have my child in a school with no homework, no official grades (such as 1st, 2nd,3rd), etc, even if he had to switch systems. IMHO, formal education doesn't need to begin as early as it does. So Montessori fits great with my philosophy, then put him in school for the more advanced subject matter that I'd like for him to learn. We're thinking about doing this anyway if we homeschool: putting him in public school at about 4th or 5th grade (to acclimate to being "in school") and then on to middle school and high school. Just a though, though - he's only four right now!

But back to your concern: our friends' children had no problems. None of them. It's no different from switching from daycare to preschool to kindergarten then on to grade school, then middle school, then high school, then college. Just another transition. And at least they got the Montessori in somewhere rather than not at all.

It depends on the child.... Many kids have less problems adapting to "regular" school after Montessori while it's pretty common that many public school kids get stuck in a rut of never feeling accomplished/motivated in school -- I'd rather a kid learn to LOVE school early on & have the tools available to adapt when needed

papooses said:

I'd rather a kid learn to LOVE school early on & have the tools available to adapt when needed

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Very very true. I hadn't thought of that

As far as different environments (moving from child led to teacher led), I just feel like childhood ends so soon these days! And I'd love to have my child in a school with no homework, no official grades (such as 1st, 2nd,3rd), etc, even if he had to switch systems. IMHO, formal education doesn't need to begin as early as it does. So Montessori fits great with my philosophy, then put him in school for the more advanced subject matter that I'd like for him to learn.

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I totally agree about that. I guess the difference for me is that if i didn't *need* to put DD in school, she probably wouldn't be there right now.

I do believe childhood comes and goes way too quickly and I do believe Montessori has such an awesome philosophy, but I guess I somewhat like some structure. I think Montessori is so very advanced from the methodology that's being taught in public/private schools. I just wish there were longer term available options if one chooses to send their kid to a montessori school vs having the montessori education stop right at Jr High, Kindergarten, etc.

I never used to like Montessori schools but then in one of my classes the professer made us go look at schools and stay for a few hours. After doing that i really liked it but it is for children that can learn on their own. There was one child there that i did not think was working out because she could never sit still and the kept on telling her to get to work so i think she could of done better somewere else but other than that i loved it.

We have a Charter school here that I've been told does Montessori for the Elementary years. The Charter goes from 1st to 12th and it's high school is one of the top rated schools in the country. If we stay in this area, I want to send my kids to high school there, if I don't continue to homeschool.

Don't forget to check out Charter options, they are free public schools but a lot different than the standard. Some Charter schools aren't all that great but the ones in this area out perform the public schools by a long shot. My oldest went to a charter (a different one than the one mentioned above) for one year and my middle for two years, it is a very good school and I had no complaints about the school itself. I just missed my kids and I didn't like that they quit being best frineds with one another when they were in school all day.

I think it really does depend on the child and the school, like others have said. Montessori schools can be wonderful, but not all are, and there are other wonderful preschools around. Around where I live, Montessori has a kind of snob value, which I'm not so keen on.

We have our kids in a play-based child care center. (In fact, one of DD #1's teachers taught Montessori for many years, but prefers the play-based model of our center.) There are a few things about Montessori that I don't care for, such as the fact that they discourage certain forms of pretend/imaginative play. I also think my headstrong four year-old benefits from having a bit more structure and social direction. But truly, every kid and every center is different.

4yo dd is in a Montessori school. Some days we love it, some days we hate it. It's like car seats: You can have a super cool car seat, but if it's not used right, it's worthless. Or you can have a cheap-o seat, but with a good install, it's golden. When we agree with the teachers/admin, it rocks! But when our philosophies differ... not so good.

Definitely check everything out in person before enrolling.

Montessori schools are really good..!!!!

There are also Steiner schools that go to higher levels but i dont know if you have them in the states..?

I've been doing a presentation about beekeeping to the local Montessori Preschool class for the last few years, and I've been impressed with what I've seen. The kids are smart and have learned a lot for that age (a lot more than I knew at that age!), and seemed to be having fun. I'd reccomend it if you believe in their ideals.

I finally figured out my preschool situation. Basically IF DH is sent on TDY sometime this summer, I'll be enrolling dd part time in the local Montessori school around August. I really think it would help her and I to do so. I'll be 24/7 parenting which for her & I can be a battle of wills. We each need a break from one another which really makes our relationship much more cooperative.

If he remains here, then we'll go on with our usual schedule & have fun + learning until he eventually gets orders. Depending on when that happens, I'll either send her to the Montessori or the private Episcopalian school since she'll be just 5 or more. They'll still place her with kids who are younger, but they'll be older too. I'd rather have that in the future than currently surrounded by 3 year olds while she's already 4. Too much of a developmental difference imo.

If you're interested in learning more about the Montessori or other types of schools, look into what your library system has. There's an informative book called The Montessori Controversy which is helpful to questions you have about the program. There's also a video out there too that my parents watched through the library system and helped to understand.

Personally, I would rather teach a child HOW to learn than fill her up with all sorts of current information to memorize without understanding the content. We don't know what will be important to know in 20 years, but at least I believe if my dd knows how to adapt, research, & figure things out, she'll be successful in whatever she chooses to do.

If you think about it, Maria Montessori was an absolute radical in her theory & methods of learning 100 years ago. We were just emerging out of the Victorian era where it was considered that children were natural little beasts who MUST be forcefully civilized and educated. Children peacefully learning from one another and the atmosphere around them? Oh heck, what was the world coming to? But it's not for all kids or even adults, that's for sure. I just believe my little OCD wanna-be child would benefit from a more relaxed learning setting than adding to her uberawareness of schedules.

Montessori is actually the more structured/academic of the 3 main European methods, the others being Reggio Emilia (also Italian) or Waldorf.... Each have the basic ideals to which American schools are currently striving while also being required to conform to new national standards -- after looking into living overseas for school myself & bringing Leila along, I personally believe that US public schools are still great in general: free & with the right teacher fit, any kid can flourish! Leila needs to be 6 years old before she would get free full day education in even Italy, Spain, France, etc. because of availability/need/cost. Homeschooling is the only close to perfection I think, but even that is dependent upon the relationship between parent & child, how each with accomodate that relationship to fit education. If I could homeschool Leila, hold down a job & still do well in college, then I would, but my stress level just gets too high for it to be good for either of us yet. If I could choose between Montessori (which I can't because of cost) or public school, I would want Montessori without a doubt because they generally help kids of various learning styles adapt the thinking mind & motivated spirit to enjoy learning + also to enjoy teaching others. This awesome internal characterist isn't as commonly or deeply fostered in public school, nor in Catholic schools. That said, Leila has the kind of personality for whom public school is a good match -- my only requirement is that they have smart discipline policies which do not allow corporal punishment. Other than that, if I see that Leila doesn't have a good fit with her teacher I'd ask the principal about switching teachers & if that didn't work then I would do whatever I could to homeschool + save for Montessori/Reggio/Waldorf.