anyone have any experience with montessori schools?

**john turner** · #1 07-30-2010, 07:46 AM

heya folks

any of you guys go to a montessori school? or have sent your children?

thoughts? i know they can vary from place to place, but i'd like to get some folks' thoughts about what they liked and didn't like about the method.

CapnSev · #2 07-30-2010, 08:41 AM

I went to Montessori for pre-school. I got in my first fist fight there. Ah, memories...

Nedmundo · #3 07-30-2010, 09:21 AM

Both of my daughters, now 11 and 7 years old, attended a Montessori school for pre-school, and our older daughter stayed through kindergarten. She had a wonderful experience, largely because of her teacher. The younger one did not exactly groove with her teacher, so we took her out early, but that has nothing to do with the method, which in general I think is excellent.

The focus on mastering practical skills (washing stuff, building things, etc.) gives children confidence, and they work on extended projects, which develops concentration and patience while they learn substantive material. For example, a child might work on making a map of Africa over the course of a week.

The classrooms are set up to allow kids to achieve at their own pace under a teacher's direction. Even though this school only went through kindergarten, the materials could have taken a child up through third grade. And, with kids of various ages in the same room, older children often teach younger children, which has enormous benefits for both.

I was especially impressed with the school's approach to mathematics. They use physical materials, so the children can touch and see mathematical relationships. For example, they have "number chains," which are chains of beads in groups of two, three, four, five, etc. With these, the kids learn concepts for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. I remember one kid stringing together the ten-bead chains down the hall to count to 1,000. I think he was five at the time.

They have other similar materials, and it's a sophisticated approach that should be used everywhere. At age five our older daughter could do basic multiplication and division in her head, which I attribute largely to the Montessori method. Our younger one, though just as bright in this area, was not at the same level, in part because she did not have the Montessori method as long.

My sense was that the method might be less useful for older kids, but I'm sure it depends on the child, school, teacher, etc. For some, it might be great up through middle school.

Good luck!

chondro776 · #4 07-30-2010, 10:09 AM

I went to one for kindergarten. I enjoyed it, but I am a 'get the hell out of my way so I can learn' kind of person, I do not appreciate hand-holding teaching styles.

Also as an outreach educator, my favorite schools to visit are Montessori schools.

MakiSupaStar · #5 07-30-2010, 09:52 PM

It's a great approach to learning if done properly, so do your research, especially talking to parents that have enrolled their own children. Still, with that said, it's not for every child. Some children perform better in other types of environments, often to no fault of the school.

LiquidMidnight · #6 07-31-2010, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

It's a great approach to learning if done properly, so do your research, especially talking to parents that have enrolled their own children. Still, with that said, it's not for every child. Some children perform better in other types of environments, often to no fault of the school.

Hey Maki, what do you think of the Sudbury model?

coolrunner989 · #7 07-31-2010, 10:06 AM

I was in Montessori until 6th grade and I loved it. I credit my love of learning and exploration to my teachers and the Montessori system.

Nedmundo hit most of the key points on the head I think. One other thing I'll throw in is that your classrooms are only loosely segregated by age, so you can have friends that are older or younger than you depending on your own maturity level. I was always friends with kids a year or two older than I was, working on the same kind of projects or playing together outside. I can't imagine being stuck with the same age group for your entire educational track, it would be so limiting IMO.

If I have the $ to send my kids to Montessori, they'll definitely try it. Although like it's been said, everybody learns differently and learns better in different environments.

**john turner** · #8 07-31-2010, 12:01 PM

thanks for the input, guys. i've been researching the method, wondering if it would be right for my daughter, who just turned 3. she's been at a daycare that is very education-oriented (she's been able to count to 20 - and actually count things - for almost a year now, along with her alphabet and about a dozen other kid songs), and likes "school" as we call it.

i really like what i've seen of montessori schools, but i'm curious as to how the kids compare to other kids if they leave montessori and attend, say, a "regular" high school or middle school.

coolrunner989 · #9 07-31-2010, 12:38 PM

That's what I did - I was Montessori from k-4, 5th grade in a public school, 6th grade back in Montessori, and then public from 7-12. No problems here with the switch, except for being let down by my peers in public school in middle school in terms of how much they wanted to do in class and in life :/