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Topic: Montessouri Schools - Opinions?

Sarena_WE Title: Glambert Extraordinaire Posts: 33,955 Registered: Jan 11, '01 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 33,314 User ID: 62,350	Subject: Montessouri Schools - Opinions?
	So we are shopping around for a school for our eldest who is too advanced for us to enroll him in public school and I was wondering if anyone here as any experience with Montessouri schools. We took him to a school today that we really liked and we think he would do great in but it is clear on the other side of town and I am not sure how we are going to arrange the logistics of it all between our two jobs and our other son's daycare hours. There is a Montessouri school very nearby to my work and not even far from hubby's work as well so the location is optimal to say the least. One of my friends who is a public school elementary teacher takes her son to Montessouri and loves it because of the advances she has seen in him. He was not even doing his letters and numbers much at 4 (not interested) and has now surpassed some of his classmates and is having a blast. Our son tested at a 3rd and 4th grade level in several subjects at 4 1/2 so we are looking at a school where he can still be a little kid with his peers but get the individualized attention he needs for his curriculum. I don't know all that much about Montessouri so figured I would check here so I know what to look for once I set up an appt there. Any input is appreciated -----signature----- Chief Operations Officer (COO) Bored & Useless Spam Co. Sarena is the Yin to BTs yanger - Aon_mixed Friends don't let friends ACF-Makarios http://www.indiefl.com/acf/profile/38
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Varece Posts: 46,015 Registered: Jan 7, '02 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 44,985 User ID: 598,676	Subject: Montessouri Schools - Opinions?
	Back when my kids were little, it was the school to take your kids to, if you didn't want much structure. They liked to think of their students as little free spirits. Maybe they're different now -----signature----- I am no longer young enough to know everything Knowledge is Free America's Libraries "You embrace that which defines you" "If you tell the truth, you don't need a good memory" We're not perfect...we're parents
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Gaevren Title: Wat do? Posts: 18,183 Registered: Sep 15, '04 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 17,906 User ID: 967,012	Subject: Montessouri Schools - Opinions?
	Don't be fooled by the name Montessori! They are like ANY private school...some are very very good, and some really aren't any better than public schools and will cost you a lot more. From www.montessori.edu : "The name Montessori is not legally protected, and can be used by anyone, for any purpose; it is vital that anyone searching for a good Montessori school or teacher-training center be aware of this." Ask the schools if you can talk to some of the parents, or observe a class, and get detailed information on the curriculum and how they handle discipline, etc. etc. And good luck! -----signature----- There are no automatic doors, just very polite ninjas
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dbzuffa Posts: 39 Registered: Jun 16, '08 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 39 User ID: 1,304,597	Subject: Montessouri Schools - Opinions?
	What Gaevren said! When we interviewed for our daughter's Montessori Daycare/Preschool/Kindergarden the interview lasted about an hour plus tour. They showed us examples of the work done by the kids, explained the curriculum for all three programs, the teachers credentials, everything. Was very thoughroug I thought. On the other hand, a friend of mine interviewed at a "Montessori" preschool near her house and it was not much different from a daycare. There is lots of structure at my daughter's daycare (she starts the preschool program in September) and she is learning tons! They have set activites planned for the day, which changes everyday, but they still get several playtimes too. We were told at the interview that most kids who start the Preschool program are reading and writing at a grade three level by the time the enter Kindergarden:P Raising a smarty pants ftw! -----signature----- This is Ifibuildit btw...I broke my first username and had to get another....no I was not banned :P
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myxomatosis8 Title: amateur zookeeper Posts: 18,778 Registered: Jul 14, '01 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 18,441 User ID: 251,097	Subject: Montessouri Schools - Opinions?
	I never quite agreed with their thoughts on education... I like structure for my kids, and them having specific material and goals to accomplish. None of this "they will learn/work when they are ready" stuff for me. -----signature----- If you're flammable and have legs, you're never blocking a fire exit.
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-MrBean- Title: Now With Extra Baldness Posts: 13,652 Registered: May 23, '01 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 13,376 User ID: 98,822	Subject: Montessouri Schools - Opinions?
	myxomatosis8 posted: I never quite agreed with their thoughts on education... I like structure for my kids, and them having specific material and goals to accomplish. None of this "they will learn/work when they are ready" stuff for me. This. A friends daughter was in it and at 4th grade she didn't know here times tables. because they taught math the different way.... they taught them in song. When she switched to public school at 6th grade she was 2 years behind in the normal curriculum. She's in Honors now in HS, but that's cause she is just really damn smart in the first place. -----signature----- (none)
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Sarena_WE Title: Glambert Extraordinaire Posts: 33,955 Registered: Jan 11, '01 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 33,314 User ID: 62,350	Subject: Montessouri Schools - Opinions?
	This is why I am wondering if it will work for my son. He is self motivated and wants to move on and can't stand the structured set up that is used in many other schools. He gets impatient when it comes to waiting for other kids to get up to speed. I'll check it out, we have several other schools to look at. This one has a great location but if we have to drive 30 minutes out of our way to take him to one of the other places...so be it. -----signature----- Chief Operations Officer (COO) Bored & Useless Spam Co. Sarena is the Yin to BTs yanger - Aon_mixed Friends don't let friends ACF-Makarios http://www.indiefl.com/acf/profile/38
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PallyDog Title: WoW Vault Staff Teh Pyckles! Posts: 13,429 Registered: Mar 4, '03 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 13,007 User ID: 776,236	Subject: Montessouri Schools - Opinions?
	Sarena_WE posted: This is why I am wondering if it will work for my son. He is self motivated and wants to move on and can't stand the structured set up that is used in many other schools. He gets impatient when it comes to waiting for other kids to get up to speed. I think you summed it up perfect here. Add in what Gaevren said and it really dpends on three things. The Montessori school itself, teachers, etc. The Child And the Parent No matter what school your child goes to, you'll want to be involved. How much you're involved will make a big difference, no matter what school he's at. Soudns like your little fellow has a love of learning. Public school can snuff that out. I know it did for a few kids, they would have thrived in a Montessori environment. And frankly I hated public school. I was very advance but the only "honors" or "talented and gifted" stuff available didn't allow me to learn more or move ahead, it was just more piles of homework. I had a very hard being held back at the leve of the other kids sometiems and being resented for being smart. I almsot dropped out, lucky for me I stuck with it and took night classes in order to graduate early. -----signature----- "Pallys are simply self healing rocks." - IndridCole
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-Accident- Title: Waiting to happen Posts: 16,541 Registered: Aug 24, '00 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 16,161 User ID: 41,169	Subject: Montessouri Schools - Opinions?
	my kids both go to a Montessori preschool near our house and they are DEFINITELY a real Montessori school. mornings they have a typical Montessori curriculum, the kids do a lot of "practical life" activities like table washing, wood polishing, tracing using metal insets, flower cutting, apple cutting, etc. It sounds very domestic but it's got a couple of purposes: 1. the kids develop motor skills that will be necessary for writing -- the school teaches cursive first because little kids tend to make lots of loops and they like to start each letter at the bottom naturally. things like washing tables and windows mimic these movements. 2. the kids develop focus and concentration -- they can kind of settle down and enter an almost meditative state doing these things, which is good for them. 3. the kids learn independence. they learn that they can fix their own snacks, dress themselves, clean up after themselves, etc. and they get a boost in self-esteem knowing that they are capable of doing these things for themselves. they also have academic exercises that help prepare them for reading, math, geography, science, and other things. some examples: - there's an activity using symbols of different colors and sizes that correspond to different parts of speech, it's like a precursor to sentence diagramming. the teacher will say something like, "please bring me the brown horse" and the student will pick out a brown horse, then match the big triangle to the noun "horse" and a medium triangle to the adjective "brown". eventually they start adding verbs, adverbs, and other parts of speech. - there's other activities and games focusing on math, like number rods, spindle boxes, and the Golden Beads. using these the kids learn about the decimal system, adding and subtracting, and then eventually multiplication and division. they get a more intuitive sense of what numbers and the different arithmetic operations mean. - they also have classroom activities relating to geography and science, like relief models of islands, peninsulas, lakes, stuff like that. the kids pour water into the models and see how an island is surrounded by water on all sides, lakes are the opposites of islands, etc. in the afternoon the program is a little different. the smallest kids can go home for lunch but kids who stay for the full day will eat lunch, then have a nap, then they can have some outdoor play (depending on the weather) and then there are enrichment activities that cost extra, like karate, Spanish, Irish dancing, etc. or if they aren't doing enrichment activities they can play or do music, read, etc., like in a daycare. our school also requires a certain number of volunteer hours each year, the parents take turns providing snacks and doing laundry and recycling for the classroom, plus there are Parent Information Nights that are semi-mandatory and fundraising activities that we are more or less expected to help with. they also have an International Week early on in the year, you can provide food, do a presentation, or provide a book or a CD for the classroom related to your heritage, that sort of thing. and there's two field trips a year and two school picnics a year too. so participation keeps us very busy. it's a good school though, tuition isn't THAT expensive compared to other schools, and my kids are learning a lot. My older daughter could already read when she started there but she's also learning a lot about geography and science, stuff like stars, weather, plants and animals and stuff. it's harder to tell what our three-year-old is doing but she does say she spends a lot of time doing "puzzle pieces", lol. she loves puzzles and her teacher says she is doing some fairly complex ones for her age. but I'm sure she's also doing a lot of the other activities like precursors to arithmetic and reading. my mother-in-law pooh-pooh'ed the place as just teaching how to keep house but it's really a lot more than that -- and honestly, I work all day, it's nice to know that SOMEONE is teaching them stuff like how to sweep the floor. I'd do that if I were at home, of course, but oh well, since I'm not, I'm glad they are learning it somehow. my husband's parents both worked when he was a kid and I literally had to teach him how to separate laundry, how to wash dishes, lots of stuff like that, I guess he never had to do chores. sigh but I guess that's neither here nor there. edit: meant to add this to my (already quite long!) post... as for the "learning at your own pace" stuff... at least at our kids' school, the teachers do push the kids a little to do work in subjects they are not interested in. so even if your kid doesn't "feel" like doing the number rods and learning her addition and subtraction, on some level they are required to do it. For my kids I think it's good that they are able to advance at their own pace because they are pretty quick and I don't need to worry that they will be bored or held back for the sake of the rest of the class, plus if they need extra help to learn something, the class is small enough that they can get that extra attention. I was always ridiculously advanced in school and since I was in public school, my mom was at the school nearly every week riding the teachers' asses to get them to let me do more advanced work. she pushed them to allow me to use a more advanced book for spelling homework since the one we were using was way too easy for me, she pushed them to get me into a more advanced math class (in the end I wound up in a separate "learn at your own pace" math class with a handful of other kids), she pushed to allow me more advanced reading exercises, etc. And this was at a gifted and talented charter school that I had to test into (and that's a whole other separate ball of worms that I'm not going to get into here). Nowadays, with this whole "No Child Left Behind" crap, let's face it, I don't see smart kids getting a whole lot of the teacher's attention in public schools because, well, they aren't the ones keeping test scores down. Public schools are going to focus their efforts on the kids who are struggling to pass and who need the help. The smart kids are going to get ignored unless you're willing to be on the administrators' asses every week. My husband knows that I'm not in favor of sending our kids to a public school, I'd love to keep them in Montessori as long as we can. But he doesn't agree with me. We'll see. Not all schools are created alike so maybe we can move in the next couple of years to a place with a better public school system -- the one we're in now is mediocre at best. -----signature----- I realize now I do not fear death. I fear my daughter will not be free when I die. - NR, #iranelection
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Sarena_WE Title: Glambert Extraordinaire Posts: 33,955 Registered: Jan 11, '01 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 33,314 User ID: 62,350	Subject: Montessouri Schools - Opinions?
	Thanks Accident, that gives me a good idea of what to look for. It also sounds like what he needs. He's lacking in some of the science/history aspects but math and spelling/reading...he's way ahead. We don't want him shoeboxed into a standard set by other kids and we want him to have the opportunity to move ahead if he is ready. Hopefully this Montessouri is like that, if not, the search goes on! -----signature----- Chief Operations Officer (COO) Bored & Useless Spam Co. Sarena is the Yin to BTs yanger - Aon_mixed Friends don't let friends ACF-Makarios http://www.indiefl.com/acf/profile/38
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