DC Montessori in Practice
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Anonymous
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Can anyone who has had an older kid in Montessori in DC public or charter schools discuss how it worked for your kid? At EdFest most schools said a combo of “we let kids do the work that interests them” and “we incorporate all subjects so kids aren’t only doing the work that interests them but receive a well rounded education.” But how does this actually work for stubborn kids or kids who don’t like a certain subject? I just don’t get how your kid graduates ready to go to a liberal arts college where they need foundational knowledge in all subjects to succeed.
The only experience I can relate this to is my own growing up. I was pretty smart for my small town but I intensely hated math. Then once science started incorporating more math concepts I hated that too. I avoided both to the extent possible (mostly by taking classes where I could do more word problems and critical thinking/analysis instead of hardcore math). I did fine on the SAT math portion which was balanced out by my other score, got into a really good college, and then proceeded to get a D in the very math class I took first semester. I wish I had been challenged and taught more math earlier on, instead of just being able to skate by. |
Anonymous
| That's why Montessori schools tend to have a lot of attrition after K. |
Anonymous
| OP— no one on DCUM sends their kid to a DC public Montessori middle or high school. You are going to get a lot of people pontificating but not a lot of real experience. My suggestion is to reach out on your neighborhood listserv and ask there. If no one is sending their kids to these schools, that’s a data point right there. |
Anonymous
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That exact concern was why we passed on Montessori after loving our private Montessori preschool. I’m grateful we did because my DC is the exact type that tries to skate by and is best motivated by peers. I feel much more capable of supplementing specific gaps in the DCPS curriculum (spelling, formal writing, etc), than getting DC to engage in entire subject areas they decided were boring or too hard. YMMV.
And the only Montessori middle schoolers I know were at CHML for elementary and didn’t lottery into Latin and weren’t great BASIS material. |
Anonymous
+1. It’s great in ECE but majority of kids need structure and you see problems by early/mid elementary. It’s also why there are not many Montessori middle and high schools. My kid is higher performing but needs motivation by a peer group. If it was up to him, he would pick the easiest subject and focus on that. |
Anonymous
| The kids are pulled for lessons in all subjects. The people who say secondary Montessori doesn’t work have likely never even step foot in a secondary Montessori school. Students are exposed to all subjects, there’s just more flexibility in terms of when they complete assignments and projects. |
Anonymous
| FWIW, my friend who is the biggest Montessori proponent I knew, and whose kids were all in private Montessori, decided to move them out starting in 5th grade. I think it’s a combination of not feeling confident that a Montessori approach can meet their academic needs, and also recognizing that college and beyond don’t really operate in montessori principles, so at some point your child has to learn to operate in a more traditional school setting. |
Anonymous
Sounds like a private school forum discussion |
Anonymous
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I have 2 kids in a DC charter Montessori, one on Upper El and the other in Lower Elementary. To answer your question, a very good teacher ("guide") will not let a kid get away with the stuff they like. If they are avoiding math, for example, they will encourage/make them do it. There are checkboxes, so to speak, that maps out where each kid is and so they keep track of them that way. Via Transparent Classroom, we can actually see the teachers checking off said boxes to know what concepts have been introduced. We've had a range of teachers, and the ones who are just starting out can be overwhelmed and yes, kids get away with not doing the challenging work. But a talented teacher somehow keeps everyone going in each subject.
Our younger kid is one who tries to "skate by," but I told the teacher this on day one which I think was helpful. We push that kid at home academically a bit more to hopefully make up for it. Okay we have a goal of pushing that kid at home lol... Some posters above have written what I think is misleading. There is no such thing as a true Montessori middle or high school, because Maria Montessori died before she actually wrote out a solid and tested curriculum for middle school and barely touched high school. There are middle schools that are "Montessori" in that they are perhaps extrapolating some principles from the elementary years - Sojourner Truth PCS I believe is one of them. We might pull our kid out at 5th grade as well just because that particular kid is just ready for something new. |
Anonymous
| Except you have the same teachers for three years and we’re in the middle of an unprecedented teacher shortage. So if you don’t have a very talented one, you’re stuck with the situation for three entire years. Then what? I know way too many kids that are years ahead in one subject, and year(s) behind in another. How it is supposed to work on paper is very different than how I’ve personally seen in work in practice, particularly in a public school setting. |
Anonymous
This is true at non-Montessori schools as well. There are unfortunately not many great teachers, and teachers tend to have a strength in one area over another. |
Anonymous
It depends on your definition of “true”. There are accredited secondary Montessori schools, and there are teachers certified in secondary Montessori education. |
Anonymous
Yes but then you get a new teacher next year. I’m not saying Montessori is bad, I think it can be wonder for the right child in the right school. There’s just a lot of risk involved, particularly when you make the choice to do Montessori in pre-K before you know what kind of student your child will be. And the three year cycle makes that risk so much higher because if that guide’s weakness is the same as your child’s weakness, you are stuck in that environment for years. |
Anonymous
Except she could have put her kids in DC MS or HS that follow Montessori principles, but chose not to. Instead they lotteried for Latin, BASIS, ITS, and applied to a couple privates. In other words, the same thing that most people with kids in public Montessori schools, do to. The point is that even people who are major Montessori proponents and love it for ECE and elementary see the limitations past 5th grade. That's not a knock on Montessori, it's just the reality. Very few children do Montessori past elementary grades, even if their parents can afford private. There's a reason for that. |
Anonymous
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I have two children who have attended dc charter schools from pk through middle school.
The way the schools handle the issue you mention is they have a software checklist of skills for the kids to be taught, and then master. In theory this includes all of the necessary skills you’ll want them to learn at the appropriate age, and the teacher (or “guide” in Montessori lingo) is responsible for keeping your child on task and covering all of the necessary material. It worked really well with my kids, so we’ve continued with it. They speak very positively about their educational experience, and developed a deep understanding/mastery of fundamental skills in math, reading, and written communications. They also had a lot of exposure to many forms of artistic expression at the same time. In practice, there are some kids for whom it just doesn’t work, despite good intentions and competent teachers. There’s also a greater potential for your kid to get off track of the classroom is not running well for whatever reason. IMO, this is also true for other educational methods. |