I'm a DC Montessorian. AMA.

[Anonymous]

Happy first week of school OP! (Now going on 2nd...). Thanks for all of the information you and others have provided here-this is a really useful forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20:50- why so defensive? You seem very threatened by someone who disagrees with you. Just sayin'.

Not defensive or threatened so much as frustrated, because with every single Montessori thread, there are people who pop up all upset about the large class sizes, without having done a single bit of reading about the Montessori method. So easy for them to speak out of ignorance. Just sayin'.

PP here. I am familiar with the theory. People are allowed to express their view that the "theory" doesn't always work in practice.

You don't appear to have read all that much in light of your previous post incorrectly stating that Montessori classes have 25 to 30 "preschoolers." A basic tenet of Montessori instruction is a range in ages in the Primary class -- so from 3 to 6 YO, not all "preschoolers." The reason this works is so that the younger kids learn by observing and working with the older kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20:50- why so defensive? You seem very threatened by someone who disagrees with you. Just sayin'.

Not defensive or threatened so much as frustrated, because with every single Montessori thread, there are people who pop up all upset about the large class sizes, without having done a single bit of reading about the Montessori method. So easy for them to speak out of ignorance. Just sayin'.

PP here. I am familiar with the theory. People are allowed to express their view that the "theory" doesn't always work in practice.

You don't appear to have read all that much in light of your previous post incorrectly stating that Montessori classes have 25 to 30 "preschoolers." A basic tenet of Montessori instruction is a range in ages in the Primary class -- so from 3 to 6 YO, not all "preschoolers." The reason this works is so that the younger kids learn by observing and working with the older kids.

What the PP means is that in practice there isn't always such an even spread of children's ages. "Kindergarteners" may actually be considered preschoolers according to public schools since often the Montessori cutoff is the end of the year whereas the public school system is around the end of August. In reality I've seen many classrooms with less than 5 actual public school age kindergarteners in a classroom of 30 students. It's actually the norm here to have closer to 5 kindergarten students in each 30 child classroom.

[Anonymous]

OP, what concerns would you have when it comes to a very small Lower Elementary class? My kid is in Primary now, but will be transitioning soon (likely at some point during this school year since she's ready). However, our school doesn't have very many 'big' kids left and while the much smaller class size seems pretty awesome, I'm wondering how small is too small.

[Anonymous]

My child recently started at a DC public Montessori. I'm finding the lack of parental integration into the classroom off putting. Perhaps the teacher should just have laid out some expectations in advance but I'm used to a brief chat with the teacher before and after school (even if it's just to say hi) and to go into my child's classroom to drop off. Yet, they are so focused on setting the routine that interaction with the teacher by parents (and certainly going into the class) seems to be discouraged which is far from welcoming.

Any thoughts about this? I'd read up significantly about Montessori before school started but I wasn't aware of this aspect and it appears that it's a feature of other schools too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child recently started at a DC public Montessori. I'm finding the lack of parental integration into the classroom off putting. Perhaps the teacher should just have laid out some expectations in advance but I'm used to a brief chat with the teacher before and after school (even if it's just to say hi) and to go into my child's classroom to drop off. Yet, they are so focused on setting the routine that interaction with the teacher by parents (and certainly going into the class) seems to be discouraged which is far from welcoming.

Any thoughts about this? I'd read up significantly about Montessori before school started but I wasn't aware of this aspect and it appears that it's a feature of other schools too.

If it helps, my kid's PK3 class at non-Montessori HRCS is like this too. It's a different world from daycare, but according to the teacher and administration, it's critical to help build independence, routine, etc.

[Anonymous]

What do you think of an assistant teacher yelling at children? On my understanding, Maria Montessori didn't have that in mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child recently started at a DC public Montessori. I'm finding the lack of parental integration into the classroom off putting. Perhaps the teacher should just have laid out some expectations in advance but I'm used to a brief chat with the teacher before and after school (even if it's just to say hi) and to go into my child's classroom to drop off. Yet, they are so focused on setting the routine that interaction with the teacher by parents (and certainly going into the class) seems to be discouraged which is far from welcoming.

Any thoughts about this? I'd read up significantly about Montessori before school started but I wasn't aware of this aspect and it appears that it's a feature of other schools too.

If it helps, my kid's PK3 class at non-Montessori HRCS is like this too. It's a different world from daycare, but according to the teacher and administration, it's critical to help build independence, routine, etc.

This is her third year of school, and very different from the previous two years (another DC public charter school - non-montessori) where everyone was welcome into the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Op here: will respond after school.

[Anonymous]

Do you have any thoughts about children starting Montessori later rather than going through the entire primary classroom? What about a kindergarten age kid without prior Montessori experience? How do the older kids in the primary classroom fit with the younger children? Would an advanced 5 year old be a better fit in the elementary classroom with the older kids or with the younger ones? At what point do you know that the older kids are ready to move up?

[Anonymous]

Bump. Hope you have a chance to get back, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have any thoughts about children starting Montessori later rather than going through the entire primary classroom? What about a kindergarten age kid without prior Montessori experience? How do the older kids in the primary classroom fit with the younger children? Would an advanced 5 year old be a better fit in the elementary classroom with the older kids or with the younger ones? At what point do you know that the older kids are ready to move up?

Ideally, all children would start at three so they can absorb all the classroom norms and culture, but I'm absolutely a Montessorian who wants ALL children to have the opportunity to enter a Montessori classroom, regardless of age. Having at LEAST a year or two in Primary will make their Lower El experience much better- since we build on concepts. I prefer evaluating at six years old to move up. I have some middle five year olds in Montessori for the first time this year and they're doing swimmingly.

When it comes to moving up, I look for emotional maturity. I mean, granted, there are cases where behavior may be difficult due to tons of factors such as previous trauma, a diagnosed disorder, etc., and in that case, the special education branch in a school needs to serve those children while still making sure they progress through the grade clusters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you think of an assistant teacher yelling at children? On my understanding, Maria Montessori didn't have that in mind.

OP here as well as above:

I'm not sure what kind of answer you want. I'm assuming you're being snarky for the sake of being snarky. Of course yelling is unacceptable, come on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, what concerns would you have when it comes to a very small Lower Elementary class? My kid is in Primary now, but will be transitioning soon (likely at some point during this school year since she's ready). However, our school doesn't have very many 'big' kids left and while the much smaller class size seems pretty awesome, I'm wondering how small is too small.

How big are we talking? -OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child recently started at a DC public Montessori. I'm finding the lack of parental integration into the classroom off putting. Perhaps the teacher should just have laid out some expectations in advance but I'm used to a brief chat with the teacher before and after school (even if it's just to say hi) and to go into my child's classroom to drop off. Yet, they are so focused on setting the routine that interaction with the teacher by parents (and certainly going into the class) seems to be discouraged which is far from welcoming.

Any thoughts about this? I'd read up significantly about Montessori before school started but I wasn't aware of this aspect and it appears that it's a feature of other schools too.

If it helps, my kid's PK3 class at non-Montessori HRCS is like this too. It's a different world from daycare, but according to the teacher and administration, it's critical to help build independence, routine, etc.

This is her third year of school, and very different from the previous two years (another DC public charter school - non-montessori) where everyone was welcome into the classroom.

I'm lucky to be in a school with an admin who is out in the hallways in the mornings and afternoons to be available to chat, but when I'm in the classroom with children, I am in the classroom with children. Even before I have kids, I'm usually doing work in the classroom to prepare or wind down from the day. By all means, I welcome phone calls and e-mails.

I also prefer parents to not enter the classroom because it's just generally disruptive, especially in the start of the year when a tiny tiny brand new three year old is upset about mama leaving and then five more mamas come in... it's just a cluster @#%$ !

- OP