How do kids in Montessori schools learn how to read?

[Anonymous]

It's not that kids "only benefit from three years"-- the idea is that is where they get the maximum benefit because the program builds up to the topics covered in the K year. That said, my daughter has definitely benefitted from the two years she's been in the program. We'll probably send her to a public school next year, but I do think she would possibly be stronger in math and reading if she finished out the Montessori program. For the OP, since you're looking at schools that go through middle school it is worth looking at Montessori. I would say skip if you were looking at three year schools (and in fact many don't take kids for just the final year).

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the info. The schools I am looking at all say they will consider taking a student into K after careful consideration so I will ask them what they mean by that.

[Anonymous]

Just to add to what everyone is saying about using sounds to identify letters and the moveable alphabet to make words, my daughter also has puzzle words. The idea is that there are certain words they recognize by sight that wouldn't follow the typical rules to sounding out the word. There is also an exercise where they work on adjectives in making a sentence. So for example you have the word goat and another piece of paper etc. that has white and put together "the white goat". With the choices the kids have if they pick a reading activity etc. - the teachers are supposed to observe and see kids are mastering the various skills/materials and also not just sticking to the same activity.

[Anonymous]

I want to address the "3 year cycle" issue. There are a lot of misconceptions about Montessori, some because people have not had personal experience with it and some because people have had bad experiences--unfortunately "Montessori" is not copyrighted, so anyone can use the term in their school name.

The Montessori curriculum is designed as a 3 year cycle, which means that a child will not receive lessons in the entire curriculum if they only stay in the classroom for 1 or 2 years. In many ways, the 3rd year in the cycle is a culmination of the lessons and work that they have done in the first 2 years. It does not mean that children will not receive any benefit from being in a class one or two years, but they will sort of miss out on what they have been preparing for. And generally, the benefits of Montessori are deeper, the longer a child stays in the program--meaning through the elementary years. While I understand that this can seem like a "sales pitch" point to retain parents in a school, it is true.

The other issue with the 3 year cycle at the pre-K/K level is that materials used with 5 year olds build on materials that they have been presented as 3 and 4 year olds. Many schools will not take 5 year olds who have not been in a Montessori environment because it is difficult to "catch up" in the curriculum. In addition, in a multi-age setting, the older children take on leadership roles. It is hard for a 5 year old to be a new student and take on a leadership role in the classroom community.

Regarding your question about choice in the classroom, Montessori teachers are trained to observe children. So, for example, if their observation is that a child is avoiding working with math materials, then it is their job to find ways to get them interested in the math materials. The nice thing about getting to spend a lot of time on one thing if they choose, is that they can really feed their areas of interest whether it be reading, art, math, etc. But the teacher's job, whether it be at the kindergarten or elementary level, is to make sure children are exposed to all the subject areas.

To the OP, your questions are good ones, but would probably best be answered by staff and teachers at the schools you are looking at and through some of the reading you are doing just because there are so many misconceptions out there about how Montessori classrooms are run. I would also definitely ask the schools you are looking at how often they admit 5 year olds into their program. We rarely take 5 year olds--maybe 1 a year if any.

[Anonymous]

I taught my kid to read at age 4. Clinton's grandmother taught him to read at age 5. It's a tremendous advantage to be an avid, lifelong reader.

[Anonymous]

The "three year" cycle is an obvious con. Skip the bragging rights.

[Anonymous]

There are many promoters here. So be aware.

My DC went to a Montessori for two years, and I watched in frustration as there was no apparent progress but instead a lot of emotional problems. Once DC went a public K, the progress was so obvious I was amazed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is in Montessori now and is learning to read there. The program is good, IMO. If you are visiting programs, ask them to show you these specific materials. There are exercises to associate the letters with their sounds. Then kids move on to building words, using the movable alphabet and reading books built on specific letter sounds and word patterns. The books are good, IMO, and become increasingly complex.

All activities require that the teacher introduce them. After that, they kids may work by themselves to some degree, but the materials are usually self-correcting in some way, or the teacher participates. Teachers are definitely working thru books w/ my son.

My son's progress is good. I know he doesn't "like" to read, although he loves books and loves being read to, so I'm sure he doesn't choose to do this work often by himself. I think sometimes the teacher asks him to work in the language area, giving him some choices there. I think the main reason he doesn't "like" reading himself yet, is that he is not yet sufficiently fluent to enjoy it. He is about to turn 5 and is still at that painful in between stage where he can read many 3 or 4 letter words, but a book made entirely of these is not so interesting. He can sound out longer or more complex words, but that is still "work" for him. Nonetheless, his reading performance is above level for his age, so I do not push him in this area. There are also many writing activities, which I believe help reinforce the reading.

He is #2 child, and having visited many local preKs and Ks, I can tell that he is getting a more complex level of reading instruction than he would in public PreK or K. Also, the teacher basically gives him personalized instruction. The flip side of this is that in a local public K program, he would be forced to do a daily block of literacy activities (at least an hour), but they would sometimes be too easy for him and there seemed to be more room there to goof off. Just my experience with our particular comparative K programs. For this reason, we will likely keep him in Montessori for his K year even though it will cost us a lot of money which is worrisome in this bad economy.

That strikes me as a very broad and unscientific assertion. You've visited some local preKs (generously assuming a half-hour in the classroom) and based on those observations (probably 1/2 a dozen schools?) you're confident that he's getting a more complex level of reading instruction? This isn't much of a methodology, I'm sorry to tell you. And by way of proof, I can offer my 3-year old (also a 2nd child) who is not only learning to read & write, learning phonics, AND is genuinely liking it, too.

You really need to back off some of your generalizations. They're flat out wrong.

I'm the PP to whom you address yourself, and I won't back off. I was very clear in my post that this is "just my experience with our particular comparative K programs." I sprinkled my post with several IMOs. I have spent a lot of time in the classrooms and asked a lot of questions and done a lot of research on teaching methods for reading. I went thru a lengthy inadequate experience with our first child who was reading fluently by age 4 1/2 and NEVER received adequate reading instruction in her local DC public school. I spent a fair amount of time in her classrooms over the years. I had the opportunity to compare the Montessori materials to the public school texts, to compare teaching styles, etc. I did this over a number of years at at least a dozen schools. Again, IMO, the Montessori materials were much more detailed and systematic than our local public prek/k texts. The Montessori texts go to a more complex level than the ones my daughter was given in first grade, for example.

And, of course my assertion is unscientific --it's based entirely on my personal experience and personal comparisons of schools. My post is anecdotal. That's obvious. If I wanted to make a scientific argument about how all Montessori is better than all public school, then I would have posted some kind of research references. I'm simply saying that the Montessori method in general is excellent in my opinion, our son is doing well, and is probably doing better than he would be if he was in our local public preK or K options in the neighborhoods we lived in or considered moving to for schools.

Is it possible that a child might do well in reading in public preK or K? Of course. Glad that your child is doing well and liking it.

Jeesh. One person's experience. Take it or leave it, but no need to get hostile about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The "three year" cycle is an obvious con. Skip the bragging rights.

New poster here. We've also had an amazing experience with Montessori, and we've done the three-year thing.

Spare me your "con" and "bragging rights" language. Either you tried it and it didn't work for you - well, nothing works for everyone. Or you haven't tried it and can't possibly speak from experience so really have nothing to add to the conversation. Or... you have nothing else better to do than throw out random hostile comments. If you have informed, specific, substantive statements to make, please make them. Otherwise, back under your bridge.

[Anonymous]

Most posters talked about their own anecdotal evidence, but from my observations with many parents whose kids went to M, it really depends on the quality of the particular school. Unfortunately many M schools are just not that great, some downright fraud. On the other hand, there are a few that standout.