Is Montessori considered "play based"? Is there much outside time?

[Anonymous]

Not playbased and I’ve noticed that Montessori parents can be quite obsessed with early academics. They are usually the ones talking about how their Avery is already multiplying in the kindergarten back to school night.

[Anonymous]

Not every Montessori is the same. Ours was very social and not at all rigid. Not "play based" as in essentially babysitting while kids play around. But they had periods of "work" which my kids loved and often did socially in groups with chatter, kids making up make believe stories to go along with their work, plus circle time like any preschool, plus free play in a gym, plus free play outside, plus guided play in the woods.

It was a good balance for my kids of learning to do for themselves and being a part of a social group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. Montessori is sort of the opposite of play-based. Kids do "work" in a very structured way. They are basically required to use the tools they're given in a specific way.

In fact, the strict structure of the whole thing really turned us off from it. We want DD to be in a play-based program for as long as possible.

This. We have good friends who sent their kids to Montessori and loved it. We toured one or two programs and felt they lacked the kind of joy that childhood is supposed to be about. We sent ours to a play-based preschool and have no regrets. Montessori is great for the right families and children, but it was not for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not playbased and I’ve noticed that Montessori parents can be quite obsessed with early academics. They are usually the ones talking about how their Avery is already multiplying in the kindergarten back to school night.

There are way too many different models of Montessori to generalize in this way. AMI schools do, perhaps, tend to be more about rigor, but AMS schools are all over the place. The Montessori ideal is that children be permitted to move from inside to outside spaces freely, but often schools just can't do this due to space / faculty constraints. Most certainly still try to have a nature-based component, but some don't really bother at all.

We sent our DD to a Montessori school for 3 years, and it was a very progressive and warm place. The more educational materials were offered but there was NO pressure whatsoever. Yes, they weren't permitted to play make-believe with the puzzle pieces, but in DD's 3 hour morning she spent 1 hour outside in a lovely playground where imaginative play was encouraged. The "work" doesn't feel like work in a good Montessori; think puzzles and logic-based activities, practical life skills like washing (which of course 3 and 4 year olds love!) or snack preparation (cutting apples, etc). They also gardened and did science-based activities like leaf collecting and identification.

Montessori is super misunderstood by people who haven't experienced it.

That said, I'm not someone who drank the kool-aide; we left Montessori because as wonderful as it was, it just wasn't right for our child. She needed and wanted more structure and guidance and sometimes got lost in the endless choice of activities. She was bored as she got older precisely because there wasn't any real pressure put on her. If she wanted to learn to read at age 5 (her K year), they were happy to teach her; if not, it was felt she'd just learn to read at an older age and wasn't ready until she showed significant interest. This was hard for a child who wanted to learn to read but wasn't able/willing to take the initiative to pursue reading and writing activities when she was more than welcome to just color and play with blocks all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former director here. PP above is correct that Montessori does not teach social skills. In my experience, a number of parents put their kids in Montessori schools when their kid was lacking in social skills. Because of the solitary requirement of the kid’s “work” in a Montessori program, the lack of social skills does not matter. This puts the child at a real disadvantage as they get older and those social skills become more and more important for success in the world.
Play based schools value and teach social skills. This is an important skill to master for school and life success.

This exactly. The total lack of social skills and oversight by teachers because of the high student to teacher ratio can create some real problems. At our school bullying was a recurring issue and the school seemed to confuse bullying with being a leader. It was a disaster. I’d never put another kid in Montessori.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not every Montessori is the same. Ours was very social and not at all rigid. Not "play based" as in essentially babysitting while kids play around. But they had periods of "work" which my kids loved and often did socially in groups with chatter, kids making up make believe stories to go along with their work, plus circle time like any preschool, plus free play in a gym, plus free play outside, plus guided play in the woods.

It was a good balance for my kids of learning to do for themselves and being a part of a social group.

A good play based program is NOT essentially babysitting while kids play around. It's center time for and mix of child driven and teacher led activities with a wide range of materials, small group time to learn early academic concepts and social skills in fun and engaging (so play based ways), it's enrichments like art and science for some structured learning and some time for open exploration and use of materials. It's using the playgrounds for open play and as extended classroom with small groups and guided play.


Also glad your kids enjoyed their program!