What is so great about montessori?

[Anonymous]

We just moved here from out of state. Everywhere we go, people go on and on about montessori preschools. Wondering what is so great about montessori. Personally I don't like the idea of having little to no structure.

[Anonymous]

Read up on it. Or, ask yourself, what is so great about "traditional" preschools?

Different things work better for different kids. Learn about the different types of offerings, you might be surprised at what you find out.

[Anonymous]

Montessori has a lot of structure, actually. It doesn't have anywhere near the amount of free play that a play-based preschool has. The Montessori environment is fairly rigid in its set-up and use of materials. But once a child has been instructed on the use of the materials, the child then gets the freedom to choose which materials s/he wants to work on and when. The child can work as quickly or as slowly as s/he wants when learning to master a material. If the teacher notices that a child spends too much time on one material, the teacher may guide the child onto another activity. This all works really well "if" you have excellent Montessori teachers in an excellent Montessori school. Not all schools that call themselves Montessori meet this standard, however. So you have to shop around carefully.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each type of preschool curriculum. There are a lot of things about Montessori that I really like. It's very developmentally appropriate. And overall, it tends to have better outcomes than other methods over the course of a student's educational career. And that last point may be why parents around here choose it so often. They want their children to do their academic best.

I wasn't able to find an excellent Montessori school within my price range (which had to include before and after care because I work FT). And I was really disappointed about that. My son remained in his excellent play-based program, and honestly we have all been very happy. Free play promotes the use of imagination. And that has been shown to be very important for kids to learn how to develop their executive function skills.

A great book on Montessori:

http://www.amazon.com/Montessori-Science-Angeline-Stoll-Lillard/dp/0195168682

Most schools around here try to take a developmentally-appropriate approach to learning, whether Montessori or play-based, or something else. But not all schools are great at it. Definitely visit a variety of schools. A good school with good teachers, IMO, is more important than the type of curriculum they follow.

[Anonymous]

how do people afford montisori???? i was looking at one that was like $9100 yearly for mornings only !!!! No way I can afford that

[Anonymous]

Another great book is Montessori Madness. The majority of children in Montessori schools have parents who work part or full time. There are some stay at home moms who choose Montessori, but they are usually fairly wealthy.

[Anonymous]

I recently read an article (in Scientific American, I think) that found that children who attended Montessori programs had a statistically higher incidence of emotional problems because they didn't react as well to unpredictable/unstructured environments as children who attended play-based or Waldorf-style programs.

[Anonymous]

Not OP but what is the preferred personality type for montessori school? It seems that many experience schools saying kids are not a good fit.

[Anonymous]

If your child is a self starter, he or she will probably get more out of the program, but it all depends on the teacher, school, and ages and numbers of children. Some have a good mix of children and others don't. Also, Montessori works better to me as a full day program. Comparing half day programs, I'd say to look for one that is less rigid that has more play or check out some of the good play based preschools out there too. There are articles that say playbased daycare all day is not great for your child either and I've seen firsthand many children having emotional, social, and academic problems after being put in a center like that. Kids need a balance with some structured activities and also plenty of free play.

[Anonymous]

To poster 10.57. I teach Montessoti, and I concur with your post! Great job

[Anonymous]

Montessori and non-montessori parents may be interested in a study done by the State University of New York titled “Comparison of Academic Achievement between Montessori and Traditional Education Programs” for the Association for Childhood Education International.

A couple of quotes from the study:

“Results of the study failed to support the hypothesis that enrollment in a Montessori school was associated with higher academic achievement.”

“No statistically significant differences on math and reading achievement scores were found between students who attended Montessori versus other preschool programs.

The study controlled for income and ethnic differences to isolate the impact of the Montessori method vs having parents with more money and education.

To see full study, go to:

http://www.pearweb.org/teaching/pdfs/Schools/Cambridge%20Montessori%20Elementary-Middle%20School/Articles/Montessori%20article.PDF

[Anonymous]

The only thing I see about that study though is that it dealt with elementary age children verses preschoolers, so it doesn't help those of us judging various preschools around of which there are few studies done on any method of teaching. Also, there are few elementary Montessori elementary schools in the area, but quite a few preschools.

[Anonymous]

Have to disagree with you, 11:54. I think a MUCH better read would be "The Trouble With Boys" by Peg Tyre. It talks about how "traditional" public schools in the US tend to be very much geared towards females, probably in a large part because most of the early elementary school teachers are female themselves.

It is a great commentary about how the different genders - and of course just different personalities of all kids - can be more suited towards different types of instruction. Some kids really learn well by sitting still for long periods of time and having a teacher speak at them. Others do better with a hands-on approach. Still others do well with a combination.

I don't think anyone is saying that montessori is BETTER than traditional schools, or that it will make you smarter or give you some academic advantage for life. So no argument with your study there. But I know when I was evaluating different preschools for my children, one of the questions I asked was "How many children in your pre-K class are redshirted?" The rate of red-shirting boys was over DOUBLE in the traditional preschools I looked at. In fact, at the montessori school we went to, they hadn't had a red-shirted child in the past 3 years before we started.

[Anonymous]

11:54 here. Not sure what there is to disagree with me about. I simply mentioned parents take a look at this study I ran across.

[Anonymous]

I looked at a LOT of montessori schools, and decided not to pursue it for my daughter. I did not like the atmosphere in the classrooms I visited, and very hands-off approach, lack of social interaction, etc. even though theoretically it sounds good. I found a wonderful place instead with lots of interaction, creativity, letting kids be kids, while still learning. Follow your intuition. You ought to be thrilled with the place you find. By the way, any place can call themselves "Montessori", and many preschools are actually much more flexible (for better or worse). The true montessoris are accredited by American or International montessori organizations.

[Anonymous]

Schools like to be called "Montessori", so they can charge more, just like any trend. It's not to hard to understand.

But play-base are much more important for kids specially this days when everything pre-made for kids and they don't need/use to much imagination.