Is Montessori really "for every child?"

[Anonymous]

No and it's a crock of shit. Something non religious (no rental discount) to justify the higher costs and make you feel better/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids have to take turns in regular classrooms, too; this is not some spectacular feature of Montessori. And the flip side of it is that kids hear the word 'no' about a hundred times a day: no, you can't do that puzzle work because you haven't gotten a lesson in the other puzzle work first. No, you can't use the pink blocks to build a rocket ship, only to demonstrate your understanding of how to build a graduated tower. Far from the unstructured image many people have of Montessori, it is actually a VERY structured environment, with a *lot* of rules. Since every object in the room has a ritual purpose and can only be used for that purpose alone, there is very, very little in the way of creative or imaginative room to roam.

Also, at least in my experience, the mixed age ideal of older kids helping younger ones didn't pan out at all. Because the older kids can do things the younger ones aren't allowed to, your younger child may be frustrated to see so many activities off limits. Also, my younger child was picked on a lot by the older kids she gravitated toward; they called her a baby and she felt left out and unhappy a lot.

Sounds like there were a lot of things wrong in that particular Montessori classroom. That's more about the school than the method.

I was responding to the PP who said that kids DON'T learn sharing in Montessori and this was why she wanted her kid to go to a traditional school.

The kids quickly learn that materials are off limits if they haven't had them introduced so, no, they do not hear "no" constantly. If a kid is using the blocks and calling what they are building a rocket ship they absolutely can do that. However, they can not throw the blocks or use them in other ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No and it's a crock of shit. Something non religious (no rental discount) to justify the higher costs and make you feel better/

What higher costs are you talking about? This is the DC PUBLIC and PUBLIC Charter Schools forum. Montessori public schools and Montessori public charter schools do not have any "higher costs" than other public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids have to take turns in regular classrooms, too; this is not some spectacular feature of Montessori. And the flip side of it is that kids hear the word 'no' about a hundred times a day: no, you can't do that puzzle work because you haven't gotten a lesson in the other puzzle work first. No, you can't use the pink blocks to build a rocket ship, only to demonstrate your understanding of how to build a graduated tower. Far from the unstructured image many people have of Montessori, it is actually a VERY structured environment, with a *lot* of rules. Since every object in the room has a ritual purpose and can only be used for that purpose alone, there is very, very little in the way of creative or imaginative room to roam.

Also, at least in my experience, the mixed age ideal of older kids helping younger ones didn't pan out at all. Because the older kids can do things the younger ones aren't allowed to, your younger child may be frustrated to see so many activities off limits. Also, my younger child was picked on a lot by the older kids she gravitated toward; they called her a baby and she felt left out and unhappy a lot.

My dd is at a school getting AMI certification (so strict vision) and this isn't the case there. They can do other things with the materials and the teacher only redirects if they are being disruptive or if they are not working at all on mastering materials - which, if they are directed to the right materials should be as fun as making a spaceship out of the brown stairs (which my daughter was happily doing without being corrected on the day I observed).

I'm not sure how much my child is really learning (first year there) but she is kinda a mess (so not an independent of focused, Montessori type kid) and still she loves it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - 15:55, your child sounds EXACTLY like mine. Would you be willing to share your child's school?

Hey OP, it's 15:55 -- I just rechecked this thread and saw this. When I posted, it was from Recent Topics so I didn't realize the question was directed at PS and PCS. My son is in a private preschool. If you're still interested in it, I'd be happy to send you an email if you post an address. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

The problem with this thread is that many of the posters who are trashing Montessori are NOT sending their kids to DC public/charter schools like LAMB, Lee or Logan. When they talk about how it didn't work they are talking about schools with questionable practices.

[Anonymous]

Having two children who have been in Montessori and one who currently is, I would say that the Montessori philosophy and program are for every child. They are created around how children actually learn. But I totally agree with 16:#8- you need to find the right school and teacher because everyone doesn't have the same personality and implement the same way.

[Anonymous]

What schools have questionable practices?

[Anonymous]

Actually I'm one of the previous posters and I was talking about Logan. Such a silly way to discredit our comments by making assumptions about what school we're discussing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our son is (or definitely was, at 3 - he's come out of his shell a bit now and some of his speech delays have been addressed) a lot like you describe your son. We felt the Montessori's we visited near our house were not a good fit at all for him. He went to a play/reggio preschool and has loved it. The emphasis on social interaction and giving children lots of opportunities to participate, lead, and contribute within the group, emphasis on collaboration, and small class sizes have benefitted him a lot. All Montessori's apply their principles a little differently, so some might have some of these more play-based features incorporated in to their program. The ones we looked at may have been good at instilling confidence in the sense of "look, I can accomplish this puzzle/work/reading" but my son actually did have that kind of internal confidence -- he was just shy and unsure of himself when he was around larger groups of kids and needed lots of opportunities to interact socially in an environment he felt safe in. And good, experienced teachers talented at getting kids to come of their shells and engage fully are probably the key no matter what type of program. I agree w/ PP that you should trust your gut - you know your kid best.

+10000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My experience is that Montessori works for every child (if done well) but it doesn't necessarily work for every parent.

The kids LOVE my child's Montessori classroom. They are thrilled to be there and they are learning a lot, from developing fine motor skills (from things like wiping tables and polishing), learning letters, understanding (truly understanding) math concepts and doing lots of things that are FUN. The older kids help the younger kids. the younger kids look up to the older kids.

But for the parents who aren't truly familiar with this form of teaching it's HARD. (For us too). Some of us have had trouble just accepting that our young kids are learning and enjoying school because parents aren't part of the classroom (it's the children's space) and we don't get daily feedback. We just have to trust. Others have focused on the fact that it takes a while for new activities to be introduced, particularly at the beginning of the year.

I agree with this. I work in education and had a 'traditional' education, so many of the activities I just didn't 'get'. Fortunately, my son's teacher was great at explaining why things were done they way they were, or just making me feel at ease. "Why does he keep 'cutting on the lines' everyday?" "Its OK. Once he's ready, he'll move on" And he did. "Why does he need to learn cursive in PreK?" "Its easier for children to make loops than sticks that need to connect." And there were periodic programs for parents explaining the Montessori method and how we can support children at home.

I didn't know much about Montessori at all until I enrolled my son. Then I began doing a lot of reading on how young children learn and how boys learn and was very glad we'd made the decision to place him in the school.