Montessori parents: how do you know kids are on track?

[Anonymous]

We are at a Montessori charter school, which we, and our child, love. Our child is only in preK but I am already seeing how the fact that kids learn at their own pace means that I don't always know if he is learning what he should be learning at this stage. For PreK, I don't really care much because there is not much in terms of real academics yet. But for elementary school, I wonder how we are going to know that our child is learning what he needs to be learning at any given stage. Can parents of elementary students at Montessori schools share their experiences?

[Anonymous]

You might try this in general education forum too. My sense is that parents have a lot more information about what their kids are doing in the elementary classrooms than in primary. We are also in Montessori primary, and it is a leap of faith when your kid isn't doing things kids in a traditional pk4 or K class are doing. We had this with reading. Child didn't even seem to consistently recognize letter sounds. But then like magic, the child started reading (middle of K) and loves loves loves doing it. So the curriculum works if we can relax.

What they are doing is just so different in the primary classroom than in a traditional PK4 or K classroom. I don't think that is true in the elementary classroom, which means we'll have a better sense of where they are?

Elementary Montessori parents?

[Anonymous]

DC law requires all public schools to do testing. Charters have annual reporting requirements and then starting in 3rd grade they do the same standardized tests as all DC public schools.

The elementary teachers at our school have a very detailed curriculum - as detailed as anything I've seen. The lower elementary kids are expected to do everything on the curriculum during their three years in lower elementary. So while they don't have hard and fast milestones for the end of 1st and 2nd grade (because kids are individual and learn at different rates) they do expect certain goals to be met by the end of 3rd grade (which coincides with Montessori teaching).

My own child seems to be doing math in particular at a level vastly advanced to what I would anticipate at this point. I've seen similar huge gains in other areas so I'm not concerned at all. the fact that the kids also plan things like going out, starting at the age of six is impressive too.

[Anonymous]

We switched from a traditional school to a Montessori in elementary, which is atypical, of course.

I can tell by the complexity of the assignments (projects, not homework), and the enormous jumps in writing ability. I am similarly impressed with the other kids in the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC law requires all public schools to do testing. Charters have annual reporting requirements and then starting in 3rd grade they do the same standardized tests as all DC public schools.

The elementary teachers at our school have a very detailed curriculum - as detailed as anything I've seen. The lower elementary kids are expected to do everything on the curriculum during their three years in lower elementary. So while they don't have hard and fast milestones for the end of 1st and 2nd grade (because kids are individual and learn at different rates) they do expect certain goals to be met by the end of 3rd grade (which coincides with Montessori teaching).

My own child seems to be doing math in particular at a level vastly advanced to what I would anticipate at this point. I've seen similar huge gains in other areas so I'm not concerned at all. the fact that the kids also plan things like going out, starting at the age of six is impressive too.

What school?

[Anonymous]

This is a great question and should be a useful conversation. We are at LAMB, with both lower elementary and primary students, and while I know my kids are progressing, it is an adjustment to not see grades on their quarterly reports. I am not suggesting however, that I want them to get grades and there are benchmarks and assessments that they take. For instance, they use one of the reading programs (A to Z? perhaps) that LAMB administrators believe has the best match to a Montessori curriculum and the reading levels do match up to a grade level. The kids read at their own pace and choose from a selection of books in the appropriate level. They have small reading groups that you can participate in once you reach a certain level, but the kids are at a vast spread of reading levels between 1st - 3rd grades that it doesn't come across as differentiated learning. I am still working to understand how math is assessed because it is very different in Montessori, but they do have to Master skills before they can move on to the next skill.

Looking forward to following this thread. I am thrilled with the Montessori system, but there is more I can learn about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a great question and should be a useful conversation. We are at LAMB, with both lower elementary and primary students, and while I know my kids are progressing, it is an adjustment to not see grades on their quarterly reports. I am not suggesting however, that I want them to get grades and there are benchmarks and assessments that they take. For instance, they use one of the reading programs (A to Z? perhaps) that LAMB administrators believe has the best match to a Montessori curriculum and the reading levels do match up to a grade level. The kids read at their own pace and choose from a selection of books in the appropriate level. They have small reading groups that you can participate in once you reach a certain level, but the kids are at a vast spread of reading levels between 1st - 3rd grades that it doesn't come across as differentiated learning. I am still working to understand how math is assessed because it is very different in Montessori, but they do have to Master skills before they can move on to the next skill.

Looking forward to following this thread. I am thrilled with the Montessori system, but there is more I can learn about it.

What grades are your children in?

[Anonymous]

The problem with the standardized testing is that you find out AFTER the fact, that your child is not on target. That's not really helpful if your goal is to make sure they are on target and stay on target.

I had 2 kids in Montessori. One went from PK3 - 4th grade and did just fine.

My other kid went from PK3 to mid way through 2nd grade. I knew my kid was not where he should be, maybe because I had an older child. He wasn't reading, could barely write and had very poor math skills. I don't say this to knock Montessori, I just think realistically not every kid is going to thrive in a montessori environment past K (I love it for PK3 - K for all children).

When we expressed our concerns we were told all kids learn at their own rate, they will get it when they are ready, etc. We suggested ideas but were told they were not Montessori methods. Unfortunately we had to made the tough decision to move our kid out in the middle of 2nd grade and transfer to a traditional classroom.

[Anonymous]

OP, your question really applies to all students in "non-testing" grades (3 and up). Schools have become careful about communicating with parents about their child's progress. At regularly scheduled parent-teacher or all-parent conferences, two or three times a year, you should receive concrete assessments (qualitative or quantitative) of your child's progress, possibly comparing him/her with other kids in the class or with curricular benchmarks. When our child was in pre-K this included assessment sheets and even video footage. If you are not seeing any of that in very specific terms or if you find your child is lagging, then that would be a red flag.

[Anonymous]

Ordinarily I would suggest you look at their PARCC scores and compare them to other schools, but certain schools (I'm looking at you, Logan) managed to keep their test taker #s under 25 so the scores wouldn't be reported. But they couldn't get out of aggregated #s, and they are not good. That's one data point and scores aren't everything, but they also aren't nothing. And unlike in more traditional settings where you can judge other work product and benchmarks, PARCC is about all there is to measure the progress.

P.S. We struggled with this question as well. We loved the program for PS, PK and maybe K, but we just couldn't swallow the load of BS that the administration was selling about how they were planning on being successful in upper grades.

[Anonymous]

Ordinarily I would suggest you look at their PARCC scores and compare them to other schools, but certain schools (I'm looking at you, Logan) managed to keep their test taker #s under 25 so the scores wouldn't be reported. But they couldn't get out of aggregated #s, and they are not good. That's one data point and scores aren't everything, but they also aren't nothing. And unlike in more traditional settings where you can judge other work product and benchmarks, PARCC is about all there is to measure the progress.

P.S. We struggled with this question as well. We loved the program for PS, PK and maybe K, but we just couldn't on to know if they were successful in upper grades.

[Anonymous]

That's not what OP asked. He/she asked how to know that one's own child is on track. PARCC scores don't tell you that unless the child is taking it, which is not the case here.

[Anonymous]

At our school they provide the standardized test results and a report regarding the Montessori observations (how Montessori teachers check for understanding) . We also get work-at/ home packets that are a reinforcement of concepts to continue learning at home. Our son is really florishing in math and as a 1st grader he is doing lessons with 2nd and third graders. Not the greatest reader , but he lives to write. Go figure! I guess because Montessori begins literacy with writing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a great question and should be a useful conversation. We are at LAMB, with both lower elementary and primary students, and while I know my kids are progressing, it is an adjustment to not see grades on their quarterly reports. I am not suggesting however, that I want them to get grades and there are benchmarks and assessments that they take. For instance, they use one of the reading programs (A to Z? perhaps) that LAMB administrators believe has the best match to a Montessori curriculum and the reading levels do match up to a grade level. The kids read at their own pace and choose from a selection of books in the appropriate level. They have small reading groups that you can participate in once you reach a certain level, but the kids are at a vast spread of reading levels between 1st - 3rd grades that it doesn't come across as differentiated learning. I am still working to understand how math is assessed because it is very different in Montessori, but they do have to Master skills before they can move on to the next skill.

Looking forward to following this thread. I am thrilled with the Montessori system, but there is more I can learn about it.

Confused about this -- the math concepts taught in elementary are no different from traditional school. If your kid is an elementary student they can tell you about learning division, long division, long multiplication, fractions etc. My 1st grade lower elementary student is doing long division and long multiplication and learning about fractions (multiplying, dividing, equivalency etc). She has a great understanding of the decimal system and does simple math in her head almost instantly. I don't know what 1st graders are doing in other schools (or what other kids are doing in her class) but to me that sounds pretty advanced for a six year old, so I'm convinced she's "on track" without feeling the need for reports, tests or comparisons to her classmates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a great question and should be a useful conversation. We are at LAMB, with both lower elementary and primary students, and while I know my kids are progressing, it is an adjustment to not see grades on their quarterly reports. I am not suggesting however, that I want them to get grades and there are benchmarks and assessments that they take. For instance, they use one of the reading programs (A to Z? perhaps) that LAMB administrators believe has the best match to a Montessori curriculum and the reading levels do match up to a grade level. The kids read at their own pace and choose from a selection of books in the appropriate level. They have small reading groups that you can participate in once you reach a certain level, but the kids are at a vast spread of reading levels between 1st - 3rd grades that it doesn't come across as differentiated learning. I am still working to understand how math is assessed because it is very different in Montessori, but they do have to Master skills before they can move on to the next skill.

Looking forward to following this thread. I am thrilled with the Montessori system, but there is more I can learn about it.

Confused about this -- the math concepts taught in elementary are no different from traditional school. If your kid is an elementary student they can tell you about learning division, long division, long multiplication, fractions etc. My 1st grade lower elementary student is doing long division and long multiplication and learning about fractions (multiplying, dividing, equivalency etc). She has a great understanding of the decimal system and does simple math in her head almost instantly. I don't know what 1st graders are doing in other schools (or what other kids are doing in her class) but to me that sounds pretty advanced for a six year old, so I'm convinced she's "on track" without feeling the need for reports, tests or comparisons to her classmates.

Not to burst your bubble. I used to think that way until I heard teachers give us parents a little more detail on how math is acquired and assessed. Not saying it is here but what you describe could be a child taught a lot of arithmetic but not truly having developed a numbers sense. Or put differently: Anyone can teach a willing 6-year old how to do long divisions, doesn't mean he/she understands it; he/she just knows the right steps in the right order. So, as a parent you feel no worry because it looks so darn advanced. Meanwhile, another third grader's parents are wondering what to make of their child's is revisiting counting by numbers. Which of the two should be more worried? Not so intuitive but some will argue you should be the one worrying because that third grader is developing a better "numbers sense", which will provide a better foundation for advanced math come middle and high school. It's not trivial. This debate is at the heart of sometimes heated discussions about the Common Core.