Montessori and Covid

[Anonymous]

Will the Montessori model even work anymore? My kid’s classroom had 25 kids and older kids are supposed to work with younger kids. It sounds like some of the opening plans would limit preschoolers to 10 kids per class with social distancing and much more teacher involvement to keep them distanced, etc. It’s kind of against the way a Montessori school is supposed to function.

[Anonymous]

Sigh.

This world has been through two world wars, the plague, the Spanish flu, etc.

Montessori will come back, just like everything else (except for, hopefully, the USA being massively unprepared for a pandemic).

[Anonymous]

I don't think that modifications to class size would ruin the whole experience. I do think that sterilizing the works between kids would be a huge PITA.

[Anonymous]

With mixed ages the teachers can’t really do classroom lessons like typical preschools. A kindergartner shouldn’t be getting the same lesson as a 3 year old. The teachers will also be spending all their time sanitizing the materials between use unless they teach the kids how to sanitize as a practical life skill, lol!

[Anonymous]

I work at a center that is opening next week. It’s nothing like it was. Children will be screened at the entrance and brought to the classroom by a staff member. Dismissal will be similar. Parents won’t be allowed in the building. Teachers will be wearing masks. All soft, fabric, or natural materials have been removed from classrooms because they are not easy to sanitize. No play dough, no sand tables, no finger painting, etc.

[Anonymous]

And remember. It’s not 10 kids - it’s 10 PEOPLE. So kids and adults. That’s a very small pool

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at a center that is opening next week. It’s nothing like it was. Children will be screened at the entrance and brought to the classroom by a staff member. Dismissal will be similar. Parents won’t be allowed in the building. Teachers will be wearing masks. All soft, fabric, or natural materials have been removed from classrooms because they are not easy to sanitize. No play dough, no sand tables, no finger painting, etc.

Will the children be required to physically distance from each other?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a center that is opening next week. It’s nothing like it was. Children will be screened at the entrance and brought to the classroom by a staff member. Dismissal will be similar. Parents won’t be allowed in the building. Teachers will be wearing masks. All soft, fabric, or natural materials have been removed from classrooms because they are not easy to sanitize. No play dough, no sand tables, no finger painting, etc.

Will the children be required to physically distance from each other?

As much as possible, and they will be kept in small groups that are not allowed to interact. The playground time is being reduced to 30 minutes twice a week because it has to be sanitized between each class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And remember. It’s not 10 kids - it’s 10 PEOPLE. So kids and adults. That’s a very small pool

Oh right. And I think you need two teachers in a preschool classroom at all times, although I could be wrong about that. So two teachers and 8 kids. That will not work for Montessori.

[Anonymous]

As a Montessori teacher, we are bummed that we'll have to do things differently for a little while, and yes it will be a PITA. We will make the necessary adaptations while we need to, knowing that at some point we'll go back to normal. Try to think of the long-term gains of being in the program, rather than what will be different for the short-term.

[Anonymous]

I feel like if you have adequate space, Montessori is a place that should do this well. Kids can spread all out and do their work in all kinds of places.