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[quote=Anonymous]MSNV is a great Montessori school with experienced teachers. It also has an emphasis on nature and being environmentally conscious that I loved.

However, Montessori is not for every family, and there something "cult-like" about it.  You either buy fully into the Montessori approach -- or you don't.  Questioning the teachers or the approach is not allowed, which is why it kind of seems cult-like.

I found that they go rather to the extreme in building autonomy.  A child who is crying is not comforted, but separated from the rest of the class.  A teacher will sit with them, but there are no hugs (and we're talking about 3-year olds, here) or words of comfort -- just a rational discussion.

Montessori is great in terms f being experiential, child-driven, and focused on emergent learning.  However, it can mean that kids who need more structure or who need more nurture and care from teachers can be left behind.  Montessori classrooms can be up to 27 students with one teacher. The idea is that there is a lot of independent and peer teaching going on.  In practice, I think that can be more limited.

The thing that bothered me most was the ban on imaginative play.  Manipulatives are to be used only for their intended purpose.  While MSNV defenders will say that the children get to exercise their imagines during recess and breaks, there is so much research that supports imaginative play as directly contributing to executive function and empathy development that I'm shocked that any modern teaching approach would ban it from the classroom.  Every Montessori school we toured and  visited said the same thing -- no imaginative play in the classroom.

Of the Montessori schools we visited and observed, we thought MSNV was the best.  However, ultimately we realized that we were not on board with the Montessori approach to education.  Maria Montessori was a brilliant educational reformer.  However, her techniques were developed 110 years ago, without the advantage of the extensive research on brain and child development we now have.  Unfortunately, neither AMS nor AMI  have allowed significant adaptations to Montessori's original approach for the schools they accredit.

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