Reply to Switching from Montessori to play based

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous] I taught at a play based preschool and play-based doesn't mean zero teaching, it means making the learning fun and meaningful to the child. The students that I taught still learned their letters and numbers and colors and shapes, but they did it with play doh and wiki stix instead of worksheets and drills. They spent time outside observing animals and discussing habitats. They learned how to take turns and share and negotiate play and sit for story time and open their lunch containers and put on their own coat and shoes and pull their pants up and down--things that many Kindergarten teachers care more than if they come in reading CVC words. [/quote]

Our Montessori has every one of those things and we know of other so-called Montessori schools where the same is true.  Outdoor playground time plus outdoor classroom, where they talk about how seeds become plants and then flowers, and then flowers produce seeds.  Zero worksheets. Zero drills. Free play for long periods daily.  Individualized learning, no pressure and no sitting in desks.

We have seen schools which say play-based be flexible and offer individualized learning. We also have seen schools which call themselves play-based which have daily worksheets and weekly drills.

At least in Metro DC, we find that the terms “play-based” and “Montessori” are largely meaningless.  We have seen both flexible and rigid schools call themselves play-based. We have seen both flexible and rigid schools call themselves “Montessori”.  One really ought to look at each school individually, and mostly ignore the labels.[/quote]

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