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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Just wanted to jump into this old thread to mention that we did an open house at SSMA today and saw kids in one of the primary (PK-3 to K) classrooms working on coloring worksheets. I was shocked. They couldn't even pretend to be working on something educational, knowing that the Open House was scheduled and that parents would be coming by? So yes, coloring worksheets are apparently still a thing here. [/quote]

Wow. Were all of the students coloring on worksheets? I know my kid's play-based school has kids in PreK coloring on worksheets to strengthen fine motor skills, so I suppose what they were doing at SSMA [i]could[/i] be considered educational. Trying to give them the benefit of the doubt here...[/quote]

Hi! Sorry for not seeing this and responding sooner. Yes, all of the kids in the entire primary classroom were working on coloring worksheets. I forget which room it was; one of the immersion classes, I think, on the basement level, all the way at the east end of the building (went down a long hallway and ramp, past a fish tank; a current parent would know what the room is called. Ghandi Stars? Something Else Stars?). The Principal (who seemed nice) had a few of the kids get up and show her where their favorite math, reading, etc. areas of the classroom were, and what their favorite tools were (e.g., blocks, beads, etc.). So I guess she was trying to compensate for the fact that the teacher had the kids coloring. [/quote]

Hi, PP again. Just want to add one thing that I forgot to address, which is that I'm totally fine with kids doing fine motor skills activities. It's just that there are so many other activities the kids could've been doing that accomplished that goal: cutting paper, gluing, creating their own drawing following a theme or prompt (e.g., a self-portrait), drawing outlines around objects (e.g., their hands). This activity just struck me as really lacking in creativity, and not really a thing I would expect to see in a Montessori classroom. I also will add that I was honestly in the dark about all of last year's drama at SSMA going into the open house. I came to DCUM afterward to see what parents thought about the school (fully expecting to see a lot of "this school is great!" and "you'll be lucky if you get in!"), and that's how I found this thread. So until I saw those posts, I actually had a pretty favorable impression of the school and was very open-minded about it (like, blank slate open-minded), this coloring worksheet thing notwithstanding. [/quote]

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