Reply to Kids who went to Montessori - how do they compare to others later in public elem?

Forum Index » Elementary School-Aged Kids

Reply to "Kids who went to Montessori - how do they compare to others later in public elem?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I went to a private Montessori school from pre-K through 6th grade. Then a traditional public middle school and high school, along with my other Montessori peers.

Here are my observations:

I am and continue to be very good a writing and other creative pursuits.

I am very good a team building, communicating and leadership.

I am good at critical thinking and problem solving.

I am terrible at math.

I crumple at the idea of a pop quiz or trivia, or anything that requires quick thinking and route memory skills.

I have issues with structure and respecting authority. I really want to be left alone and trusted to get my work done on time without being hassled about it.

If I loose my enthusiasm for something, it's never going to get done.

I do think these are foundational traits that I learned in my Montessori elementary school. All this aside, I went to college, have a good job, married with kids, I own a home and a car, and I am a solid tax-paying citizen of the United States. 
[/quote]

The fact that you are "terrible" at math doesn't tally with my Montessori experience which is that it provides an excellent, incomparable foundation in math.[/quote]

NP, and for what it's worth, I had the same experience as the PP. I'm not terrible at math, but I was very far behind in math instruction when moving into a traditional curriculum. I still don't know my multiplication tables, but I've made do. :)

However, I also stayed in Montessori through part of elementary. I don't think this is an issue for the average preschooler attending Montessori through age 5 or 6, since public schools understand that kids will come in with a wide range of mathematical backgrounds. I think Montessori does instill some core problem-solving and critical thinking skills that are crucial in higher level math, but at least at the school I attended (which was a very traditional Montessori), there was not a lot of computational math taught. There was far more taught on patterns, shapes and geometry, sequences, etc. (I actually think that pedagogy may align better to Common Core today than it did to 1980s public school math.)

Like PP, I came into a more traditional school experience with very strong critical thinking and writing skills, but very weak in math and other rote skills. I have had similar experiences with working independently, but I think that's less about Montessori and more about personality traits that may have led my parents to choose and keep me in Montessori in the first place. (I am an introvert by nature and prefer working solo, and I have problems with persistence on things I'm uninterested in--but my sibling, who followed me through Montessori, has a different personality and is quite extroverted, loves group/team work, etc.) I suspect it's more the case that kids who are good fits for Montessori (and thus more likely to stay for multiple years, or through elementary) have traits that dovetail well with and are fostered by the Montessori method. That has had positives and negatives for me personally, and I ultimately did not choose Montessori for my own kids.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics