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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The deal breaker for me is that pretend play is NOT allowed in Montessori. If your child picks up a string of beads and pretends they are a snake, they will be told that isn't allowed. Beads are for a specific purpose, perhaps counting or string but never for being snakes because that is not there intended purpose.

Blocks are just blocks to build and never a phone or walkie talkie or powerful crystal with powers. [/quote]

I agree this is a problem.  There are blocks that are supposed to be lined up in height order -- my kid would often want to call them the daddy, mommy, big sister, little sister, baby, and then have them talk to each other.  Teacher disapproved -- misusing the materials.

My oldest went to Montessori and seemed to like it.  Then went to public preschool and came home every day saying Kindergarten was SO MUCH FUN and why wasn't preschool fun like Kindergarten.  Then I felt bad.  My middle child started at Montessori but ended up transferring because he was really klutzy and always knocking stuff over, which was really frustrating for him and the other students because they would get those darn blocks lined up (or whatever work it was), and he'd bump them all over.  He really liked the recess and the circle time but couldn't deal with the "materials" so just avoided the "work" entirely (note putting those in quotes because they are both terms of art for Montessori).  For my third, we found a school that used some elements of Montessori, including the focus on fostering child independence, but with more play and creativity baked in, and just more flexibility in general.  We were really happy with that program, and it really helped my child develop social skills and confidence that I don't think she would have otherwise had.

I always really liked about 50% of Montessori, and then thought about 50% was really dumb.  Ask them their philosophy about cursive writing....the ones that still insist they won't promote a child unless they can write cursive are still stuck in the 19th century, I think.  Also check on how rigid they are about the 3 hour work cycle -- at my oldest's school, that meant they did not get a morning recess, which she hated.  (They had it when they started, and then someone griped that it interfered with the work cycle so they cancelled morning recess.)  My middle kid's school gave them recess, though.[/quote]

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