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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It doesn’t feel rigid to me, and play based has its own curriculum too. (Draw the picture of how you’ll play with this doll, then go do it, then write about it, etc etc etc). Curricula by design have structure. Montessori is just one approach.

The above is not true about play based preschools.  Play based is the whole point.  There are goals for children’s learning but they are achieved through PLAY, not by rote learning and being told that there is only one way to do something correctly.  That is not appropriate for this age group.

For the person who mentioned that there is only one way to use a compass in a class, that is also not true in a play based school.  Materials are presented so that children can explore them and come up with their own ideas on usage.  There is plenty of time in later years to use a compass for its “real” purpose.  
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Play based preschool in DCPS absolutely has structure and methods like I describe — maybe not at the school your kids went to but certainly at some of them.

But my point is that most schools and preschools have both formal curricula and free-er play time. To say ‘hey, why can’t you use these math materials for toys?’ Applied elsewhere would be akin to saying something like ‘why can’t you make 2+2=5? You’re mean dictators!’ Not everything can be used however kids want it to be used in the context of school. I suppose if you want your kid to be able to stick crayons up their nose or do whatever they want with most materials, Montessori would absolutely be too strict. But having limitations on materials isn’t unique to montessori by any means.

When I think of strict, I think of punishment for violating rules. I suppose structures and schedules themselves are a kind of strictness — in which case, sure, Montessori is more strict than other kinds of programs. But my 5 year old has been in Montessori his whole life and has been ‘punished’ exactly once, for biting another kid. Otherwise, the ‘punishments’ for bad behavior are more like natural consequences and they’re mostly enforced by other kids. I was at the birthday circle time once and one kid was goofing off and delaying the start and the other kids were like ‘kid! We’re waiting for you! Come sit down!’ And he did. I’ve seen kids pulled aside during outside time if they’re violent, but it’s more like a cooling off period. My kid has missed snack on occasion because he was too slow cleaning up his work and by the time he was done snack time was over. None of that feels strict to me.

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