Reply to Trying to figure out why my child was so traumatized by Montessori

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Although I agree with much of what the previous poster says, I do not agree about having parents observe in the classroom.   Children do not act the same in the classroom when their parents are there.   That should come as no surprise to anyone who understands children.   Yes, the OP should figure what went on.  There are many ways to do that.  However, I would not discount a school that discourages parents from observing in the room.  They will not see what they hope to see in this way and it can be very upsetting to the rest of the children in the room, especially the younger ones.  [/quote]

My mom ran her own preschool years ago and her solution to this was to install all hallway-facing doors with two-way mirrors, so parents could observe at any time.  Kids definitely do act differently when a parent is in the room, but I would be very uncomfortable with a school that didn't allow parents to drop in (unannounced) to observe.  Obviously there need to be safety measures in place, so by "unannounced" I don't mean just wander in off the street, but without setting an appointment time in advance.

Also, trust levels are different than they were 20+ years ago, on the whole.  But the mirrored doors meant that, in the days before remote observation with cameras, a parent could be observing at any time unbeknownst to the children AND the teachers.

As the parent of a preschool-age child, I think this was a really fantastic solution.  It might be tougher and more disruptive for schools where a parent would buzz a particular classroom, but I do think an open door (again, with appropriate security) policy is very important.[/quote]

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