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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have to wonder if all the lovers of Montessori know it's original roots and purpose?  Also, I have heard some lovers of Montessori (leaders of some of the Montessori schools that are so highly sought after in this city) state that Montessori works for ALL children - that is just not true.  While I have nothing against Montessori in particular although it was not a program we sought out because we did not think it appropriate for our child, I was pretty horrified when the parent of one Montessori school bragged to me about how the children are learning how to carry a stack of teacups properly.  What??!! That really is not what I want a school teaching my AA child who will already be pigeonholed in so many ways.[/quote]

With respect, it sounds very much like YOU do not understand even the basics of the Montessori method, so ragging on "lovers of Montessori" for not knowing it's "original roots and purpose" is a bit rich.  It's "original roots and purpose" was to help poor kids in Italy and it's been proven over more than a century to be effective.[/quote]

Effective in doing what?  Pretty much all of the models are "effective," it's just a matter of how a parent wants their child to get there.

And no, it's not for everybody.  My son has Asperger's and ADHD, and his therapists unanimously said Montessori was a bad fit.  I know plenty of people who aren't sold on the method, and we all totally fit the "profile" of those who should love it.     [/quote]

The pp was trying to say it isn't just for middle-class and upper middle class kids.  I actually am annoyed by the whole turn kids into good little bourgeois workers who can arrange flowers, keep their home clean, and move/speak quietly, but that's because I feel comfortable enough in the middle class to despise its materialistic, repressive values.

My DD is in a montessori preschool and at no time are the kids told to be quiet. They develop really amazing concentration skills and they select their own things to work on that interest them and lo and behold, when little kids are actually engaged with learning they focus and are quiet on their own. The teachers don't whisper, they are always calm and the kids pick up on that.  The kids learn a signficant amount of independence and self regulation, two things sadly missing from so many spoilled and entitled kids these days.

But I agree it can be a challenge for boys, like mine, who while not officially aspergers or ADHD, certainly trends in that direction.  But the curriculum is still working on him - albeit a bit more slowly and less evenly.  He LOVES school and would struggle in different ways in a more traditional school.  The big pay off is the intrinsic motivation for learning that comes in elementary school.[/quote]

I went to regular public school all my life and those are pretty much the same values that you get in traditional school, too... clean up, be quiet, etc. etc. I think that's just school. [/quote]

You got lessons in flower arranging? Table washing (not wiping - a specific series of steps and prescribed motions)  Ironing? Sewing? Did you practice your quiet, careful walking in class every morning?  Did your teacher speak to you always in whispers.  There is a calculated inculcation of these values in Montessori  that is different than traditional schools that are often based on the assumption that students come to them from middle class homes and thus simply reinforce expectations of clean up and be quiet. I do think that Montessori can be very good for kids from chaotic homes, but unfortunately, we don't yet have the numbers to test this since there aren't many lower ses kids in Montessori schools.[/quote][/quote]

My DD is in a montessori preschool and at no time are the kids told to be quiet. They develop really amazing concentration skills and they select their own things to work on that interest them and lo and behold, when little kids are actually engaged with learning they focus and are quiet on their own. The teachers don't whisper, they are always calm and the kids pick up on that. The kids learn a signficant amount of independence and self regulation, two things sadly missing from so many spoilled and entitled kids these days.

[/quote]

My kid is told repeatedly to be quiet and sometimes asked to leave the classroom when he is too loud.  Some days my somewhat adhd kid is focused/engaged/quiet and sometimes nothing in the classroom engages him and he becomes quite disruptive and, again, is asked to leave.  I think Montessori is still working for him, but it's a struggle for kids who . . . struggle.  It is no magic panacea.  And this isn't a kid who would qualify for a adhd diagnosis.[/quote]

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