Does anyone here send their child(ren) to a Montessori Elementary School?

[LoveBWVVBR]

DH and I are considering sending our daughter to a Montessori elementary school (pre-K-Grade 6). Our daughter is still an infant, but we need to make the school decision sooner rather than later because it affects where we buy a new home. We can stay in our present town if we opt for the Montessori, but we would move one town over if we opt for public. She would start there part time in 2-3 years as part of the pre-K program.

Anyways, if you do send your child to a Montessori for the elementary grades, are you pleased with the education that your child receives? Is it too "loosy-goosy" for lack of a better term? The things that we really like about the idea are #1) No "teaching to the test" and #2) No busywork homework. The things that we're not sure about are the multi-grade classrooms and the different system alltogether. Would our child have difficulty transitioning to a "regular" classroom for Jr. High and High School?

 

[golfgal]

The success of a Montessori school is really going to depend on the child. I know my oldest would not have learned a THING in a montessori school but DD probably would have done ok. It will also come down to the school.

As far as teaching to the test, part of the reality of that is that kids in most states have to take a test of some sort to graduate and sometimes Montessori/Charter type schools don't teach kids what they need to know to pass these tests. The trick is to find a balance.

 

[sha_lyn]

I have not sent a child to Montessori but very good friends have. They sent there son for 2 1/2 years (preK-1) but had to put him in public school this year. The only adjusting he has had to make is keeping up with his lunch money. He adjusted to a traditional classroom very well. In fact he told the mother of one of his friends (the friend is still in Montessori) that he like PS better because he didn't have to decide what to do every day. That was huge change from preK. They pulled him from the state preK because he didn't do well in their structured classroom.

 

[bananiem]

I read an article online recently (wish I could remember the website) that said some schools call themselves Montessori, but really don't follow Maria Montessori's theory. If you know about the Montessori method I'd think it would be easy to figure out a true one vs. a fake one. Around here some people think it's the "in" thing to send their kids to the Montessori school but don't have a clue what the theory is.
I'm not saying you are like this, just wanted to warn you of the fake Montessori schools.

 

[punkin]

My DD7 is currently in 3rd grade in a montessori school. Last year was her first year there. There were some adjustment going from a regular curriculum to montessori, but nothing she couldn't handle. The biggest issue was writing in cursive rather than print.

She loves it there. I have had absolutely no academic issues.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I read an article online recently (wish I could remember the website) that said some schools call themselves Montessori, but really don't follow Maria Montessori's theory. If you know about the Montessori method I'd think it would be easy to figure out a true one vs. a fake one. Around here some people think it's the "in" thing to send their kids to the Montessori school but don't have a clue what the theory is.
I'm not saying you are like this, just wanted to warn you of the fake Montessori schools.

This is very true! Our Montessori elementary school is definitely the real deal, though. They adhere strictly to Maria Montessori's theories, and they also work as a teaching lab for new Montessori teachers. I wasn't even aware of the fake Montessori schools until we started researching our local Montessori Elementary.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

My DD7 is currently in 3rd grade in a montessori school. Last year was her first year there. There were some adjustment going from a regular curriculum to montessori, but nothing she couldn't handle. The biggest issue was writing in cursive rather than print.

She loves it there. I have had absolutely no academic issues.

If it's not too personal, can I ask why you decided to move her into the Montessori school? Did she go to public for Kindergarten and grade 1? Do you feel that your DD is on target for learning what other third graders are learning in other schools? Also, how does she like/dislike the multi-age classrooms?

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

As far as teaching to the test, part of the reality of that is that kids in most states have to take a test of some sort to graduate and sometimes Montessori/Charter type schools don't teach kids what they need to know to pass these tests. The trick is to find a balance.

I agree with this completely. We already realize that we will likely want to suppliment our child(ren)'s Montessori education ourselves outside of the classroom, just to make sure that they're academically on target. We have no issue with standardized tests for later grades (Jr./Sr. High), but we see no point in the tremendous pressure that they put on the elementary age kids to score highly on the FCAT (state) exams here.

 

[sha_lyn]

thought you might want to check out some of these discussions
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=284

 

[Robinrs]

Just like with anything do your research on the school you choose. We sent my niece to Montessori in New York when she was 3 and she went till she went to Public School at 13. She was MILES ahead of the children and became a tutor at her new school. She has since received a scholarship to Harvard and Stanford, went to the latter and graduated in 4 years with honors.

I decided to send my son thru the same process when I had him. My son was born the year after my niece's graduation. After some checking I found the Montessori schools in my area (Atlanta) nowhere as good as the schools in NY... uh DUH... so I decided to save my money.

Do a lot of checking and make sure they are truly on task before investing in them.

 

[Dznypal]

gee I sure wish schools to go back to just being schools---

teaching what we called the 3 R's--

Here in Milwaukee (where the public schools are in the sewer!!!)

they have speciality schools (which I guess is to make the parents feel like they're doing something good for their kids) not as good as private schools but a small step of from the regular schools.

We have speciality in spanish, french german (one schoold for each) arts and humanities, everonment(sp) charter montessori and the biggest joke of all is

in one of our high schools they have a Lightschool for kids who cant get up in the morning!!!! that one just cracks me up

plus alternitive high schools for at risk kids(kids who might have graduated unless they went there

and of course each school has there share on special ed kids

now before I get flamed let me explaine not that Im in favor of the speciality schools but what benefit is a special ed student going to get out of a spanish immersion shcool when there might be a kid that really wants to go there but cant because there is no room

theres also the fact that some of these kids cant even use the bathroom

now if there to be in a regular school they should at least be able to use the bathroom and not wear diapers To me thats not very sanitary.

Im sure glad my kids are out of school--it wasnt easy sending them to a private schools especially high school but you sure cant beat the education they got.

Not to mention that all they were treated the same!!!

 

[jaimee1024]

My daughter is in her 3rd year at Montessori pre school (this is her "kindergarten" year). I cannot say enough good things about it. In fact, I love it so much that I am currently training to become a certified Montessori teacher. IMO Montessori is definitely the way to go for preschool especially. I love the multi age classroom...one of the benefits of Montessori is that younger children look up to older ones and strive to do what they see the older kids doing. In addition, older kids gain confidence by helping the younger ones. Getting to choose what "work" they are going to do teaches them to be independent thinkers. My friends who have moved their kids on to other schools (public and traditional private schools) have all said that the kids adjust well and are more than prepared academically. My daughter has been in school for a week and a day and has been reading, has completed a map of North America, practicing her handwriting (our school does print since most kids go on to schools where they won't use cursive until second or third grade...we currently only go up to kindergarten, but are expanding to 3rd grade next year). And she has been helping the new kids get to know the classroom and with their "work". She absolutely loves school and looks forward to it every day. Like everything else, there is good and bad (good schools and not so good ones) and Montessori is not the right placement for every child, but I highly recommend giving it a try! Sorry this is so long, but I am a true believer in the Montessori Method.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

jaimee, will your DD be continuing onto grade 3 at the Montessori? I'm 99.9% sure that we'll send DD to preschool at our Montessori. We could commute her from the next town over if it was just going to be preschool, though. It's the actually elementary school that we're debating...if we decide to go that route, we're going to buy a different house in this town instead.

 

[jaimee1024]

I am not as familiar with elementary Montessori as I am with preschool. We are contemplating that decision right now. We are keeping our options open. I personally would love for her to continue if for no other reason than the way they teach math in Montessori. If I had learned math that way my life would have been so different. I always struggled with it. But the way they do it in Montessori makes so much sense, that even I get it! On the down side however is the fact that our school is really small (that's great in A LOT of ways)...but there is no gym, and no structured PE. There are also no computers. I think most kids are taking computer classes in the primary grades these days. So, we have to list the pros and cons and decide. We will be looking at several traditional private schools this fall as well as a couple of other, bigger Montessori schools that go through the eighth grade.

 

[punkin]

If it's not too personal, can I ask why you decided to move her into the Montessori school? Did she go to public for Kindergarten and grade 1? Do you feel that your DD is on target for learning what other third graders are learning in other schools? Also, how does she like/dislike the multi-age classrooms?

She was in a different private school (both her old school and the montessori school are parochial)

She likes the multiage classroom and has friends accross age groups. I think she is way ahead of other children in most things. However, she focused all of last year on political geography and neglected her math. That is not to say she is behind, only that she is not ahead. She started 3rd grade this year and she does not know her multiplication tables. On the other hand, she does know HOW to multiply and divide conceptually, she just does not have anything memorized cold (I think this is the only thing in the entire school experience that actually needs to be done by rote). She seems to be focussing more on math this year. We'll see.

 

[AKLRULZ]

gee I sure wish schools to go back to just being schools---

teaching what we called the 3 R's--

Amen!

 

[punkin]

I also agree with the poster eho said that montessori is not for everyone. My DD is a very independent learner. She does very well when she can pick her own activities. My friend had a child who does nothing unless he is given specific direction. When he went to visit my DD's classroom (I was raving about the school so his mother was looking into it) he could not stay focused on any activity and was extremely disruptive.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Thanks for all of the responses. We're going to tour the school and do some class observation there in the next couple of years. My mother (a public elementary school teacher) has agreed to come with us also. Hopefully she can help us compare and contrast between Montessori and public. I have a feeling we're going to go the Montessori route, though.

I have another question. It seems to me that Montessori schools foster supportive social environments that are much more free of bullying and the like than regular public and private schools. Have any of the Montessori elementary school parents found this to be true?

 

[golfgal]

Thanks for all of the responses. We're going to tour the school and do some class observation there in the next couple of years. My mother (a public elementary school teacher) has agreed to come with us also. Hopefully she can help us compare and contrast between Montessori and public. I have a feeling we're going to go the Montessori route, though.

I have another question. It seems to me that Montessori schools foster supportive social environments that are much more free of bullying and the like than regular public and private schools. Have any of the Montessori elementary school parents found this to be true?

A bully is going to be a bully no matter where they are. What accounts for this if it is the case is that you probably aren't going to come across many, if any, parents that support the behavior of a bully. My experience with school bullies is that they do it because they can, meaning there are no consequences at home for that behavior. Schools deal with the issues differently but it doesn't change the child very often since the school isn't getting the behavior changing support at home.

Also, it is great that you are thinking ahead but schools change, a lot, in a matter of years and a school you visit when your child is 3 could be completly different when your child is 5 and ready for kindergarten. Don't rule out anything until it is time to actually register your child. The public school could be a nightmare now and the Montessori school wonderful but in two years the public school gets a new principal making that school wonderful and the old principal shows up at the Montessori school and ruins it.