- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Austin Babies
Montessori?
We have been really, really, really happy with the school we have the kids at. They have really awesome ratios, great teachers, our kids love it there, etc. However, there's a local Montessori school that is having an enrollment drive and we could get a potentially HUGE savings by switching schools.
Give me the low down on Montessori. I know the basic premise, so I'm really looking for for first-hand experiences, feedback, thoughts, etc. Thanks!
Dear Bump: You suck.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Montessori?
I love Montessori. I don't have any experience with Kate being at a Montessori school, but I have some good friends who have their kids enrolled at one and love it. Kate's (fingers crossed) going to start very part time at a Montessori this fall.
Drawbacks to Montessori are a lack of pretend play and arts and crafts time. I think a lot of schools do the Montessori work period in the morning and then do more typical preschool type activities in the afternoon. Oh, and typically the ratios are much higher- like 3 to 30 or 2 to 20. Also, anyone can call themselves Montessori- there is no trademark on the name. Off the top of my head, I would ask if their teachers have Montessori certification, if they have a full set of materials, and if they do a full 3 hour work cycle.
My ex's daughter went to Montessori and she loved it. I can't remember the name but it was right off of Anderson by the railroad tracks kind of across from the Hobby Lobby parking lot if I remember correctly.They did all their holiday programs at the Unitarian church in the same area.
She is naturally a smart kid, and it just reinforced that. She learned so much more about the world around her and other cultures than I ever did in preschool. When Sparky hits 18m we want to move him to a Montessori.
Holy yikes. Right now DD is in a 1 to 8 and DS is in a 1 to 1 (could be 1 to 4, but there are no other babes in his class).
That seems like a pretty big drawback.
We are huge, HUGE fans of Montessori. I am happy to share the specifics of our school if you want to email me- emeraustin at yahoo. I know the ratios sound scary, but it works. We've observed a number of times at our school and there are 26 children ages 2.5 - 6 with two adults and the room is shockingly quiet, with children working away on their individual tasks. The idea behind the low ratios is that the children are learning to function in their environment, without the help of the teacher/guide. They learn to walk around each other, wait for their turn for the bathroom/snack/project, and how to talk to one another without disturbing others. It's extraordinary.
Art plays a large part in Montessori, but it's not the arts and craft projects you have with daycare. It's child-driven. If DD wants to paint you a picture or make a collage, she can, but it won't be on the curriculum, it will be her choice.
I could go on and on, but we really believe in the Montessori program (assuming is AMS or AMI certified). If you can get in while tuition is down, even better.
Thanks 2H2L! I'll come back this afternoon, I have to run to a meeting now... But we LOVE LOVE LOVE Montessori, both kids are in Montessori and its been an amazing experience!
rssnlvr - I think the toddler classroom ratios are smaller. The 20-30 is the primary classroom which is an even distribution of 3-6 year olds. And yeah it still sounds like a lot but it totally works great (I've sat and observed and been amazed!).
Ok, I want to write a lot but I have to run!
I didn't mean to sound down on Montessori, I pink puffy heart it. I just figured you already knew about the awesomeness and wanted to let you know about the (very few) drawbacks. I was really worried about the ratios too, but then I toured the school. It was amazing. All of these 3-5 years olds (sadly her school doesn't go up through kindergarden) quietly focusing on their work.
I would love to send her to an accredited Montessori, but they are not allowed to offer partial week part time and I don't need or want to send her 5 days a week.
Children are given "lessons" on a particular piece of work. The guide will sit with them, model how to do it, and then the child will do it. It's not at all, "this goes here, this does this, and then you do this". It's modeled, then the child replicates the method and hopefully the result. If they do it correctly, but do not get the desired result, they keep working with it. If they do it incorrectly, the guide will show them by modeling. I have no idea if this makes sense. This is a great explanation of the pink tower presentation- https://montessorimom.com/pink-tower/
It sounds so odd, but it is great to see in action. I feel like people think the children just roam around all day and find things to do throughout the day. It isn't like that at all. Every material is carefully chosen and presented to the children. They are building on these lessons to learn future lessons. It is by far the best method for teaching self-motivation and a love a learning, IMHO. They are excited to learn. Not because they have to, but because they *want* to.
Everything Montessori is connected. Painting teaches core body control and prepares them for the pencil grip. Then they move on to more precise movements on the chalkboard and then to paper and pencil. Math skills are learned with counting beads that show a visual representation of the value, from one bead, to a string of 10, to 10 strings of 10 together to make a 100, to the 1000 cube. Those lessons tie into the pink tower, since they've already watched the cubes reduce in size, all the way down to one unit.
Observation was the big eye opener for my DH. You are welcome to use my name to observe in our school if the new school isn't up and running just yet, so you can get a feel for the method. Michelle&Russ has a link to a great video about the differences in types of instruction, so hopefully she'll post it.
Oh my word. My son would be kicked out faster than I could walk to my car.
I hear you and I thought the exact same thing about DS. He's a wild man, seriously. Full speed all the time at home. But not at school. He is calm and adapted to the environment. Crazy, but true.
lol, right? There's a Montessori elementary school in our town that I would love to have Jakob attend. But then I wonder if they could handle him
I'm glad to hear that- it gives me hope. HA!
I think you've gotten a lot of great information in this post!
Here's the video I think 2H2L and Emer are referring too (let me know if it wasn't though!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcgN0lEh5IA&feature=related
and here's is the previous thread
https://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/57832861.aspx
Really that video describes everything I love about Montessori way better than I could ever put into words! Ryan and Megan both started Montessori this fall (well sort of this summer but the summer program was more Montessori inspired). Ryan is in a toddler class and it has a very small ratio, there are 6 kids (I think it can be up to 8) with one guide/teacher and one assistant. The assistant isn't always in the class though i.e. comes in later and leaves earlier kind of thing. Next year he'll go to school with Megan at her school in the primary classroom (eeeek, I'm so excited for him to be there!).
I think Montessori has really helped Megan's focus and concentration. She's always been an easily distracted baby/kid and I think Montessori is really helping her here. Lately she's really into tieing her shoes and she figured out how to do the first part herself, and even makes the loops but hasn't quite gotten to the rest. I think Ryan is the other end of the spectrum from Megan he is really into independent playing and he'll focus on something for awhile. And Montessori has been so great for him also because it just builds on this. At his October conference his teacher told me that Ryan gets out his little rug, spreads it out, chooses something from the shelf to do, put it on his rug and then when he's done he puts it away and rolls up his rug! I was shocked! I can't imagine him doing that home, although he is quite independent, he just seemed young to do all those steps. (fyi, the little rugs help them define their own space for their "work").
I also wanted to comment on the pretend play. Not directed at you kiarox, because I know you love Montessori and I think it's a very valid thing to point out! I just wanted to mention it because it was a big deal for me when I was looking into Montessori and pretend play / creativity was the one thing I was unsure about in the beginning. While pretend play in the sense of props, like dress-up clothes and a play kitchen aren't available in the classroom, spontaneous pretend play does happen at school. I hear about from Megan :-) Say something like outside the kids decide to play school or dr, they would just find props in the environment and use their imaginations. And a Montessori classroom usually has a kitchen area, so while there isn't a play kitchen the children get to do real work (chopping, serving, preparing, cleaning up...). Megan is very creative and imaginative and I was worried that Montessori would ignore that side of her. But I can honestly say that having been in Montessori a semester her imagination has grown and I'm constantly amazed by her creativity. I think her creativity is strengthened in ways we weren't doing at home, I'm not sure I can explain it well but I really believe Montessori is a big part of this growth.
We truly love Montessori and Megan's school, I'm just so thankful all the time that she's there and we are a part of the school community!
i attended montessori preschool with my brother and we really loved it. my mom always spoke very highly of it and the memories i do have of it (only a few) are fond ones.
if we could afford montessori i would send my girls, but i don't have a need or desire for them to be in 'school' 5 days a week yet. as it is they do two half days a week at a traditional preschool and the total cost for all 3 is less than one tuition at a montessori