Pre-School and Daycare
the_jackpot
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Montessori Moms come in, please :)
the_jackpot
member
Hi~
I am considering Montessori for my son for the fall and I visited a couple but when I was checking them out on line most of the locations had 3 - 3 &1/2 stars out of 5. Most of the complaints for the location that I liked was about lack of access to the director/directress of the child's classroom. They could not have the daily check-ins. They were given 2 in class observations and 2 parent conferences. Is this the norm?
Should that lack of access bother me?
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Re: Montessori Moms come in, please :)
My son's Montessori is definitely not like that. I can pretty much observe whenever I want, and we can chat with the teacher anytime. We do have two conferences each year as a formal thing.
ETA: Not sure what you mean by daily check ins, but I don't get daily reports on Sam, I think that would be a bit much. If I or the teacher has something that needs to be discussed, we do so on a ad hoc basis.
https://www.montessori.edu/refs.html#schoolfinding
This website helped me find the school we will be enrolling DS in, in the fall.
The school where we will be enrolling DS, gave me a tour and is having me come to observe a class as well on a separate day (to see how the children work) without DS. The school has been associated is AMS for 10+yrs however as of yet are an accredited school, however they are found within AMS database, and joined to other private school organizations.
There is a school within our district...which used the Montessori Name in their school name...that was not found anywhere within those website(s), did not have an open door policy, and was (from the tour) structured (Naptime is 100p, Here are Water "Trays" but we do that at 200P) true Montessori doesn't teach children like that - the children choose the activity however must learn a baseline of that activity before progressing to another area of the same activity - to advance their learning. Another thing thats great is that learning in a Montessori classroom doesn't force the child to work within a minimum amount of time on an activity. If DS wants to work on something for 3 min and move on, he can do so. Also, DS could pick and choose what areas they want to work in and they can learn from their own intitated experiences, not a teacher organized classroom like, "Okay kids, today we are working on Colors," - while DS wants to color and they admonish him for wanting to do something that is outside of the "box". Also he doesn't have to sit on a mat for 1.5 hours...he could "play/learn" (quietly) around the room.
If you are interested in Montessori, just make sure to do your research because some schools are known to use the name "Montessori" however not use the methods.
Thank you guys so much! I am not into the daily reports or the dialogue with his teachers at all. I am probably closer to not really being concerned- if he misbehaves and you correct him , no need to tell me at the end of the day kwim. I just don't have any one irl to talk to about Montessori and I was hoping that my relaxed take on the school experience and more of organic learning would make me overlook some best practices of the Montessori experience.
I like hearing about your schools and what is done there, gives me some fresh perspectives.
We have two parent conferences a year and two nights where the kids show their parents what they have been working on in the classroom - sort of a combination open house and observation. Each classroom has its own observation room so you can watch what's going on in the classroom without them seeing you or being disrupted by you. I find my son's teachers totally accessible - I talk to them briefly each day at pick up and drop off. Sometimes it's just a greeting, but if there is anything to be discussed, we can easily do it then.
ETA: We have a weekly folder that my son brings home that has any important communications from the school and also is a way for them to send home anything that he made or was really proud of that week. We get lots of fun artwork sent home, math or language projects he's worked on, etc.