Montessori

[TxBrew]

Anyone here attend a Montessori school or have their children go to one?

Curious to hear thoughts on those who have gone through it in either way or even both.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

One of my friends sent his son there and he liked it. I personally have not.

 

[pottergt]

I went from preschool through 4th grade. I feel like it's up to your child and how they learn. I loved it, because I felt like I was having fun while learning. Once I got to public school, a lot of my dreams were crushed and social norms popped in and all that. I really think both help you out. Montessori helps you know your potential is limitless and public school shows you limits.

 

[step]

I went from preschool through 4th grade. I feel like it's up to your child and how they learn. I loved it, because I felt like I was having fun while learning. Once I got to public school, a lot of my dreams were crushed and social norms popped in and all that. I really think both help you out. Montessori helps you know your potential is limitless and public school shows you limits.

My girlfriend works(environmental education) with a lot of kids that attend or have attended Montessori and hear these things frequently. I think her biggest beef is when a kid has been going to Montessori the whole time and can't write their own name at 8 yrs old. Other than that I hear more stories about Montessori kids being very critical thinkers and willing/wanting to learn and explore.

 

[pottergt]

My girlfriend works(environmental education) with a lot of kids that attend or have attended Montessori and hear these things frequently. I think her biggest beef is when a kid has been going to Montessori the whole time and can't write their own name at 8 yrs old. Other than that I hear more stories about Montessori kids being very critical thinkers and willing/wanting to learn and explore.

I still can't write my own name - that's the one thing that Montessori won't let you do ever in your life. But seriously, I could write my own name way earlier - I'm sure there were other variables that worked toward that child not being able to write their name. I remember going through english workbooks and writing everything at a very early age - and I'm a lefty!

 

[n2advnture]

I have a 4 year old that has been in a Montessori school for several years now.

When trying to decide on a preschool in our area, my wife and I visited every school within 10 miles. During our visits, we observed several schools who had more students than the required number of teachers, teachers with no apparent desire to help their students reach their full potential and some teachers that look down right exacerbated by children in general. Other schools seemed to be more focused on attracting the wealthy parents in our area with a posh exterior and high end architectural finishes and even an on site barber and chef. But when observing teachers and students in the class, it quickly became clear that pomp and circumstance was indeed for the parents and not indicative of the level of education that their children would be receiving.

When we visited a Montessori school up the street (MCHL), it was immediately apparent that THIS is where our son could reach his full potential. The classes were well equipped, the curriculum was challenging and the teachers had an enthusiasm that was unmatched anywhere else.

Over the years, there have seen many instances at MCHL that have warmed my heart. Just last week, when I was picking up our son Brandon from MCHL, we were walking up the stairs from the outside play area. As we started to walk back into the building, he turned back towards the play area and with great enthusiasm he gave the most genuine "Good bye" to each of his friends. "Good bye Benjamin", "Good bye Christina", "Good bye Ray"...and in turn, each of them gave an equally enthusiastic "Good bye Brandon". It must have taken 2 or 3 minutes to say good bye to each and every friend one of his friends and to hear both his and his friend's sincere love for one another was just precious.

It's this type of experience that can be directly attributed to the genuine love and education that he receives in the classroom. We are more than pleased with our decision and beyond our son's acceleration in all areas of his development.

Outside of the school, there are many times when he's playing at the local park and we end up talking to the parents and in turn the kids that he is playing with and it's amazing the difference, especially the difference in speech and grammar as well as independence.

Just last week we were in the truck and he asked me to roll down the back window (it's a double cab). There are planes that fly over that particular intersection, so I assumed he just wanted to hear one fly over like he wants to do every time we hit that light.

After rolling down his window, he starts talking to two women in the car next to us for the entire duration of the red light. Started by saying "Hi", "What's your name?" to "Where are you going?", etc... (btw - I hate people in general, so he definitely doesn't get it from me - LOL)

I can't say that all of the speech development is due to the Montessori school though. We have read 2-4 books (all be it kids books) every night since he was a baby. We also never did any "baby talk" with him and when he mispronounces a word, we repeat it correctly back to him.

Take a look at this when you get a chance, pretty interesting about synapsis connections.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/pdf/Child_Brain.pdf

Sorry for the long winded post but if you're at all like me, your kid's beginning education is paramount.

I hope this helps

~Mark