Post by turnipthebeet on Jan 7, 2020 17:12:11 GMT -5
The Montessori that I toured seemed too conservative for me. I loved it on paper, but when it came down to it, I wanted my kid to spend those years being very silly, giggling, being loud, etc. For us, the one we toured wasn't a fit. I found a curriculum-based center that put play at the center of everything they did, and she did so well.
She's in kindergarten now and is doing great, as I'm sure she would be if we'd gone with the Montessori.
We were told on our tour that they can’t opt out entirely. Like they’ll have to complete a geography work, a math work, and a science work. And they can choose which one, but you can’t do all geography all day and never math.
My sons Montessori isn’t this way. He did nothing but math last year. Then for the first quarter of this year he didn’t touch math and only did early reading work. He seems to be balancing out a bit now.
We will probably keep him one more year at Montessori and then move to public for first grade . As a teacher, I’m nervous that his handwriting will be behind because a)he doesn’t care to practice and b) Montessori does cursive. But he’s definitely ahead right now in reading and math. Montessori has also helped his independence at home. He wanted a snack the other day- got out a cucumber, cutting board, and knife and sliced it totally on his own.
It hasn’t been as great of an experience for his less academically motivated friends. A few parents have complained about kids not knowing letters and numbers - but if that isn’t the work they’re choosing they’re not going to get those skills.
Interesting. She already knows her whole alphabet and can count to “twenty-teen.” I think the individualized work could be really good because while I know another language will add a challenge, I’m worried about her getting bored. She picks up on things SO FAST. When we took her to the pediatrician for her two-year checkup, she was showing the doctor things we didn’t even know she knew. And basically every person we meet is confused because her verbal skills are closer to age 3 while her physical size is closer to age 1 (she’s 28 months and the size of an average 15-month-old).
Post by picksthemusic on Jan 7, 2020 17:18:01 GMT -5
Both of the kids went to Montessori with a fairly structured curriculum and loved it and thrived. We loved that it was child-led and they got to pick what they wanted to focus on each day, but also that they were directed to work on certain aspects as well.
The only thing I will say was that DD's transition to 1st grade from Montessori K was tough - she didn't know all the things she should have learned in public K and so it was hard for her to be in a desk most of the day and not be able to be free to move about the classroom and do whatever she liked that day. We pulled DS and put him in public K and he's been doing really well and we feel Montessori prepped him for K very well.
Now, my brother and SIL put my nephew in language immersion daycare and now K (Spanish), and he's doing quite well, but struggled a bit when NOT in an immersed environment.
Both of the kids went to Montessori with a fairly structured curriculum and loved it and thrived. We loved that it was child-led and they got to pick what they wanted to focus on each day, but also that they were directed to work on certain aspects as well.
The only thing I will say was that DD's transition to 1st grade from Montessori K was tough - she didn't know all the things she should have learned in public K and so it was hard for her to be in a desk most of the day and not be able to be free to move about the classroom and do whatever she liked that day. We pulled DS and put him in public K and he's been doing really well and we feel Montessori prepped him for K very well.
Now, my brother and SIL put my nephew in language immersion daycare and now K (Spanish), and he's doing quite well, but struggled a bit when NOT in an immersed environment.
Interesting. If we do Montessori past K3, she’ll probably stay there through 8th grade. I’m not sure where the best place is to find info on transition to HS, but that is something I will look into. It feels crazy to think about where she’d go to HS!
We sent our older daughter to a French preschool when she was 3. My husband is French, but she didn’t know any French other than him occasionally reading French books to her. It was an AWFUL experience.
The school was lovely, it was just a horrible fit for our daughter. French schools are pretty strict and don’t really have flexibility outside the norm so they couldn’t accommodate the needs of our daughter.
We transferred her to a Montessori preschool halfway through the year and she was there the following year as well. It was an amazing experience for all of us. I love that if they’re feeling insecure about one area, they can choose a different area to build confidence and the teachers are really good at gently getting them to try subjects they might want to avoid. Our daughter still had some problems there, but they were much more acceptable of it and worked around her needs and kept us completely in the loop on how she was doing and informed us about getting her evaluated before kinder.
The evaluation didn’t happen because it was already summer and the DOE works at a glacial pace. Fortunately our daughter just happened to end up in an ICT classroom and they were able to push the evaluation through. She has an IEP for ICT, speech 2x/week, OT 2x/week, and counseling 1x/week. She needed the flexibility that Montessori was able to offer.
Or younger daughter is now at the same Montessori because we had such a great experience. One of my favorite aspects of our Montessori is the community. The parents are all so nice and down to earth and it’s very international.
ETA: our Montessori only goes up to 4 and then we go to public school for elementary.
My sons Montessori isn’t this way. He did nothing but math last year. Then for the first quarter of this year he didn’t touch math and only did early reading work. He seems to be balancing out a bit now.
We will probably keep him one more year at Montessori and then move to public for first grade . As a teacher, I’m nervous that his handwriting will be behind because a)he doesn’t care to practice and b) Montessori does cursive. But he’s definitely ahead right now in reading and math. Montessori has also helped his independence at home. He wanted a snack the other day- got out a cucumber, cutting board, and knife and sliced it totally on his own.
It hasn’t been as great of an experience for his less academically motivated friends. A few parents have complained about kids not knowing letters and numbers - but if that isn’t the work they’re choosing they’re not going to get those skills.
Interesting. She already knows her whole alphabet and can count to “twenty-teen.” I think the individualized work could be really good because while I know another language will add a challenge, I’m worried about her getting bored. She picks up on things SO FAST. When we took her to the pediatrician for her two-year checkup, she was showing the doctor things we didn’t even know she knew. And basically every person we meet is confused because her verbal skills are closer to age 3 while her physical size is closer to age 1 (she’s 28 months and the size of an average 15-month-old).
His math skills blow me away. We had a huge conversation - “Hey mama why can’t a hexagon be a parallelogram?” And he has been counting nonstop in the car lately “Let’s count by tens. Let’s count by thousands. What number comes after 9,000 if we are counting by thousands?”
The transition to public first scares me, but I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. I want him to love school and learning for as long as possible
AndyCohen, I’m glad things are working out now. This is a public French I’m Edison school, and it def did not seem super strict during the tour. They have a variety of seating arrangements. I even saw two kids at standing desks that had a little attachment wheee they could swing their legs. One of the K4 teachers was singing his lesson. It seemed cool. But so does Montessori!
So, we're a little different in that DS8 did not do Montessori for preschool and did public for K and 1st. We switched him to his private Montessori K-8 elementary school for second grade on the recommendation of a friend and he'll be in fourth in the fall. We plan to be there through 8th grade. There is no Montessori high school in our area, though there is discussion about starting one, but we intend to send him to a Jesuit high school.
Though we were later to start, Montessori was made for my child. Ours is staffed by AMI teachers (two in each classroom for a teacher/student ratio of 1/10) and is AMI associated/recognized. He learned more during the immersion days when he visited during first grade than in weeks at his public school. 1.5 years later, he speaks Latin (mandatory for all students), is doing algebra, has beautiful cursive handwriting and regularly is writing research reports on topics of interest to him. He loves school and wants to go back desperately during the summer and over breaks. His education is extremely rigorous - he just rockets ahead in science and math, which are his jam, but made amazing leaps in writing and the arts, which he avoided like the plague previously. Most importantly, he is constantly examining, questioning and figuring things out. He's analytical and building a lot of skills to be a self-motivated person, which we really embrace. My mother is a retired gifted teacher who spent 20+ years in public schools and MIL ended her career as a guidance counselor. They both are thrilled with his experience and where is he academically.
Though we love it and clearly recommend Montessori, at the end of the day, I think it is 100 percent about child fit. It definitely is not for every child and our school at least is really picky about admitting new students to make sure they'll thrive. I think DS would have been fine if we'd left him in public school but his education now is exceptional - I joke with DH that it's like he's attending school on the Magic School Bus, LOL. It's for sure the best decision we've made on his behalf.
The problem is there’s no national accreditation or standards for “Montessori.” Some Montessoris are pretty structured, some offer unlimited play, some are entirely self-directed, some the teacher takes the lead more often. So I can tell you our experience was great (it was) but that doesn’t tell you anything about your school.
This is mostly but not totally accurate. Yes, there are lots of schools that say they use the Montessori method but the Association Montessori Internationale was founded by Maria Montessori and her son. AMI associated schools and AMI educated teachers will adhere most closely to the principals of an authentic Montessori education. There are only about 200 in the US, I think.
We did Montessori for DS1 and traditional play-based preschool for DS2. I’ll never forget my sweet 4 year old’s response when my mom asked him if he had fun at school. “We don’t play at school, we work at school.” It still haunts me. He’s got the rest of his life to work! (Also, play IS work...the best kind...in preschool.) He was also labeled as having a “poor work ethic.” He frequently refused to do his work by sitting quietly at the desk until the bell rang at the end of the work cycle. Then he’d quickly do his paper and go out for recess. But then his teacher took away his recess (at 4!) because he needed to work when it was work time or he wasn’t going to get to play. (BTW...his work involved writing short sentences because that was his skill level. He obviously wasn’t behind.) He’s now in traditional public school, is a teacher’s dream, and is excelling in school.
DS2 went to an old-school church basement preschool and had an absolute blast. He made lots of friends, learned lots of great social skills, did lots of art/craft projects, etc. He went into preschool knowing basically all of his letters and numbers and writing most of his name and yet was never bored. They covered one letter a week and yet he came out reading at basically the same level as DS1. We did not do additional practice at home other than just reading to them at home.
Both boys excel academically. Both do well socially, but DS2 is much more confident than DS1. Both are equally independent with life skills. I’m a big fan of “let them be little.” It won’t ruin their chances of being incredibly smart, successful adults. So, I’d use that as a big factor in which school to choose. For us, that was clearly the church-basement preschool, but ALL preschools are different. You’ll find excellent and terrible experiences at EVERY style of preschool. You really can only compare the actual programs that you tour. I love many things about Montessori schools and would have loved to love ours, but it just wasn’t a good fit. (However, there’s a new Montessori school in town that I would definitely tour if I had a PS student now. So I’m definitely not anti-Montessori.)
I think it’s really kid dependent. Ds1 would do great in Montessori but Ds2 needs more structure. I’m not willing to do multiple drop offs so traditional preschool it is.
As people have said, it’s so hard to compare programs. Especially with a public Montessori that is more Montessori-inspired than true Montessori because of the nature of public school requirements. Overall I’m happy with Montessori but still questioning if it’s the right fit for us. Some things that have been hard for us: - I love the independence but sometimes I feel like it’s used as a fall-back to not providing adequate care. Like the day my son couldn’t find his lunch box (it was a new lunch box and they had moved rooms so it was in a new location), he didn’t get lunch that day because it’s his job to find it (and I wasn’t notified until pick up). - Same thing with a higher student to teacher ratio. They say they need it to maintain the Montessori method, but I feel like sometimes it doesn’t give adequate supervision. - My son’s fine motor skills in terms of writing and coloring are pretty far behind his non-Montessori peers. They don’t do any worksheet type work (which is great!) but he doesn’t have that practice of writing on them compared to other kids. I have to keep telling myself it’s not a race. I do feel like my son’s cognitive ability, especially when it comes to numbers which is his jam, is way ahead from the way Montessori teaches information. He truly understands what different numbers mean and how they compare to one another vs counting and memorizing.
Thank you all for your perspectives. Genuinely it’s given me a lot to think about. Right now I think we will proceed with our plan to do Montessori for K3. Her daycare teacher said this morning that she is “definitely a Montessori kid.” Because the lottery for fall enrollment occurs around the start of the second semester each year, I think we will re-evaluate after 3 semesters. If she’s not thriving or think she would get more benefit from language immersion, we can switch her to language immersion for K5.
Thank you all for your perspectives. Genuinely it’s given me a lot to think about. Right now I think we will proceed with our plan to do Montessori for K3. Her daycare teacher said this morning that she is “definitely a Montessori kid.” Because the lottery for fall enrollment occurs around the start of the second semester each year, I think we will re-evaluate after 3 semesters. If she’s not thriving or think she would get more benefit from language immersion, we can switch her to language immersion for K5.
Thanks again!
How long does the immersion program last? Ours carries through high school, but you can’t get in after 1st (and enrollment is high enough that kinder is your best shot).
Thank you all for your perspectives. Genuinely it’s given me a lot to think about. Right now I think we will proceed with our plan to do Montessori for K3. Her daycare teacher said this morning that she is “definitely a Montessori kid.” Because the lottery for fall enrollment occurs around the start of the second semester each year, I think we will re-evaluate after 3 semesters. If she’s not thriving or think she would get more benefit from language immersion, we can switch her to language immersion for K5.
Thanks again!
How long does the immersion program last? Ours carries through high school, but you can’t get in after 1st (and enrollment is high enough that kinder is your best shot).
The elementary school is K4 through 5th grade. You can enroll in K4 through 1st, but they only take a few students in 1st because it’s harder at that point. So we would enroll her by K5. There is then a school of languages that goes 6-12. I am not sure if it’s full or partial immersion at these point - I think partial, and I know she could add Japanese. Most immersion students go there for middle school. After middle school, some transfer to another high school (most often one of the IB high schools).
Did I mention that school choice is confusing and overwhelming? There are a lot of great programs available, but it feels like a lot of pressure to choose the right one!
My DS (who has since been diagnosed ASD) really thrived in the Montessori school he went to from age 2.5 - 3.5. The only reason we switched to a daycare was because our office closed and I needed a daycare/Montessori school closer to my home.
I will say that the director at the Montessori school ran everything with an iron fist. She really knew how to manage expectations from teachers and parents and was heavily involved in every aspect of the school. It was very well run and followed the true Montessori practices. My son learned so much and was absolutely happy every single day. I cannot say the same for the next two daycares he went to.
This all could be school/kid dependent. However, I wouldn’t discount the Montessori school for early years if you think it will be a good fit for your child.
How long does the immersion program last? Ours carries through high school, but you can’t get in after 1st (and enrollment is high enough that kinder is your best shot).
Did I mention that school choice is confusing and overwhelming? There are a lot of great programs available, but it feels like a lot of pressure to choose the right one!
Yes! Especially when you’re looking at your 3 year old and making possibly life changing decisions when neither of you know what they really enjoy or want from life. Especially since the path might only become clear when the destination is in view. At least all of your options seem good?
I wouldn’t discourage anyone from an immersion program, but one that continues is a lot more valuable than only doing it for a few years. DS is about 70-80% Spanish k-5, then core classes in Spanish for middle and high school. The high school also has an IB program.
Post by pinkpeony08 on Jan 8, 2020 18:03:54 GMT -5
We have public Montessori here staring at k3. My August birthday started at k4. It’s been amazing for her because she’s a really quick learner and is doing work beyond her peers. Her teacher keeps challenging her, which is awesome. I do feel like she might be bored in a traditional classroom. My son is now a k4 and loves school, though he is a different learner than she is. He’s more comfortable doing work he knows he can do well, less wanting to push himself. The teacher helps him find a balance between doing things he is confident in and trying new things.
My biggest goal is instilling a love of learning, which Montessori has done for both my kids. i also few like Montessori has instilled good manners And life skills. They give presentations from age 5 on (normalizes public speaking). When I go to the school, all the kids hold the door, say thank you, and greet people.
From what I have read, the way kids learn is very well suited to Montessori until around age 6. Then it’s sort of a wash. I would do Montessori from our experience, or even do it for a year or two then you could consider language immersion.
DD did Montessori for the first semester of kindergarten (due to us moving and the public school we wanted was full at that point). We loved it. But I have a friend who didn’t like (a different) Montessori for her son in preschool because she thought her DS wasn’t getting enough interaction with other kids as Montessori encourages working individually.
Post by basilosaurus on Jan 9, 2020 5:47:39 GMT -5
I think just like any school, judge it upon showing up. There are some fantastic motessori. There are terrible ones.
Related, there's the steiner/waldorf school. In principle I'm strongly against it. There is a shitton of racism and woo from Steiner. But, each school might be different. They may not even know the history of Steiner's horrible racism. They just teach.
I think just like any school, judge it upon showing up. There are some fantastic motessori. There are terrible ones.
Related, there's the steiner/waldorf school. In principle I'm strongly against it. There is a shitton of racism and woo from Steiner. But, each school might be different. They may not even know the history of Steiner's horrible racism. They just teach.
Also your child is not old enough!
There is no public Waldorf school, so that is not an option. We are only looking at public schools.
milang, we are going to look at German, too. The problem with not doing the Montessori school for middle if we go that route is it doesn’t seem like there are a lot of great options for a middle school transfer.
I would apply for Montessori for K3 and then immersion for K4 and see if you get in/make the decision at the last possible moment based on how K3 goes. I hate uncertainty and lack of plans but due to a variety of issues my oldest did K3, pre-k, K, and 1st at 4 different schools (which means my youngest did daycare 1, daycare 2, K3, and pre-k at 4 different schools also).
I would apply for Montessori for K3 and then immersion for K4 and see if you get in/make the decision at the last possible moment based on how K3 goes. I hate uncertainty and lack of plans but due to a variety of issues my oldest did K3, pre-k, K, and 1st at 4 different schools (which means my youngest did daycare 1, daycare 2, K3, and pre-k at 4 different schools also).
This strategy would be beneficial for the OP, but will hurt other families who are planning on staying with Montessori but aren't able to get in because the spot is taken.
I would apply for Montessori for K3 and then immersion for K4 and see if you get in/make the decision at the last possible moment based on how K3 goes. I hate uncertainty and lack of plans but due to a variety of issues my oldest did K3, pre-k, K, and 1st at 4 different schools (which means my youngest did daycare 1, daycare 2, K3, and pre-k at 4 different schools also).
This strategy would be beneficial for the OP, but will hurt other families who are planning on staying with Montessori but aren't able to get in because the spot is taken.
People can get into Montessori at K4, too, so transferring for K4 doesn’t preclude anyone from getting that Montessori spot.
It’s all honestly a clusterfuck. The lottery is basically at the start of second semester so you have one semester of K3 under your belt before you have to decide whether you want to continue.
AndyCohen, I’m glad things are working out now. This is a public French I’m Edison school, and it def did not seem super strict during the tour. They have a variety of seating arrangements. I even saw two kids at standing desks that had a little attachment wheee they could swing their legs. One of the K4 teachers was singing his lesson. It seemed cool. But so does Montessori!
I wouldn't worry about it. French immersion is not the same as a French lycée school, at least not in Canada (where depending on where you live there are French immersion schools, francophone public schools AND French lycées). A lycée follows methods and curriculum from France, which tends to be quite strict, exam based, and not set up to allow much creativity. I'm assuming a lycée is what pp meant by French school. I would not put my DD in a lycée even if we had one in our city. She'll go to the francophone school if I qualify her for it or she'll go to French immersion (the difference between the 2 being that francophone schools require at least 1 parent fluent in French, whereas immersion is set up for families who don't speak French). Most immersion teachers I know are extra patient, especially with the littles, because they know the students are working in their 2nd language.
This strategy would be beneficial for the OP, but will hurt other families who are planning on staying with Montessori but aren't able to get in because the spot is taken.
People can get into Montessori at K4, too, so transferring for K4 doesn’t preclude anyone from getting that Montessori spot.
It’s all honestly a clusterfuck. The lottery is basically at the start of second semester so you have one semester of K3 under your belt before you have to decide whether you want to continue.
Our lottery is the same—and making it more complicated is that there is a wait list where you can get in later that year. We put in for the lottery for my oldest prior to pre-K, K and 1st. In Pre-K, we got into our top choice (private pre-k where we did daycare), but all the teachers left in August, so we moved to a good private program with an opening that was less desirable (but honestly was the best pre-k I’ve ever seen). We had to move for K to public, and ended up at our 4th choice. We got into our 2nd/3rd choices mid-year, but didn’t want to move mid-year. We had to submit for the lottery in the fall, so we put into all of them again and didn’t get a spot until a few weeks before school. Since it was a better middle school (K-3 was the same), we moved because there was no guarantee of a spot later and we wanted our kids to make friends.