how do you feel montessori is similar/dissimilar to reggio A. - Page 2

[DCMom]

My kids have attended a lovely Reggio-inspired Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten program in a Washington, DC public school.  For lots of great information, I recommend checking out the website of School-Within-School at Peabody as well as the blog of the school's absolutely wonderful Atelierista. 

[blizzard_babe]

Looks like a professor with an anti-Montessori bent gave out an assignment. Miraculously the all studied different educational theories/methods and came to identical conclusions.

Originally Posted by lach 

You don't by any chance go to the University of Wisconsin, do you?
 

[lach]

Originally Posted by blizzard_babe 

Looks like a professor with an anti-Montessori bent gave out an assignment. Miraculously the all studied different educational theories/methods and came to identical conclusions.
 

 

Yeah.  It's really sad, and a little strange.

I sent an email to the program, and it's been forwarded to 3 different people (with me CC'd each time) and the last one asked someone to please contact me with an explanation (it sounded a little stern), and that's the last I heard of it.  I assume that since this is a very busy time for professors, with finals to grade and all, and then vacation, that I won't hear from anyone again.  But I hope that it at least raised an eyebrow somewhere along the pipeline.  I did also link the thread (not this one, as I hadn't seen it yet) and I hope that someone involved read through it, as I thought there was some excellent discussion about Montessori.

 Who knows where this professor got his opinions from, and I doubt some posters on a random mom internet chat board are going to change his mind.  But hopefully it will plant some sort of seed somewhere in the department that this is not okay.

[blizzard_babe]

Originally Posted by lach 

Yeah.  It's really sad, and a little strange.

I sent an email to the program, and it's been forwarded to 3 different people (with me CC'd each time) and the last one asked someone to please contact me with an explanation (it sounded a little stern), and that's the last I heard of it.  I assume that since this is a very busy time for professors, with finals to grade and all, and then vacation, that I won't hear from anyone again.  But I hope that it at least raised an eyebrow somewhere along the pipeline.  I did also link the thread (not this one, as I hadn't seen it yet) and I hope that someone involved read through it, as I thought there was some excellent discussion about Montessori.

 Who knows where this professor got his opinions from, and I doubt some posters on a random mom internet chat board are going to change his mind.  But hopefully it will plant some sort of seed somewhere in the department that this is not okay.

Arg, I had a whole reply, but the internets ate it. Probably for the best... It was pretty off-topic. So I'll just say thanks for emailing the program. Lack of objectivity and such in teacher education programs is a pet peeve of mine.

[3belles]

By definition, didactic is self-teaching.  Not self-correcting.  I fear that there is a very big misunderstanding in what Montessori means in our schools today.  The question was not which is better, but how do you feel they are similar and different.  We are here to encourage one another, am I right?

Every school is different, even with a similar theme (being child-led- Montessori, Reggio, Sudbury) differences in pedagogy can be found across the schools.  My advice is to visit as many schools, and see what fits your family best.  Personality of a director or group of teachers sometimes shows within a school visit.

Best of luck!

Edited by 3belles - 1/18/11 at 4:00pm

[brennan]

Originally Posted by COVegMom 

Not an expert, but from my observations I see one main difference as this:

Montessori is very group focused, children all do the same activity at the same time and switch at the same time, progress more or less at the same pace, etc. And there is a big focus on functioning within the group.

Reggio seems to allow for more individuality and individual choice. There is some structure to things like snack time, or moving outside and back inside, but otherwise children are able to choose what they do, when they do it, how they do it, for how long they do it, and switch when they choose to whatever they choose. And there is a big emphasis on personal responsibility.

Quote:

Originally Posted by esatchell 

I am currently a university student learning about the many different styles of teaching.  I have done a lot of research about the differences between Montessori and Reggio and am a big fan of Reggio's style of teaching.

Both schools provide a lot of hands on experience and individulaized learning however Reggio allows for a bit more group work. Reggio has a greater focus on the fine arts and works on teaching through dance, yoga and other movements, painting, and arts and crafts.  They emphasize interactions and social development much more than Montessori and learning is child-centered and based on what the children find interesting or exciting.

Montessori on the other hand focuses on individualization and working at the child's pace. There is way less focus on group interactions and I have seen very little social interactions in the form of play.  Montessori students are thought to be "little adults" because they are taught to be extremely responsible and respectful at an early age.  Though I agree that it is important to teach respectful behavior from the beginning, I believe Montessori expects too much from such young children.  Students must be allowed to act their age, learn from their mistakes and interact with their peers to build a strong sense of self, and I do not see that Montessori provides this development in the best way. 

Although there are pros and cons to both methods, I believe Reggio has a better teaching style which will promote social and cognitive development more appropriately.

I am a former Montessori teacher and I am just so confused by these thoughts of what Montessori is, and in fact this is confusing me even more in my quest to find out what Reggio is.  The reason being that everything said about Reggio in the first quotes are Montessori, and the things said in the first and second quotes about Montessori are not Montessori (there is responsibility etc, but certainly allows children to learn from mistakes).  

Can I throw this out there and see if this is correct?  Montessori and Reggio are very similar but Reggio allows children to take the materials further than in Montessori, and has more emphasis on creative play/music/art/movement?  Honestly I just started researching Reggio and I am thoroughly confused.

[Aeress]

Reggio doesn't tend to have such set teaching materials, like Montessori. In fact, that is why I like combining them.

Both believe in setting the environment, making it accessible to the child. Providing order, a place for materials, and child sized.

One thing that comes to mind to give an example: A Reggio classroom may sort their makers by color and place them in colored cups. I have seen Montessori classrooms with the same marker set up.

Documentation and observing children is important in both programs but how they go about it, may vary.

A side by side look at the two as a theory would be very interesting.