help! Curriculum night - update/vent #3

[Rose-Roget]

Ds is in his first year at a public Montessori after spending the two previous years in private Montessori. So far, what I've heard about his classroom, where his teacher says she does a "combination" of Traditional and Montessori, it's very traditional. Looking at the room, she has the M. materials around, but they haven't used them yet. I see all pencil paper work coming home. The first week had word searches and hidden picture activities. The kids have assigned seats, which they appear to be in all day. I have heard about many large and small group "lessons" which seems no different than a traditional teacher teaching to kids, imo. He has had no individual lessons or opportunity to explore the works. They have had assessments last week and more this week.

In an email to me, she said she was working hard to get him "normalized" to the classroom. I replied that it didn't sound like there had been an opportunity for "normalization" since he hadn't had the environment or opportunity to engage in works of his choosing and interest to become absorbed. (That was probably a bit too much to say, but I had had it, and I tried to say it nicely.)

Anyway, tomorrow is Curriculum night where we are going to learn about the curriculum in the classroom for the year. Help me get my thoughts together for things I should be looking for and specific questions I should ask (then or in a private meeting) to get the whole scoop. I feel very misled, and I know for certain that other classrooms are not this traditional. Thank you!

[Drummer's Wife]

I guess my main thing would be to ask if this is typical of how the whole year will look. Maybe, the first week of school is to get the kids acquainted with each other and the school policies (and related arts - PE, music, etc.) and that's why she has only done few group lessons vs. individual. Our first week focused on things like how to roll a rug and how to walk in line to the lunchroom, and such - not so much lessons on geometrical solids, yk? Lots of grace and courtesy type of stuff - which can be showed to the whole class or small groups at the same time. My kid who is in a 6-9 class has assigned seating, but they are free to move around the room (obviously) during the work cycles. His desk is where he keeps his personal belongings, and where he usually chooses to sit and read, write, and do math problems on paper. Also, they don't put out all the work at the beginning of the year, which makes sense b/c all of the children (especially newbies) haven't had lessons on them yet. They bring them out slowly so that it's not overwhelming.

I would mainly ask about how the classroom dynamics will look for the rest of the year - and which are specific to the first week or so of school. Then, ask what will be different because it is a public school, with district regulation. For example, our district mandates a certain amount of homework per grade level - which, is not very Montessori - but our M. teachers assign reading and writing or creative activities so it's not a bunch of worksheets or studying like it is in traditional classrooms. They still have to comply, they just do it a bit differently. But things like testing or school policies may be making it difficult to have a true Montessori environment, so ask at curriculum night what all that entails.

[Rose-Roget]

Well, I just went and listened. She tried to assure us/me that her classroom is indeed Montessori, but I'm so sad that it just isn't. She uses some of the materials, teaches the Great Lessons, talked about her role as a guide. I know she has to test (and test and test and test), so I just look at that as a necessary evil (although the district did develop their own "Montessori Assessment Test" to add to their litany of other testing, which emphasized to me that they just don't get Montessori).

Anyway, the kids use a work plan, which is a good idea - a great tool to start to learn to use, I think. If they don't manage their time to finish their works within the set number of days, though, then they have to miss recess. Ds has attention issues and part of the reason we chose Montessori is to help him develop the skills of focus and time management...gently. Not too keen on the idea of missing recess for this - especially since he also has a lot of energy and some sensory issues, too.

They only have 1 hour of uninterrupted work time (most days - Wednesdays also include a timed Math test during that time), then a lesson, then another 1/2 hour work time before other lessons, lunch, recess, silent reading, something else, and specials. So the 1-1/2 hours that they get of work time is interrupted. Imho, makes it hard to get into a work and be able to budget time effectively that way.

She also has that green, yellow, red behavior chart hanging on the wall. She says kids have a chance to redeem themselves and move back to green...but she still sends home the yellow or red card, which isn't redemption at all. She also stated that that way parents could give a home consequence. ?? But what if they had moved back to green - shouldn't that be encouraged? What's the motivation to move back to green?

I'm curious how most Montessoris teach spelling. Do they give lists for home study? She said she doesn't do anything spelling related in the classroom. She sends home a list every Friday and has the kids do 4-5 activities writing the words on the list. I know the traditional teacher in her thinks these activities will be fun, but ds hates writing and really struggles with it...so it will be a terrible battle to get this done at home. Practicing at school with classmates or with a moveable alphabet would be much more motivating to him, I'm sure. But I don't know how Montessori approaches spelling - I just foresee the battles.

I guess this is just what happens when you can't afford private and have a district that can't see the forest for the trees.

[Aliyahsmommy]

The part that bothers me most about this is the missing recess. I would absolutely have to tell the teacher that at no time is this acceptable to me and I will not allow them to incorporate this type of punishment with my child! Might not make friends that way, but my motherly instinct would allow no less. Despite the many arguments with my husband regarding the financial strain of private montessori...reading your posts makes me so glad we did choose private and so sad for you and ds that public has turned out so yucky! Sad for me too because I could be in your same shoes next year or the year after or the year after etc.
Maybe you could plan a playgroup after school hours with the other parents and get some of them involved and go to the school board prepared and educated so maybe some things could get changed in their montessori classrooms! Might not help you this year, but maybe next year...

[Rose-Roget]

To be fair, not all classrooms in the district are like this. I know at least one at Norris that is much more Montessori sounding. Nobody ever mentioned that some classrooms were Montessori and others were a "combination" of Montessori and Traditional. If I'd known that, I would have specifically requested a Montessori classroom. I just thought that was implied in my application for a Montessori program. Silly me.

I'm trying to get involved in the Montessori PTA, but I haven't received any information. I need to look for the contact person's name/number. I posted on their FB page, asking for the first meeting, but I don't have a response. The principal had told me on my tour that there was a very strong Montessori parent group and that they made sure the Montessori standards were high. I guess that group fought a losing battle...