Montessori for just kindergarten year

[elbert]

I'm a long-time lurker looking for some advice.

My 5yo DD is currently in 2 day/week play-based preschool.  We are considering a Montessori program for her kindergarten year; she would be in the 3-6 year old room for 4 hrs/day, with an additional 1 hr/day with just the kindergarten students.  The school has one lower el class, so there would be the possibility of keeping her there.  However, we will likely be moving and pulling her out to go to a good tradtional public school starting in first grade.

My question is whether or not it's a good idea to put her in that school if it's just for kindergarten.  Is this just pointless and setting her up for difficulties academically both in kindergarten and first grade?

Any thoughts in general about this plan?

[sbarr_NY]

Hi elbert,

That's a tough one - a year of Montessori, knowing it probably won't be more.

A couple of considerations:

What do you think about Montessori in general?

Why Montessori instead of current school?

Perhaps speak to Director/teachers at the school you are interested and ask their opinions, based on your situation.

There is a strong argument for 5 yo to finish his/her 3rd year of primary curriculum, rather than mainstream kindergarten.  Aside from the fact that I love the teaching method, I find more convincing arguments in favor of a single year for a 3 yo, as opposed to a single year finishing up a primary program as a 5 yo.

Part of me wants to jump in and say - even a year of Montessori is a good thing, but 3rd year Primary for one year with no previous background and no concrete plans to continue - I'd ask the school - I am sure they have examples where this has succeeded vs. so so experience.  Hopefully other parents in same situation will respond - I don't know any parents of 5 yo enrolling for the last year.

Good luck!  :)

[linn7799]

Hi Elbert!

I agree with Sandra - I think the best idea really is to contact the school, be upfront about the situation and see what they recommend.

One factor to consider is how "strict" the school is in their interpretation of Montessori. I'm a big fan of the method and chose the "stricter" of the two Montessori preschools available to us - but in our case, our son started at 2 1/2 and we are planning for him to attend the same school through elementary. In your case, a preschool which is "Montessori inspired", rather than "Montessori to the letter" would make the transitions easier on your daughter and IMO would likely make the experience a more positive one.

And another consideration is how compatible the Montessori method is with your general approach to parenting. If you've been encouraging general independence and self-directed learning/following her interests at home, the transition to Montessori would be a lot smoother. Similarly, if you plan on actively supporting self-directed learning for you daughter at home, after the switch to public school, I imagine a year in Montessori would be really helpful.

Best of luck with the decision!

Cheers,

Caitlinn

[dbsam]

Our experience with a similar situation...

My children attended one year of a 2 day/wk environmental based preschool (age 4), one year of Montessori (Extended Day - 5mornigns/wk in the preschool class and 3 afternoons/wk in the extended day Kindy class) (age 5), and then went to a traditional first grade (age 6).  It was difficult for them.  They didn't have the benefit of Montessori preschool so they figured out all the Montessori routines in Kindy.  Then they had to figure out traditional school methods in first grade.  There were many factors that made first grade difficult and not all of these things may pertain to your situation.  Part of the difficulty was changing school types for each of the three years, the fact that they are very young for their grade, the fact that their first grade teacher was horrible, and the fact that I didn't properly prepare them for the reading expectations in the public first grade.  (Most of the other first graders were reading at a much higher level than my children.  My children were more than capable and caught up by the end of first grade, but they started 1st grade way behind in reading.) 

We really liked the Montessori method and it fit well with our parenting philosophy.  We didn't care for quite a few things at the public charter school.  So we moved the children back to Montessori this year and intend to keep them in Montessori through sixth grade.  My children are in 2nd grade, doing well, and loving it. 

If I were you and were pretty sure they would be attending public first grade, I would probably put them into the public Kindy.  They will learn the same things as and form friendships with their first grade classmates.

Edited by dbsam - 2/16/12 at 11:10pm