Montessori Mama Rollcall?

[flyingspaghettimama]

Hi everyone ~

At the start of the schoolyear, I thought maybe we could let others know ...

Our child's age/year
How we heard about Montessori
Public, Private, or Homeschool?
What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?

My daughter is in third year of a 3-6 classroom, private school. She had a really rough year last year, so we're hoping her new (non-AMI) school is better. I went to Montessori as a child; and my mother and grandmother are both Montessori teachers. I'm considering keeping her in elementary, particularly due to concerns about our public schools and all the testing stuff. And because I enjoyed my own experiences.

I really hope this year goes well ... she's doing very well in a traditional sense, but has some hangups about "hard vs. easy work" that that a rather new, green teacher instilled last year. She struggles a LOT with handwriting, particularly because our school(s) do use traditional cursive. She reads extremely well though and likes some of the math (but isn't too excited overall). Mostly she enjoys practical life and art work, and helping younger children. She is almost academically ready for the elementary classroom but I think probably not emotionally - she's very, very sensitive. Despite having parents with hearts of steel. Just kidding!

[KateMary]

Does Montessori infant care count? My dd is in a mobile infant classroom at a Montessori school that goes up to 3rd grade. She is 11 months old. I am really happy with all the techniques they use. The only issues I have are with their closures that are based on a normal school year while I need daycare more of the time (like they are closed one week in summer, two weeks at Christmas, and one week at spring break). But education wise, they are great. I hope we can stick with it for a long time, I love the philosophies. Dd loves it there.

[Tine]

Our DS (28 mos.) will be starting his first Montessori experience next Tuesday. He'll be going to a private Mont. children's house (ages 2.5 - 6 yrs.). It's a session-based school, which means it runs Sep. - May (which works great for us, b/c DH is a public school teacher and can spend the summer with DS.)

We were inspired to check out Montessori by a couple of other families we're close to. When we researched the philosophy/methods, they just made perfect sense to us and seemed a good fit w/ DS's personality. We were very impressed with a couple of the schools we visited -- in the end, that's what sold us.

We'd like to keep DS in Montessori environments as long as possible (provided it works well for our family). Luckily, that is possible in our area, as there are many Montessori elementary schools, a few junior highs, and even 1 high school here.

I guess my main concern about the upcoming school year is how DS will handle the transition. He is accustomed to being away from DH and me (until now has attended a small home daycare w/ 2 other children), but of course this is a new environment, with 2 new teachers and several new children to get to know. Also, he's not completely potty-trained yet, so that aspect is sure to be...um...interesting.

[nonconformnmom]

Our situation is very similar to Christine, above, so I am taking the liberty to quote her. My daughter will be 3 next month and

will be starting her first Montessori experience next Tuesday. She'll be going to a private Mont. children's house (ages 2.5 - 6 yrs.). It's a session-based school, which means it runs Sep. - May

This is my first exposure to Montessori. I heard about it from friends and did a lot of reading about it. I found that the Montessori philosophy fits right in with our style of parenting and teaching our kids to learn to do things for themselves. We observed the school and felt comfortable with the teachers, the setting, the structure, etc. Our toddler has been going for 3 days now and really seems to love it. She hasn't had any separation issues at all, or potty issues, either, thank goodness (a big worry for us)!

I am excited, and a bit anxious, to see how she handles the learning aspect of it, because so far, the social/ play aspect seems to be a breeze for her.

Edited to add: At this point, I expect to enroll her in a public school at age 5 or 6 .... But I'm actually open to considering alternatives, including homeschooling, if my husband wants to do it! (He may very well; he's good at things like that. )

[raksmama]

Hello There!

We are new to Montessori. My son age 7 (7 and a half the end of September)
started in a Montessori lower elementary last April. He loves it and I am really happy about it. He had been in Waldorf before that and I was not happy about the way things were going. So he arrived in The Montessori School with literally no academics, and in that short time from April to June he learned to read,do basic math and I can't tell you what a positive affect it had on his behaviour!

I loved the school he was in, but unfortunately we had to move across the country. Finding a new school has been a challenge! Most of the well-established Montessori schools here in our new town will not take children that have not done Montessori from the start. Our old school took him because it was a new school so they did have allot of students yet.
In our new town I finally found a Montessori school that would take him only to find out afterwards through the grapevine that this particular school has a bad reputation. It was confirmed to me by several sources that the teachers of this particular school are always leaving because the owners who area also the principal and vice principals are very difficult to get along with and money hungry as well.
On the other hand the other well established schools wouldn’t even meet with us even though I had letters from my son's old school recommending him,saying he would adapt very well to the Montessori method.

This is what I do not like about Montessori schools, the elitism.
I cannot believe that Maria Montessori would have liked it this way.
I find it a problem the way the different schools vary.

But I think we finally found a nice Montessori school that will accept him!

It was only a Casa 3-6 before but some of the parents who were so happy with the school requested that they start an elementary so they did. To our luck they dont have allot of students in the elementary yet.

Anyway I am happy to be a Montessori Mom!
Greeting to all,
Lorraine

[addax]

thanks for starting this thread!

My son is four (may birthday this year) and will be starting in Montessori this coming month, in a small private Montessori with an accredited teacher and a teacher's assistant. There are only 12 kids between 2 and 5 and we think this will be ideal for him.

My younger sister did Montessori, so did lots of friends' kids, and we think it will be a great match for his self-directed personality. As for next year, we'll try to get him into another Montessori if things go well -- if possible, in the public system. We are also considering other nontraditional public and private schools.

We are concerned about whether our son will behave well and how he will handle the transition to child care. We'll be breathing a lot easier around the end of September if the transition goes well!

[nonconformnmom]

Addax wrote: We are concerned about whether our son will behave well and how he will handle the transition to child care.

I don't really think of Montessori as 'child care'. We already have child care (stay at home parent) but I think of Montessori as preschool in the true sense of the word. I am looking for/ hoping to get an academic experience as part of her day, not just someone to care for her. I hope that is what Montessori is about ... Our daughter goes 4 days a week from 9:00-12:30.

Edited to say: That is not to dis child care or anything! Just wondering if my perception of Montessori preschool is correct/ common.

[anotherKatrina]

What a great thread!

My oldest is 13yo and in Middle School. He's been in Montessori since 1st grade, when I switched him out of public school. I'm not sure how I heard about Montessori...I read a lot, so I think it's always just been a part of my head jumble. When my son wasn't getting much out of the PS he was in, I just knew instinctively that Montessori was for him and I was right. I wouldn't trade our school experience for anything! And I say "our" because it's definitely been a whole-family adventure.

I also have a 2yo who just started in the toddler program a few weeks ago. So far, so good. My plan is for her to stay there thru Middle School, too. Hopefully, she'll get some of her big brother's wonderful teachers.

Our school is charter from k-8 and has great teachers. We are really fortunate.

[addax]

Ummm, yeah. In reply to the poster questioning my wording, we are putting our four year old in Montessori specifically as a preschool, and preschool is what we are seeking, rather than day care. At the moment he is home full time with his dad. He has never been in any kind of child care setting, whether in a group or with a nanny. So the whole thing is new to him, and this is the focus of our concern. I guess I should have said "being in a setting outside the home where he will be subject to different expectations and will be separated from his parents, especially since he has never been in group child care or had a nanny".

But I know that some parents do place their children in a child care setting which calls itself Montessori, out of interest in Montessori but with a primary need for child care. Are they also welcome here?

[psyche]

This is a good idea. My son is beginning next week but I never had more than vague wonderings so never jumped in to this forum.

Our child's age/year - 3 yrs old, in first year of 3-6 classroom

How we heard about Montessori - My cousin went to a Montessori school through junior high so I've known about for a while. However, what caused me to really look into it is that my graduate advisor (in education) is pretty pro-Montessori.

Public, Private, or Homeschool? - Private preschool

What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school? - I don't want to put the cart before the horse in considering those things.

Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year? - I'm mostly concerned with just the general first-time-off-to-school thing. We'll see how it goes once things settle down.

[fluffernutter]

Reese just started Montessori last week, she loves it. I love it too! She's 3. It's a wonderful private school and goes all the way to middle school. The plan is to keep her there until then. Of course, if it stops working for us we will revisit that idea. I really don't have many concerns, she seems to really love it. I'm trying to decide if I should help out at the school or not though. I'd love to, but I wonder if it'll interfere since she's VERY dependant upon me when I'm around. That's pretty much it.

[mamaley]

Our child's age/year
Our son recently turned 5, and he is in the K year at his Montessori school. He's been there since he was 2 and a half!

How we heard about Montessori
When he was a baby, I started thinking about my schooling (public) and thinking there had to be something better out there, especially for the early years. The Montessori philosophy made sense to us, and we were lucky enough to find a great new school that has really blossomed into something wonderful in the past few years.

Public, Private, or Homeschool?
It's private. Oh, do I wish it was public!

What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
We were wanting to do at least lower-elementary montessori, but i think he's going public next year. Both of us (dh and I) are students right now, and we want our dd (who will be 3 next fall, 2006) to go to this school too, and I don't think we can afford both tuitions. We have a nice local school so I think it will work out, though I do have my reservations because I love the idea of him doing Montessori for longer....

Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?
I am so freakin' excited about this year for him! He's so much more focused this year on his work, and is doing great with the other kids. He's learning yoga there, which he loves, and all kinds of stuff...getting into the math work and his writing is coming along. He's just really taking off!

[butternut]

Our boys are ages 6 and 7--in kindergarten and second grade (we are a year behind in grading in this country).
We heard about Montessori first when I was studying ot be a teacher and I visited the Montessori training center in London. I didn't like it at all! So I thoght--never Montesori. But then I taught for many years and then I had my own children--and then I suddenly understood Montessori! By chance we got into a very good parent cooperative accredited preschool when our first was three. So now my first has gone two years of preschool interspersed with time at home and is in his third year at elementary school. My second has gone three years of preschool and is just starting K.
Our school is a public, free school (all schools are free in this country)--accredited and with amazing teachers who were all first traditional teachers who then became Montessori. This has been important to me as I think the teachers have a great depth. Our school runs from 1 year olds through 9th grade. And like someone else said, it is definitely a family experience. We are very involved and it is a great community. We fully expect our sons to go through 9th grade. There are no Montessori high schools here, which would be from 10th grade here.
This year I am interested in seeing how my kindregartner does with reading. he is a bit reluctant with letters and I know he gets the two languages mixed up a bit (they are bilingual). I fully trust that he will have time to work on this. I am not worried so much as curious.

I have to say I was surprised that Lorraine ( I think it was you) wrote that your child was not interviewd at a Montessori school--I have never heard of that! Here, you get a place just based on how long you were on the waiting list. If you come from another Montessori school in another city, you are guaranteed a spot. Same if you go to a Montessori preschool. Sometimes I get the feeling that Montessori is considered more elisit in the US than here in Europe--is that true?

[flyingspaghettimama]

Originally Posted by butternut

I have to say I was surprised that Lorraine ( I think it was you) wrote that your child was not interviewd at a Montessori school--I have never heard of that! Here, you get a place just based on how long you were on the waiting list. If you come from another Montessori school in another city, you are guaranteed a spot. Same if you go to a Montessori preschool. Sometimes I get the feeling that Montessori is considered more elisit in the US than here in Europe--is that true?

In the US, it's common to have "interviews" at all private schools, never at public schools, for the MOST part. Public Montessori schools in Texas do interviews as well. I know it is different in Europe, which creates its own issues (i.e. signing up babies at birth and hoping for the right alignment of readiness and entry time, at least in Paris, non?).

In our area at least, the interviews are to see if a child has any attention span or interest in the materials; and if the parents are in agreement with the school's philosophy. For example, if you were either a very pushy parent (one family I knew who didn't get in made their 3 y.o. daughter work in workbooks from the time she got home, and I actually do mean MADE her and were very anxious about how soon she'd start reading) or one who didn't hold much stock at all in academic interests (i.e. you said "OH, I hate reading, what good is it for?!"). At our interview, they even asked our discipline strategies. Maybe they wanted to keep out spankers?

I think usually most private schools are considered elitist in the USA, whether they offer full scholarships, reduced tuition, or whatnot. We are the only people we know who are choosing private school and we caught a lot of grief from family about it (family full of public school employees, natch).

Addax: I get what you're saying and I definitely think Montessori encompasses "child care" along with getting a rounded education. The original Montessori was designed to keep preschool-aged poor children from vandalizing the neighborhood...keeping them busy mentally so they didn't have so much time to create chaos. My daughter started school at 3.5 because I love Montessori; but also because I went back to work...

[smirlynwittles]

My daughter is 3 and will continue in the preschool program that she started during the summer. She started in the toddler program at 16.5 months. My son is 1 and will be starting the toddler program in January at 17 months. It is a private Montessori school.

I first heard about Montessori from a college friend who decided to homeschool Montessori and took the teacher's assistant training in Oregon. I searched the web about Montessori, Waldorf, Friend's School, etc and decided Montessori would be best for us. We found our school from our friend/Bradley instructor/Doula. We are quite thankful because they really don't advertise and it mainly spreads by word of mouth. We looked at another school, but it was twice the price and was purely babysitting outside core hours.

We are planning on keeping my daughter in Montessori through kindergarten and then going to public schools assume they will meet her needs. My husband and I both went to private schools and are leary of sending our children to them.

We really don't have any issues with the school. My main issue is getting my daughter to leave at the end of the day. My son is also starting to not want to leave when we pick her up. He is starting to be interested in the work.

Our main issue is that my daughter is tiny, but very independent. They don't have a kiddy toilet at the school, so she has to get help to go potty even though the other kids go on there own. I'd buy one for the school, but thy are $300.

[momto1QT]

Great thread!

DD is 25 months old and will be starting at a private montessori school in a couple of weeks. She will be in the toddler class for 2-3 olds and then will move to the regular 3-6 class next year. Right now she'll be going two consecutive days a week for 2 and 1/2 hours. We're really excited for her to start school because I really like the montessori philosophy and I think she's going to do wonderfully there!

We decided on montessori after doing some research on the internet about various alternatives for pre-school and found that the montessori philosophy really appealed to our family. We were confident in our decision, especially after dd had her "interview" when she was 21 months old. She watched intently as an older boy in the class was doing his work, and when the assistant removed the boy(for a reason I can't seem to recall), dd sat down in that spot for a good 10 minutes and completed the activity with no direction from us! We were happily surprised.

I intend to have dd complete K there (the program at her school does not continue into the elementary years) and then will most likely put her in our parish school.

What I'm most worried about is the initial separation anxiety for dd and myself the first few times, as this will be my daughter's first time away from home and any significant length of time away from Dh or I. I'm bracing myself for the tears that I know are going to fall (once she's in the building, of course!)

[Annalisasmom]

My daughter starts at her montesssori school on tuesday. THis is her first year and she will be in the 2-3 year old room. It's a private school ages 2-6th grade

[katydid6]

The timing on this post couldn't be better - I'm new to posting here and pretty new to Montesorri as well.

We have one dd who is 3 and just started in a primary program in a AMI/AMS here in Nashville.

I learned about Montesorri from a mom I met in my neighborhood. She had been a Montesorri teacher before she had kids. I loved her parenting style and thought the Montesorri methods she implemented in her home meshed really well with our parenting style. She introduced me to another Montessori teacher-turned-mom who eventually opened up a Mother's Day Out program for 1-3 year olds. It was not "licensed" Montessori, but she implemented lots of Montessori principles into her program. DD was enrolled there from 18 months until last July. She absolutely loved it and so did we.

DD's school is private, so I will be picking up an extra shift during the week to pay for it! There are 2 public Montessori preschools in the Nashville area, but when I went to apply I was astounded at the cost - the same or more than private schools. This one has a great reputation, goes all the way until high school and is 5 minutes from my house, so it was a no-brainer for us.

We have the option to keep dd there all the way through high school, but we have no idea. I was pleased to hear from another parent today whose daughter attended from primary through upper elementary. They just made the switch to public school and she's doing awesome.

I guess my biggest concern is dd going from MDO 2 days a week from 9 to 2 to full-time Montessori, five days a week from 8:30 to 3. My plan is to keep her home 1 full day a week and see how she does. She seems to really enjoy it so far. She told me at the end of the week that she was "missing me all day long." That's hard for me to hear. I think she'll adjust more easily than I will, though!

[butternut]

QUOTEIn our area at least, the interviews are to see if a child has any attention span or interest in the materials; and if the parents are in agreement with the school's philosophy. For example, if you were either a very pushy parent (one family I knew who didn't get in made their 3 y.o. daughter work in workbooks from the time she got home, and I actually do mean MADE her and were very anxious about how soon she'd start reading) or one who didn't hold much stock at all in academic interests (i.e. you said "OH, I hate reading, what good is it for?!"). At our interview, they even asked our discipline strategies. Maybe they wanted to keep out spankers? QUOTE

Ouch! I think interviewing young children is nuts. I live in Sweden. The only school I know of that has any kind of interviewing is a music school--where obviously the children must be able to sing or play an instrument. But that is for junior high and they do not even have to be proficient, just have an ability and an interest. Even "private" schools here cannot charge tuition nor can they interview. I think the interview process you describe in the States for Montessori schools perpetuates the elitistism (Is that a word?). It also perpetuates the myth that Montessori is not for everyone. I know the teachers at our school are so tired of hearing this myth because they firmly believe Montessori is for everyone quite simply based on the fact that the pedagogics are designed to meet the needs and interests of the individual. Our school has a great mix of people, but I have noticed that the more alternative parents here tend to choose it because it is like one big family homeschooling environment. I just don't recognize this strict academic environment people seem to refer to in Montessori schools in the States. I mean, asking you about your discipline strategies and your academic values! That would be downright shocking here.
What are others' feelings about this in your shcools?

And yes, some people put their children on the waiting list from birth but this is pretty common for many schools. Then the parents choose which school they want when the child starts. But many parents sign up and then get a place much later as many do not start to understand what they want for their child's schooling until the child is older.

[flyingspaghettimama]

Originally Posted by butternut

Ouch! I think interviewing young children is nuts. I live in Sweden.. I just don't recognize this strict academic environment people seem to refer to in Montessori schools in the States. I mean, asking you about your discipline strategies and your academic values! That would be downright shocking here.

Sorry - I should clarify - there are also many public Montessori schools that do not charge nor interview. There are private Montessori schools that do not interview, but you still pay. There are LOTS of choices regarding what you want, but some choices you have to pay for. I don't think it's "nuts" - it's just how it's done here for some schools. My friends from Europe are shocked as well by the interview process; but it's just how it is, and at least they all got in. If I moved to Europe with my 5 year old, I imagine I'd have a very hard time getting into a Montessori school with no seniority on the waitlist...which can be another form of exclusivity, favoring those who are in the area for a long time?

Regarding the academic nature - I imagine many Montessori schools are set up the same, you have a math and language area, along with practical life, sensorial, etc. In the USA, to have math and language/reading and no dress-up corner available to preschoolers is considered overkill and very, very academic. Parents who visit our local schools are shocked that there is no dress-up area and would obviously have a hard time with the lack of such.