Montessori kids academically unprepared for grade one?

[RomanGoddess]

Anyone out there have a child who was BEHIND his/her peers in grade one public school after having been in Montessori for kindergarten?

[Melda]

I personally dont... I do however know of several moms whose children just went into first grade and they are way above their peers. Most went into gifted programs but the ones who didnt know more than the other kiddos. The only problem that the moms told me (i asked a ton of questions when i saw them at a bday party) was that they are having a hard time adjusting to the structure. Sitting at a desk for long stretches. I hope that helps a little ...

[Cassiopeia]

No. M. has it's drawbacks but I don't think lack of academic work is one of them.

[Electra375]

No, my ds1 tested out of Kindergarten after 3 yrs of Montessori beginning at age 2 1/2. Being an Oct birthday he was not elidgible for kindergarten until he was almost 6, so he'd already had 3 yrs of Primary level Montessori education. He could count into the 100s and 1000s place, but add and subtract to the 1000s place, he could read and write phonetically, he knew of course his basics colors and shapes and beyond, he knew what some very complex geometric shapes were.

Now in 3rd grade his math skills are still beyond his peers, but he is loosing out b/c he is bored and I'm afraid he is going to give up (hmmm, maybe that is what is going on other post here of mine). His writing is the biggest draw back, which could be either Montessori related or the fact he is a left handed boy and his reading skills were pushed by me to get him into 1st grade rather than sit through 1/2 day stupid kindergarten learning his colors, letters and sound and numbers to 20! Honestly the Standard of Learning for kindergarten is completely garbage, no wonder over 1/2 the first graders are not reading on grade level! I had him tutored by his Montessori teacher all summer before 1st grade to be at level with his peer in the reading department. He passed the test to skip ahead prior to tutoring.

I wish I had the $$$$$ to put all of my kids in Montessori through highschool. We have the schools here to do it too. I'm figuring next year I will put our dd in Montessori, she is too intelligent for preschool, she is picking up what her brother is doing in the 4 yr old class on the way home from preschool. At 2 she is counting, knows all her colors, a good majority of shapes and conceptualizes speech in ways I didn't know 2 yr olds could do -- how many 2 yr olds ask "is that a trash can also?" she uses the word "also"! Maybe I should not be so impressed, but I am. She may be the 1 we must sacrifice for to give her the opportunity to be a smart girl and not suppressed by public school and the view girls need to be dump cheerleaders. I was so suppressed acedemically in high school by female teachers!

[vapindy]

I really, really think it depends on the child.
We started pre K in a tradional setting, which was horrible, he got into trouble for not napping and not sitting in his chair. as soon as they had an open spot, I got him into a great Montessori program, which is where are now. We've had better success with most areas, but even in grade 1, and two years of Montesorri he is struggling with language. We're doing the assestment tests right now, but I think if he were not in Montesorri, he would be way behind..............

[RomanGoddess]

I'm figuring next year I will put our dd in Montessori, she is too intelligent for preschool, she is picking up what her brother is doing in the 4 yr old class on the way home from preschool. At 2 she is counting, knows all her colors, a good majority of shapes and conceptualizes speech in ways I didn't know 2 yr olds could do -- how many 2 yr olds ask "is that a trash can also?" she uses the word "also"! Maybe I should not be so impressed, but I am.

Hmmm. What you say is very interesting. Honestly, I have no idea whether my DD is advanced or not, but she is almost 26 months, knows her colours, counts to 10 sometimes correctly, sometimes skipping numbers (for ex., today she counted 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), identifies ovals and circles for shapes so far, and today, she also used the word "also" in a sentence (she is just starting to speak in sentences). Is this advanced? Honestly, I have no clue. But maybe you are right and regular pre-school will be boring for her... My fear was that maybe if I put her in Montessori, she might not learn all the things she is supposed to learn by grade one and then would be behind (For example, maybe she will be at a very advanced in practical skills but not know her numbers). I think this can happen if the Montessori method is not applied properly. But maybe you are right and the regular pre-school option would just be boring for her.

[LukesMum]

MY son did 3 years o0f Montessori and I just pulled him out of the American School here in Bahrain ( DoD school) because he was so far ahead of his classmates and was bored and doing nothing. I see the fact that he doesnt want to just sit and wait for everyone as a great thing. so, I am homeschooling him, I am enrolled in Montessori TT and am continuing what is obviously working so very well for him.

We had him test--for reading he falls between upper 3rd and 4th grade....for other Language Arts he is either at a second of third grade level. For math he tested in at 2 nd grde. Montessori give it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Electra375]

OT - BUT useful for DoDDs school users

Originally Posted by LukesMum

MY son did 3 years o0f Montessori and I just pulled him out of the American School here in Bahrain ( DoD school) because he was so far ahead of his classmates and was bored and doing nothing.

I went to DoDDs schools from Junior HS onward, my parents both taught in the DoDDs System since the 60s. Their experience has been no 2 DoDDs school region systems are the same and the quality of 1 may be worse or better than another given funding for that region and of course, teachers hired for that area.

SHAPE Belgium is at the top of the list for DoDDS and even if you get there as a teacher, it does not mean you'll meet the rigors of the curriculum. My algebra teacher from 8th grade went to SHAPE and found it very difficult in yr 2000, English is her second language and apparently it made a very huge impact on her ability to perform to the standards of SHAPE. I will say this - she was the only algebra teacher in the system I was in that taught comprehension of word problems in depth and I will never forget it (and it's been 20 yrs since I was in her class, wow how time flies). I never had a problem understanding her, but I was very accustom to broken English and knowing Spanish I knew exactly what she met when her English word order was slightly off and so did most eveyone else in the class - SHAPE was not as forgiving as Panama. She retired out of the system to return to Panama and teach in the schools that have cropped up since the US turned the Panama Canal over in 1999.

My sister and I were ahead of our respective classmates and remained that way. She struggled through the boredum of elementary school and ended up leaving for college before she finished high school. She has no study skills what so ever and her reading comprehension stinks. I see a lot of reasons to continue to challenge a child by seeing what has happened to her - she became lazy in every area of her life and is on anti-depressants to cope.

I was ahead of her in school and had the awesome pleasure of having teachers who knew how to teach and make it challenging, they also were old as dirt! I also attended college while in high school for more acedemicaly challenging material - it was never hard, but it was work. I did not make the switch from Montessori to public school until I was in 8th grade, so the move was not IMO as difficult as it was for my sister who was 2nd grade.

Just an FYI for future reference in the event you move to another location, not all DoDDs schools are "bad", some are superior to the top school systems in the US. And finding the right teacher in the system is also a help, some are just better than others -- just like in the US school systems.

But I do firmly agree that kids in Montessori are generally ahead of their peers in at least 1 acedemic area. My ds1 is, I so wish I could have afforded it for the remainder of his elementary education, I wish I could have afforded to put our ds2 in a Montessori program and I'm talking to my dh NOW for next year for our dd -- she needs the Montessori experience to expand that wip-it brain of hers I don't make the $500 per month necessary to pay for it, I'm struggling to bring in the $250 for my 2 youngest to go to preschool now, not Montessori. I work from home on 1 small account as the company's secondary accountant. But it will all work out.

[sarahmae1]

Although this was 20+ years ago, my dh had a really hard time transistioning to a regular public school after going to Montessori for preschool and K. He fell behind in reading, math, and spelling and had to get extra help all through Elementary and Middle school. His mom has said that he was very advanced when he was in Montessori but the approach was very different than it is in the public schools.

[flyingspaghettimama]

No, my daughter isn't "behind" at all - but due to the way Montessori classrooms are structured, children will be in differing places based upon their unique interests. So, she can read fluently, but another girl from her school (also now in public school) cannot read at all. But in five years, or as an adult, will it matter? I doubt it highly. My daughter consistently writes letters backwards, but perhaps this other girl forms hers correctly. Or maybe she loves math, or the practical life, or geography, and that's what she really loved working with to perfection. So do you see what I mean - it's so individualized that the results, as it were, are also individualized. And is that so awful - I think Maria would disagree with the concepts of "behind" and "ahead," if we are following the child instead of leading them.

It's very limiting to think of some knowledge/skills at being "at grade level 1" or "at grade 3"? Who's to say, really? It's a institutionalized theory of what knowledge should be gained by when...the timeframe isn't so important, IMO? And children will learn different things based on what's interesting to them, whether as a toddler or a grade-school child. Some may learn letters early, some later; some shapes early, others later; some animals of the jungle early, some later; some arithmetic early, others later; some how to put away their toys early, some never! (ha, hear my bitterness?! )

I would personally not worry too much about children being bored, whether in a traditional preschool or montessori classroom. I think children can absorb and learn so much from any situation, and if they are allowed to roam freely at home with parental encouragement and exposure to new situations, they will never be prevented from learning amazing things.

I think the only situations that I was fearful of were those in which creativity was discouraged, social engagements limited, or the teacher was controlling and dour. For example, now that my daughter is in public school, they have a "letter of the day" in first grade. So, we would all roll our eyes at how simple that is for the Montessori-schooled child, right? But my daughter has a lot of fun with coming up with funny or unique words with that letter (i.e. "miniature" or "manx") or words with as many of that letter she can think of (for "b" she said "bumblebee"). Her teacher encourages this type of wordplay, so she's having fun. If it were a classroom with pages of worksheets, I don't think she'd last more than a day.

[RomanGoddess]

And is that so awful - I think Maria would disagree with the concepts of "behind" and "ahead," if we are following the child instead of leading them.

It's very limiting to think of some knowledge/skills at being "at grade level 1" or "at grade 3"? Who's to say, really? It's a institutionalized theory of what knowledge should be gained by when...the timeframe isn't so important, IMO? And children will learn different things based on what's interesting to them, whether as a toddler or a grade-school child. Some may learn letters early, some later; some shapes early, others later; some animals of the jungle early, some later; some arithmetic early, others later; some how to put away their toys early, some never! (ha, hear my bitterness?! )

FSM, you *know* I agree with you!! Problem is, the public school system doesn't and the French system is very unforgiving of children who are not at the same pace of the class.

[flyingspaghettimama]

Originally Posted by cmlp

FSM, you *know* I agree with you!! Problem is, the public school system doesn't and the French system is very unforgiving of children who are not at the same pace of the class.

I hear ya. It's the same way here now too. Could she just stay in Montessori through elementary?

[MomToKandE]

My dd just started 1st grade at the publick school after 2 years of Montessori. She's young for 1st, she actually turns 6 on Wednesday.

In some areas I think she may be ahead of many of her classmates, in other areas she may be a little behind. So I guess that averages out to right in the middle.

She's still having some trouble with sometimes writing letters and numbers backwards but other than that there are no major issues. She hasn't had trouble adjusting to the different structure. Her teacher actually does a lot of Montessori-ish things so I think this class is a great transition one for her. For example they have a 2 hour work period in the morning where they are assigned to different centers (math, language, etc.). It's not totally free like the Montessori class would have been but within the center there are many activities and they are free to choose what they want to work on.

[Lillianna]

In regards to the OP, I agree with FSM (great post, by the way). The goal of Montessori Education is to be an aid to life, giving a child the chance to develop concentration, coordination and independence. The academic success is a nice by-product; children who love learning do it well!

MomtoKandE, I have a question about this:

She's still having some trouble with sometimes writing letters and numbers backwards

Did the school present cursive letters or print?

[LukesMum]

[

It's very limiting to think of some knowledge/skills at being "at grade level 1" or "at grade 3"?

In response to this from my earlier statement about my son being at certain grade levels...the OP asked if Montessori kids were behind. I assume she means behind according to the state and or public school guidelines/curriculums. My son was tested to enter school and these were the results. Do I feel he is superior for having "high" scores?? No, it just shows me where he is at so I can continue to give him work that challenges and inspires him. By the way, we are homeschooling for all the reasons you mentioned. I honor him for who he is and where he is at.

[smeep]

Originally Posted by cmlp

Anyone out there have a child who was BEHIND his/her peers in grade one public school after having been in Montessori for kindergarten?

I doubt it. I've never heard of any children in Montessori being behind public school. In my experience it has ALWAYS been the other way around.

[gr33nie]

Hi

I just happened to 'stop in here'. I'm 29 yrs old now. I went to Montessorri from 2 yrs through first grade. I transfered to public school in second grade and was way behind. I hadn't learned a thing about reading or math and my parents were told not to try and teach me those things at home. I basically looked at pictures in books, did watercolor and pressed flowers all day.

I think a lot depends on the temperment of the child. I was NOT a self directed child. I really needed someone to sit me down and show me how to do things. When able to direct myself I just directed myself to things that I thought were easy and not learning things.

Like anything it REALLY depends on the school, the teacher and the tempermant of the child.

Sarah