Montessori vs. public school for gifted kids?

[SexyMama]

After 2 months in public 1st grade, my dd still wants to return to Montessori. She went through primary (3-6 year olds) and really learned so much, that her IQ score this summer placed her at the 99.98%. I think Montessori schooling can provide her with a chance to excel to her highest potential.

I'm not sure I want to put her back in, because there are sooo many kids at the local public school and I think she'd feel more "normal" with neighborhood kids and Brownies, etc....

Does anyone have experience with a gifted child in Montessori elementary? I've been looking for some research for 1-5th grades, but I'm not having much luck. There's only 14 kids in junior elementary at her school, and 4 other girls her age.

[Montessori Mommy]

I'm not thrilled about public schooling at all, so my opinion is biased. I think Montessori is a great environment, especially for precocious children. If she is *asking* to go back to Montessori, she is obviously not getting what she needs out of public school. I think 2 months is enough of a fair chance to give it. Montessori children are permitted to learn what they want, when they want, and PS can be very rigid and confining for kids who are used to learning because they love it, and not to get the A/sticker/external reward. You don't want her to lose her joy for learning and have it turn into "work." In Montessori, she will have the benefit of mixed age groups and being able to learn/mimic the older children, while reinforcing her own skills by mentoring the younger ones. She can still play with the neighborhood children outside of school. She can still be a Brownie, play soccer, do ballet, or whatever else. And just my opinion here, but kids in the 99th percentile of their peers, don't often feel "normal" anyway, self esteem is key. What matters is that she is happy, confident, and getting what she needs from her learning environment.

As for the lower elem. in Montessori, it's much like everything else in Montessori, they are not limited and can pursue anything that interests them. Make sure you check out the class and materials and ask the directress how she meets the child's interest by bringing in new manips, books, "field trips" outside for collecting bugs, etc.

good luck, mama!

[Freedom72]

My dd10 is highly gifted, and just found out dd8 is gifted as well (exH thought she had a learning disability because she took a little longer to learn to read....didn't read fluently until a few months ago, and is now in 3rd grade).

Anyway, my dd10 went to Montessori for 1st grade...then we moved. There were no Montessori schools where we moved to, and thus she had to go to the regular ps. She isn't a complainer, but she tells me a few years later stuff I noticed also...she learned NOTHING in second and third grade, because she was able to excel so far in first grade. Long story short, I am a Mont teacher myself, and started a Mont/homeschool hybrid in my town because I was frustrated with the lack of quality education. I believe the Montessori way of teaching is THE best way, and it was hard for me to send my kids to traditional school when it wasn't what I believed in.

Last year in my class, I had 25 students, and 8-9 of those students were gifted. I think Montessori is the BEST place to have gifted kids, as they can work on various different things. My dd10 is a year ahead in school as it is, and decided this year to go to the magnet arts middle school that shares our same building. Well, they were all doing the same thing, and she studied ancient history last year. She decided to return after 2 months, as she wasn't being challenged, and she also told me that she didn't feel that she quite belonged in Middle School yet.

So, I think if your daughter is asking for it, you can supplement her life with those extracurriculars, and she would be quite happy. I know some people roll their eyes at this, but parenting and educating gifted children is a bit challenging. They also have "special needs," and I always think they should be treated as such. Good luck in your decision!

[Drummer's Wife]

oh I definitely think a Montessori environment would be much more accommodating to a gifted child then a traditional public school setting. Public school children tend to all be instructed to learn the SAME thing, whether or not some are more advanced and other's are more behind. There just isn't much flexibility in a standard curriculum. Montessori allows children to learn at their own pace, pick and choose what interests them and take what they need from their world.

And of course the benefit of a mixed aged classroom will help your child work at whatever level they truly are at. When my dd was 3 she was mastering a lot of the material that was intended for the 5 yr olds in her class.

Good luck figuring it out. I'm biased too though But I think public school should be a last resort if there are no other option. My dd is homeschooling because I couldn't get her into a M school (among other reasons)

[SexyMama]

I didn't mention this before, but after finishing primary school (3-6 year olds) at Montessori my daughter had IQ testing and achievement tests. She was tested at a 3rd grade reading level and 2.8 grade for math. The public school actually tested her at 4/5th grade reading/comprehension level. Even with that information, the school's accommodation was 1 hour a week with a small literature circle of other 1st graders. As for math, her teacher is differentiating her homework so that it is more challenging. She's already told me that she tries to answer things incorrectly in class so that she won't stand out.

The school would not accelerate her to 2nd grade. Needless to say, I too feel like she could EASILY spend the next two years learning a minimal amount of new information at best, and maybe even losing the education she had from primary class.

[Flor]

The only reason for not putting her back in Montessori is so that she'll feel "normal"? Sounds like she does not feel normal if she is answers questions incorrectly so as not to stand out. I think in Montessori where learning is individual, she wouldn't stand out or be uncomfortable with being "too smart." Also, in HS, I switched from a 1200 kid school to a private school with 40 kids. I felt more "normal" in a place I was comfortable and able to work to my potential rather than a school were everyone was obsessed with boys, clothes, a the social scene. I'm sending ds to a school with about 50 kids from 2-15 years old. I think he'll bond with those few kids and have better friends than in a big school where he doesn't know people as well and has to deal with more social issues.

[SexyMama]

Happiness

After 2 1/2 months of trying to make a round peg fit into a square hole, we put our daughter back in the Montessori. It's been about 3 weeks and she is so happy and learning everyday. She is able to work on science experiments, which she loves, and her new teacher said there was no transition. It's nice to see a happy kid!

[JWSJ]

When I asked my wife (PS traditional elementary teacher) if we shoud put our ds5 in PS after he completes his last year of Children's House she said no way. She doesn't believe the local PS (which has a great record) could handle our son. He is so far above grade level and so independent putting him in a traditional 1st grade would be a nightmare. My son's love of learning would be destroyed.

My wife has seen Montessori (CH) children "transition" to PS. Seems it doesn't work well. The traditional teachers end up telling the previous Montessori taught children to stop writing cursive and stop being so independent. Independence and anything beyond mediocrity is frowned upon.

[mightymoo]

This thread is very interesting to me. My daughter is only halfway through her first year at children's house, but I can already tell (well I knew before) this is the perfect environment for her. I consider all the time whether we should continue montessori after CH. One problem I have is money, the other is that her M school only goes through Lower Elem. What do I do when she gets to that point? There is another M school nearby that does Upper and Middle but its in a different town, so I worry that when she gets to high school (which is fairly large) she won't know anyone, also since she's switching schools, I worry that she won't know anyone at the new M school either.

If you plan to M school your kids for the long term what do you plan to do for high school?

[JWSJ]

There are a few Montessori high schools in the US but none near us. If the school was right we would consider moving. The Hershey farm school in OH looks great.

My son is so outgoing that making new friends would not be an issue.

Without a viable Montessori high school solution we would either find as close to that environment as possible or homeschool.

But the way he is progressing my son will probably finish high school at age 12 or before. We'll consider sending him to a local community college then. It scares me to think of sending a young teenager to a full university environment.

[SexyMama]

Exactly!

MightyMoo-
I had to take a HUGE leap of faith when I decided to put my daughter back in Montessori. A big drawback for me about taking her out of public school was concern over who she would have as friends, and if she would feel lost by the time she was in high school with not knowing anyone. I decided that was just too far down the line, and for now this is what is making her sooo happy. My daughter needed to leave the public school and now loves school again. Faith, bottom line... who knows where we'll be in 5-10 years?

I know at some point she will leave this great environment (whether it's for senior elementary, or middle school, or high school), and I think she will actually have a better set of social skills than her public school counterparts. I observed in primary her ability to work out issues with a friend in an extremely mature way. She told me that at the public school, kids didn't really work together, and interaction on the playground was a free-for-all. So my hope is that she will be able to make friends easier.

As for switching schools, when my daughter initially left M for the public school, she only knew 2 kids. All the others were already friends from Kindergarten and she was fine socially after the first week.

[merliss]

I would suggest looking into the Coaltion of Essential Schools (essentialschools.org) for high schools. There are public and private ones around the country and they follow a philosophy that lines up well with Montessori.