We're considering a Montessori school for ds who will be 2.5 in September. I am more open to Montessori than dh, but I too have reservations.
When we visited the school with ds, he seemed to really like it and didn't want to leave when it was time. Dh stayed to talk with the guide/director after the visit (I had already visited with her another day). DH wasn't so comfortable with the very calm, quiet atmosphere. He felt it was "controlled". When he asked the guide about it, she was explaining the philosophy of order for preschoolers and told him how materials are presented. She gave an example of penny polishing. Now DH cannot imagine that penny polishing would have been interesting to him at any age and he asked what happens if a child is just not interested in an activity. She said she would make sure the child had understood the presentation/ try presenting in a different way, but that if the child remained uninterested, she would start to ask what was "wrong with the child". Does this make sense to you?
This guide is very experienced - I think she has 20-30 years of experience - and she's had a lot of good explanations for things, including my question about matwork (see prior post). However she does seem slightly controlling in personality and there doesn't seem to be any outlet for truly free wild play. The Montessori where I used to work as an assistant had a large outdoor space where kids could be pretty wild as long as they didn't hurt anyone or destroy plants.
On the plus side, she seems to do a good job of facilitating the children playing together, which I didn't see a lot of at the school where I used to work. She's also very kind and gentle, as is the assistant.
Any input is appreciated!
When we visited the school with ds, he seemed to really like it and didn't want to leave when it was time. Dh stayed to talk with the guide/director after the visit (I had already visited with her another day). DH wasn't so comfortable with the very calm, quiet atmosphere. He felt it was "controlled". When he asked the guide about it, she was explaining the philosophy of order for preschoolers and told him how materials are presented. She gave an example of penny polishing. Now DH cannot imagine that penny polishing would have been interesting to him at any age and he asked what happens if a child is just not interested in an activity. She said she would make sure the child had understood the presentation/ try presenting in a different way, but that if the child remained uninterested, she would start to ask what was "wrong with the child". Does this make sense to you?
This guide is very experienced - I think she has 20-30 years of experience - and she's had a lot of good explanations for things, including my question about matwork (see prior post). However she does seem slightly controlling in personality and there doesn't seem to be any outlet for truly free wild play. The Montessori where I used to work as an assistant had a large outdoor space where kids could be pretty wild as long as they didn't hurt anyone or destroy plants.
On the plus side, she seems to do a good job of facilitating the children playing together, which I didn't see a lot of at the school where I used to work. She's also very kind and gentle, as is the assistant.
Any input is appreciated!
