Forced into a work station?

[mamatoady]

i have some montessori questions. We are planning on sending our dd, 5.5 to a public charter montessori possibly as soon as next month. I am wondering how they go about teaching kids things.

I understand that the child is instructed on how to do something and then everyone scatters on their little way, but what if the child never wants to go to the math corner, are they sometimes just told to go do math?

What if my dd goes to the book nook every time she chooses a work station, but never goes to the station where she actually learns how to read.

I know I'm novice, but I'm just trying to fully understand this.

sarah

[LilyGrace]

The way my youngest son's school is set is like this: He is allowed to work wherever he chooses within the confines of the activities he's been introduced to. Right now, that means he does no math at school. He hates the beads, refuses to work with them as much as possible, though his teacher does try to introduce him to new activities as much as she can. Watching the older students, he's gaining some interest and is considering the math work. BUT, he will do a worksheet with no issues. Their agreement is this - if he chooses to spend all day reading or doing science, she will send home a worksheet for him to look at. If he wants to do the worksheet, great. If not, great. He still gets math exposure through different work at school even when the focus is not on it.
I don't know if he's an unusual case in his class (he paves his own way) or if it's this way for all students, but that's how they handle him.

It couldn't hurt to ask the school. Remember, Montessori is not trademarked. It's just a name and philosophy that some interpret differently.

[Lillianna]

It is the Directress' responsibility to entice the child to work with the materials in each area by giving presentations. There are many strategies used to create anticipation and prolong interest. The Directress should try to engage the child in all areas of the classroom but the main principle is that the child's individuality is respected. We appreciate that there are also times when the child shows great interest in one particular subject and is able to focus and progress in this area sometimes for a few weeks, before moving on to the next. Also, as LilyGrace indicated, the children become more interested in working on these lessons by observing older children doing them. Also, each child is approached as an individual so the Directress can adjust the presentation depending on the child's individual learning style.
Btw, "worksheets" are antithetical to Montessori. Montessori developed materials with concrete physical represtentation of abstract concepts. Especially in the math area, the child works with tangible materials through all the presentations in the Casa. The materials gradually increase in symbolic representation. She calls this the "passage to abstraction"...but the child is does not usually pass on to working abstractly until the elementary years.
LilyGrace, just curious, what kind of worksheets does she send home? How can she expect him to work on math if he hasn't had these presentations yet? Maybe I misunderstood you.
I agree with pp, it is important to check with the individual school to find out what their approach is.

[LilyGrace]

Originally Posted by Lillianna

LilyGrace, just curious, what kind of worksheets does she send home? How can she expect him to work on math if he hasn't had these presentations yet? Maybe I misunderstood you.

I probably didn't explain myself too well. I don't post much in this forum. Dips is one of those children who sees without being taught. When he went into the school last year at age 5 he was reading, doing higher level math, building complicated cell structures with his K'nex - yet not fully potty trained, low social skills, and very introverted. He's my TIVO. Whatever I want to know about in class I just have to ask and the entire scene plays back word for word.

His directress has made amazing strides with him, and because he prefers mental work (he doesn't like to touch the beads - we have smaller ones and blocks at home), they came up with a compromise together. He watches the presentations, but decides what he will do. He likes worksheets, so she finds interesting ones for him - multiplication, division, basic algebra...it's something the two of them came up with and since he's thriving and has all the same type of equipment at home if he gets stuck, it works. He went from hating math at the middle of last year when he started, to looking at the possibilities of it. (Personally, I don't think the worksheets are that interesting. I think they're rather dull, but he likes it that way).

I think they didn't know what to do with him as much as we did. But it works, he's happy, and that's all I care about.

[mamatoady]

thank you everyone for your responses! I get more and more excited the more I learn about Montessori approach.

sarah