Questions

[KBecks]

Questions based on our tour today --

The admissions director said that the children in the young ages are very aware of how old they are and how they rank age-wize (I'm 3 days older than you!). We were talking about how older and younger kids get along, etc. I mentioned kids not competing, but she said that they are naturally competitive.

I wonder if this is common at other M schools. I sense due to the cost of tuition that some families pursue M schooling as an advantage for their kids to get ahead of their peers academically and that competition may be very much a part of the culture, beneath the surface. Though at this school, all the kids play sports whether they are good or not and the kids are supportive of one another.

Just curious about the kids' focus on age. She also said they all know how the other kids are doing and where the other kids are academically and I thought that was interesting, the rating and ranking that the kids do on their own, without report cards and GPAs, etc. etc.

I also have a question about class size. This school has about 25-28 kids per Children's House class. How does that sound?

[snowyowl]

That sounds like the opposite of our experience with Montessori! Sure, the kids knew how old their friends were but they weren't competitive about it. When it came to activities, I don't think the kids in my daughter's class even thought about them in terms of academics or achievement. They might see another child using different materials and look forward to getting to use them but I wouldn't say it was in a competitive way. The idea of moving at your own pace was really important to my daughter and all the kids in her class.

Her focus on kids being competitive sounds a bit off to me. Is she just the admissions person? If she is, she might not really have a good idea of what the kids are like in the classroom. Maybe she is so used to parents who want competition that she plays up that aspect of it.

With a class that size, there should be at least two teachers. Or at least a teacher and an aide.

[KBecks]

There is a teacher and an aide, I tried to count up the kids and I did not count 28 in a classroom I thought it was more like 24. It was the director of admisisons and I think many parents come to the school looking at M for "superior education" and "any kind of educational advantage possible" so I think that's why I felt the tour played up the academics and it seemed competitive, a little. I'm wondering if the attitude of the parents is competitive and if that filters into the school environment, family values and such.

I'm probably over thinking it. I did like the school overall, I wish I could have seen the teachers in action for longer and talked to some teachers.

[snowyowl]

There were definitely some competitive parents at my daughter's casa but it didn't seem to rub off on the kids too much. They were too busy being kids. Also, the message from the teachers was that, yes, achievement is to be celebrated but so is perseverance and kindness. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of those kids came out of casa a lot more mature about competition than their parents.

Montessori has been great for my daughter. I hope it works out for you!

[mightymoo]

My daughter is somewhat competitive as she is often concerned with who is first, who got there first, who wins, who is taller, etc. I haven't seen it much in the montessori environment and I try to discourage it at home, I think its something that is more picked up from television. She isn't focused on age at all, but sometimes it only takes one child to pass things on to the others in a classroom - if one child in that class is concerned with age and starts comparing themselve, the others may follow suit.

For example, DD came home one day and said that she and a friend had played power rangers, I know for a fact neither she nor the friend had ever seen or heard of the power rangers before, but the older kids had been playing them so they copied it. It was very popular with all the kids at school for a few weeks then the appeal died away again.

I wouldn't take it as an immediate concern, I would observe the classroom a few times and see if this seems to be something the kids are just focused on at the moment or if its perpetuated by the teacher.

As for class size, my daughter's M school's classes vary based on the classroom size, some classrooms are much bigger than others. I think the biggest class has around 24-26 kids if I'm remembering correctly. DD's class only has 11 or 12, but she's in afternoons and it isn't as popular as the mornings.