We are strongly considering sending our son to a M school next year. The school is for 3-8 year olds, so a primary class and an elementary class. My son will be 4. We tried to start him in a play-based preschool at age 3, but it was a disaster. I think mainly he wasn't ready to be left without me, but I suspect that the environment was overwhelming for his sensitive nature as well.
Anyway, one of the things we liked about the M concept was the quiet atmosphere. We thought it might be comfortable and less overwhelming for him. When DH and I went to observe a class, though, I was kind of disturbed by *how* quiet it really was!
In the primary class, the children were mostly almost silent. Most were working alone. A couple were sitting at the same table but not working together. There were two children at the snack table frequently, and they might have said a few words to each other. Other than that there was pretty much no interaction between children. When the teachers spoke to the children, it was in a voice barely above a whisper. They seemed to speak kindly and respectfully to the children, overall. But there seemed to be no noise allowed above basically a whisper. One child started to sing (relatively quietly) while doing her work, and she was asked to be quiet (or maybe use an indoor voice). A boy using the bathroom must have said something beyond the decibel limit and was asked to use an indoor voice.
In the elementary class, there was a similar level of quiet. The children were all working on their own activities and seemed very absorbed in what they were doing. I guess the quiet didn't seem as strange to me in a class of basically 1st-3rd graders, though.
Is this normal for a Montessori primary classroom? It just felt kind of unnatural or stifling to me for 3-5 year olds to be expected to be that quiet for basically 2 hours at a time. But this is my first experience with Montessori and am trying to keep an open mind. Do children have enough opportunity to interact and make friends in this environment?
We did observe on a snowy day, so about a third of the children had not come to school. I might have to go back to see what the "hum" of the room is like on a normal day.
I've got other questions, too, but I'll start with this. Thanks in advance for your help!
Anyway, one of the things we liked about the M concept was the quiet atmosphere. We thought it might be comfortable and less overwhelming for him. When DH and I went to observe a class, though, I was kind of disturbed by *how* quiet it really was!
In the primary class, the children were mostly almost silent. Most were working alone. A couple were sitting at the same table but not working together. There were two children at the snack table frequently, and they might have said a few words to each other. Other than that there was pretty much no interaction between children. When the teachers spoke to the children, it was in a voice barely above a whisper. They seemed to speak kindly and respectfully to the children, overall. But there seemed to be no noise allowed above basically a whisper. One child started to sing (relatively quietly) while doing her work, and she was asked to be quiet (or maybe use an indoor voice). A boy using the bathroom must have said something beyond the decibel limit and was asked to use an indoor voice.
In the elementary class, there was a similar level of quiet. The children were all working on their own activities and seemed very absorbed in what they were doing. I guess the quiet didn't seem as strange to me in a class of basically 1st-3rd graders, though.
Is this normal for a Montessori primary classroom? It just felt kind of unnatural or stifling to me for 3-5 year olds to be expected to be that quiet for basically 2 hours at a time. But this is my first experience with Montessori and am trying to keep an open mind. Do children have enough opportunity to interact and make friends in this environment?
We did observe on a snowy day, so about a third of the children had not come to school. I might have to go back to see what the "hum" of the room is like on a normal day.
I've got other questions, too, but I'll start with this. Thanks in advance for your help!
) wasn't ideal. I like that the kids are allowed a good portion of their own space while they do their own activities. Our experience at our school is that there are lots of other points in the day (lunch, for example) where they get to practice their skills.
So clearly they're a team.
