A year of Montessori and then hs'ing?

[Nicks Mom]

We were planning on homeschooling using a virtual school for ds - starting next year. One of my reasons is that I am not comfortable with our public school system here. But then I started looking into Montessori and found one relatively close to here.... The cost is very high though, and it would be a hardship on us, but we were thinking about making it work for ds's kindergarten year and then going on to the virtual school from there. I was thinking that it might make a good foundation for him.... I don't know - I thought I'd throw the idea out to you and see what you thought. Can one year do enough good to give him some good learning skills to transfer to a virtual school? Please don't say that we should continue with Montessori - I'd consider it if weren't so cost prohibitive for us.

[3girlmom]

I'm sure someone else will post a dissenting opinion, but I don't think I'd do it (and I am a homeschooling mom myself - my kids attend Montessori preschool, then, when it's time for first grade, I homeschool). The kindergarten year is the culmination of a three-year cycle. I think a child entering in the final year would be at a bit of a loss (and I would be surprised if a good Montessori school would let a child in at that point in the cycle if you were honest with them about not continuing after one year). And once he was settled, then he'd have to get ready to adjust to homeschooling.

You can build Montessori elements into your homeschooling plan, and there are plenty of ways to give a good foundation other than a year of Montessori school.

[Nicks Mom]

I guess I didn't realize that it went in cycles. I was liking the idea of seeing how he'd respond to another adult as a teacher/authority & learning that kind of structure from someone other than mom... I was thinking that it would be easier to explain later (when we hs'd) that there was an actual teacher he had to answer to on the other end of the virtual school... Besides liking the Montessori concept, that is.

I think I have a lot more research to do then.

[MattBronsil]

Some schools might not enroll him in just the one year. Many schools will. You'll need to talk to the individual schools and see what their policy is.

It is better as a 3 year cycle, but there are benefits to one year. Just don't expect your child to be doing normal "Kindergarten" work that year necessarily. Many times, they spend their whole year in the practical life area just getting caught up.

Matt