Montessori Mama Rollcall?

[flyingspaghettimama]

Hi everyone ~

At the start of the schoolyear, I thought maybe we could let others know ...

Our child's age/year
How we heard about Montessori
Public, Private, or Homeschool?
What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?

My daughter is in third year of a 3-6 classroom, private school. She had a really rough year last year, so we're hoping her new (non-AMI) school is better. I went to Montessori as a child; and my mother and grandmother are both Montessori teachers. I'm considering keeping her in elementary, particularly due to concerns about our public schools and all the testing stuff. And because I enjoyed my own experiences.

I really hope this year goes well ... she's doing very well in a traditional sense, but has some hangups about "hard vs. easy work" that that a rather new, green teacher instilled last year. She struggles a LOT with handwriting, particularly because our school(s) do use traditional cursive. She reads extremely well though and likes some of the math (but isn't too excited overall). Mostly she enjoys practical life and art work, and helping younger children. She is almost academically ready for the elementary classroom but I think probably not emotionally - she's very, very sensitive. Despite having parents with hearts of steel. Just kidding!

[KateMary]

Does Montessori infant care count? My dd is in a mobile infant classroom at a Montessori school that goes up to 3rd grade. She is 11 months old. I am really happy with all the techniques they use. The only issues I have are with their closures that are based on a normal school year while I need daycare more of the time (like they are closed one week in summer, two weeks at Christmas, and one week at spring break). But education wise, they are great. I hope we can stick with it for a long time, I love the philosophies. Dd loves it there.

[Tine]

Our DS (28 mos.) will be starting his first Montessori experience next Tuesday. He'll be going to a private Mont. children's house (ages 2.5 - 6 yrs.). It's a session-based school, which means it runs Sep. - May (which works great for us, b/c DH is a public school teacher and can spend the summer with DS.)

We were inspired to check out Montessori by a couple of other families we're close to. When we researched the philosophy/methods, they just made perfect sense to us and seemed a good fit w/ DS's personality. We were very impressed with a couple of the schools we visited -- in the end, that's what sold us.

We'd like to keep DS in Montessori environments as long as possible (provided it works well for our family). Luckily, that is possible in our area, as there are many Montessori elementary schools, a few junior highs, and even 1 high school here.

I guess my main concern about the upcoming school year is how DS will handle the transition. He is accustomed to being away from DH and me (until now has attended a small home daycare w/ 2 other children), but of course this is a new environment, with 2 new teachers and several new children to get to know. Also, he's not completely potty-trained yet, so that aspect is sure to be...um...interesting.

[nonconformnmom]

Our situation is very similar to Christine, above, so I am taking the liberty to quote her. ;) My daughter will be 3 next month and

will be starting her first Montessori experience next Tuesday. She'll be going to a private Mont. children's house (ages 2.5 - 6 yrs.). It's a session-based school, which means it runs Sep. - May

This is my first exposure to Montessori. I heard about it from friends and did a lot of reading about it. I found that the Montessori philosophy fits right in with our style of parenting and teaching our kids to learn to do things for themselves. We observed the school and felt comfortable with the teachers, the setting, the structure, etc. Our toddler has been going for 3 days now and really seems to love it. She hasn't had any separation issues at all, or potty issues, either, thank goodness (a big worry for us)!

I am excited, and a bit anxious, to see how she handles the learning aspect of it, because so far, the social/ play aspect seems to be a breeze for her.

Edited to add: At this point, I expect to enroll her in a public school at age 5 or 6 .... But I'm actually open to considering alternatives, including homeschooling, if my husband wants to do it! (He may very well; he's good at things like that. :) )

[jalilah]

Hello There!

We are new to Montessori. My son age 7 (7 and a half the end of September)
started in a Montessori lower elementary last April. He loves it and I am really happy about it. He had been in Waldorf before that and I was not happy about the way things were going. So he arrived in The Montessori School with literally no academics, and in that short time from April to June he learned to read,do basic math and I can't tell you what a positive affect it had on his behaviour!

I loved the school he was in, but unfortunately we had to move across the country. Finding a new school has been a challenge! Most of the well-established Montessori schools here in our new town will not take children that have not done Montessori from the start. Our old school took him because it was a new school so they did have allot of students yet.
In our new town I finally found a Montessori school that would take him only to find out afterwards through the grapevine that this particular school has a bad reputation. It was confirmed to me by several sources that the teachers of this particular school are always leaving because the owners who area also the principal and vice principals are very difficult to get along with and money hungry as well.
On the other hand the other well established schools wouldn’t even meet with us even though I had letters from my son's old school recommending him,saying he would adapt very well to the Montessori method.

This is what I do not like about Montessori schools, the elitism.
I cannot believe that Maria Montessori would have liked it this way.
I find it a problem the way the different schools vary.

But I think we finally found a nice Montessori school that will accept him!

It was only a Casa 3-6 before but some of the parents who were so happy with the school requested that they start an elementary so they did. To our luck they dont have allot of students in the elementary yet.

Anyway I am happy to be a Montessori Mom!
Greeting to all,
Lorraine

[addax]

thanks for starting this thread!

My son is four (may birthday this year) and will be starting in Montessori this coming month, in a small private Montessori with an accredited teacher and a teacher's assistant. There are only 12 kids between 2 and 5 and we think this will be ideal for him.

My younger sister did Montessori, so did lots of friends' kids, and we think it will be a great match for his self-directed personality. As for next year, we'll try to get him into another Montessori if things go well -- if possible, in the public system. We are also considering other nontraditional public and private schools.

We are concerned about whether our son will behave well and how he will handle the transition to child care. We'll be breathing a lot easier around the end of September if the transition goes well!

[nonconformnmom]

Addax wrote: We are concerned about whether our son will behave well and how he will handle the transition to child care.

I don't really think of Montessori as 'child care'. We already have child care (stay at home parent) but I think of Montessori as preschool in the true sense of the word. I am looking for/ hoping to get an academic experience as part of her day, not just someone to care for her. I hope that is what Montessori is about ... Our daughter goes 4 days a week from 9:00-12:30.

Edited to say: That is not to dis child care or anything! :innocent Just wondering if my perception of Montessori preschool is correct/ common.

[anotherKatrina]

What a great thread!

My oldest is 13yo and in Middle School. He's been in Montessori since 1st grade, when I switched him out of public school. I'm not sure how I heard about Montessori...I read a lot, so I think it's always just been a part of my head jumble. When my son wasn't getting much out of the PS he was in, I just knew instinctively that Montessori was for him and I was right. I wouldn't trade our school experience for anything! And I say "our" because it's definitely been a whole-family adventure.

I also have a 2yo who just started in the toddler program a few weeks ago. So far, so good. My plan is for her to stay there thru Middle School, too. Hopefully, she'll get some of her big brother's wonderful teachers. :)

Our school is charter from k-8 and has great teachers. We are really fortunate.

[addax]

Ummm, yeah. In reply to the poster questioning my wording, we are putting our four year old in Montessori specifically as a preschool, and preschool is what we are seeking, rather than day care. At the moment he is home full time with his dad. He has never been in any kind of child care setting, whether in a group or with a nanny. So the whole thing is new to him, and this is the focus of our concern. I guess I should have said "being in a setting outside the home where he will be subject to different expectations and will be separated from his parents, especially since he has never been in group child care or had a nanny".

But I know that some parents do place their children in a child care setting which calls itself Montessori, out of interest in Montessori but with a primary need for child care. Are they also welcome here?

[psyche]

This is a good idea. My son is beginning next week but I never had more than vague wonderings so never jumped in to this forum.

Our child's age/year - 3 yrs old, in first year of 3-6 classroom

How we heard about Montessori - My cousin went to a Montessori school through junior high so I've known about for a while. However, what caused me to really look into it is that my graduate advisor (in education) is pretty pro-Montessori.

Public, Private, or Homeschool? - Private preschool

What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school? - I don't want to put the cart before the horse in considering those things.

Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year? - I'm mostly concerned with just the general first-time-off-to-school thing. We'll see how it goes once things settle down.

[fluffernutter]

Reese just started Montessori last week, she loves it. I love it too! :) She's 3. It's a wonderful private school and goes all the way to middle school. The plan is to keep her there until then. Of course, if it stops working for us we will revisit that idea. I really don't have many concerns, she seems to really love it. I'm trying to decide if I should help out at the school or not though. I'd love to, but I wonder if it'll interfere since she's VERY dependant upon me when I'm around. That's pretty much it. :)

[mamaley]

Our child's age/year
Our son recently turned 5, and he is in the K year at his Montessori school. He's been there since he was 2 and a half!

How we heard about Montessori
When he was a baby, I started thinking about my schooling (public) and thinking there had to be something better out there, especially for the early years. The Montessori philosophy made sense to us, and we were lucky enough to find a great new school that has really blossomed into something wonderful in the past few years.

Public, Private, or Homeschool?
It's private. Oh, do I wish it was public!

What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
We were wanting to do at least lower-elementary montessori, but i think he's going public next year. Both of us (dh and I) are students right now, and we want our dd (who will be 3 next fall, 2006) to go to this school too, and I don't think we can afford both tuitions. We have a nice local school so I think it will work out, though I do have my reservations because I love the idea of him doing Montessori for longer....

Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?
I am so freakin' excited about this year for him! He's so much more focused this year on his work, and is doing great with the other kids. He's learning yoga there, which he loves, and all kinds of stuff...getting into the math work and his writing is coming along. He's just really taking off!

[butternut]

Our boys are ages 6 and 7--in kindergarten and second grade (we are a year behind in grading in this country).
We heard about Montessori first when I was studying ot be a teacher and I visited the Montessori training center in London. I didn't like it at all! So I thoght--never Montesori. But then I taught for many years and then I had my own children--and then I suddenly understood Montessori! By chance we got into a very good parent cooperative accredited preschool when our first was three. So now my first has gone two years of preschool interspersed with time at home and is in his third year at elementary school. My second has gone three years of preschool and is just starting K.
Our school is a public, free school (all schools are free in this country)--accredited and with amazing teachers who were all first traditional teachers who then became Montessori. This has been important to me as I think the teachers have a great depth. Our school runs from 1 year olds through 9th grade. And like someone else said, it is definitely a family experience. We are very involved and it is a great community. We fully expect our sons to go through 9th grade. There are no Montessori high schools here, which would be from 10th grade here.
This year I am interested in seeing how my kindregartner does with reading. he is a bit reluctant with letters and I know he gets the two languages mixed up a bit (they are bilingual). I fully trust that he will have time to work on this. I am not worried so much as curious.

I have to say I was surprised that Lorraine ( I think it was you) wrote that your child was not interviewd at a Montessori school--I have never heard of that! Here, you get a place just based on how long you were on the waiting list. If you come from another Montessori school in another city, you are guaranteed a spot. Same if you go to a Montessori preschool. Sometimes I get the feeling that Montessori is considered more elisit in the US than here in Europe--is that true?

[flyingspaghettimama]

I have to say I was surprised that Lorraine ( I think it was you) wrote that your child was not interviewd at a Montessori school--I have never heard of that! Here, you get a place just based on how long you were on the waiting list. If you come from another Montessori school in another city, you are guaranteed a spot. Same if you go to a Montessori preschool. Sometimes I get the feeling that Montessori is considered more elisit in the US than here in Europe--is that true?

In the US, it's common to have "interviews" at all private schools, never at public schools, for the MOST part. Public Montessori schools in Texas do interviews as well. I know it is different in Europe, which creates its own issues (i.e. signing up babies at birth and hoping for the right alignment of readiness and entry time, at least in Paris, non?).

In our area at least, the interviews are to see if a child has any attention span or interest in the materials; and if the parents are in agreement with the school's philosophy. For example, if you were either a very pushy parent (one family I knew who didn't get in made their 3 y.o. daughter work in workbooks from the time she got home, and I actually do mean MADE her and were very anxious about how soon she'd start reading) or one who didn't hold much stock at all in academic interests (i.e. you said "OH, I hate reading, what good is it for?!"). At our interview, they even asked our discipline strategies. Maybe they wanted to keep out spankers? :p

I think usually most private schools are considered elitist in the USA, whether they offer full scholarships, reduced tuition, or whatnot. We are the only people we know who are choosing private school and we caught a lot of grief from family about it (family full of public school employees, natch).

Addax: I get what you're saying and I definitely think Montessori encompasses "child care" along with getting a rounded education. The original Montessori was designed to keep preschool-aged poor children from vandalizing the neighborhood...keeping them busy mentally so they didn't have so much time to create chaos. My daughter started school at 3.5 because I love Montessori; but also because I went back to work...

[smirlynwittles]

My daughter is 3 and will continue in the preschool program that she started during the summer. She started in the toddler program at 16.5 months. My son is 1 and will be starting the toddler program in January at 17 months. It is a private Montessori school.

I first heard about Montessori from a college friend who decided to homeschool Montessori and took the teacher's assistant training in Oregon. I searched the web about Montessori, Waldorf, Friend's School, etc and decided Montessori would be best for us. We found our school from our friend/Bradley instructor/Doula. We are quite thankful because they really don't advertise and it mainly spreads by word of mouth. We looked at another school, but it was twice the price and was purely babysitting outside core hours.

We are planning on keeping my daughter in Montessori through kindergarten and then going to public schools assume they will meet her needs. My husband and I both went to private schools and are leary of sending our children to them.

We really don't have any issues with the school. My main issue is getting my daughter to leave at the end of the day. My son is also starting to not want to leave when we pick her up. He is starting to be interested in the work.

Our main issue is that my daughter is tiny, but very independent. They don't have a kiddy toilet at the school, so she has to get help to go potty even though the other kids go on there own. I'd buy one for the school, but thy are $300.

[momto1QT]

Great thread!

DD is 25 months old and will be starting at a private montessori school in a couple of weeks. She will be in the toddler class for 2-3 olds and then will move to the regular 3-6 class next year. Right now she'll be going two consecutive days a week for 2 and 1/2 hours. We're really excited for her to start school because I really like the montessori philosophy and I think she's going to do wonderfully there!

We decided on montessori after doing some research on the internet about various alternatives for pre-school and found that the montessori philosophy really appealed to our family. We were confident in our decision, especially after dd had her "interview" when she was 21 months old. She watched intently as an older boy in the class was doing his work, and when the assistant removed the boy(for a reason I can't seem to recall), dd sat down in that spot for a good 10 minutes and completed the activity with no direction from us! We were happily surprised.

I intend to have dd complete K there (the program at her school does not continue into the elementary years) and then will most likely put her in our parish school.

What I'm most worried about is the initial separation anxiety for dd and myself the first few times, as this will be my daughter's first time away from home and any significant length of time away from Dh or I. I'm bracing myself for the tears that I know are going to fall (once she's in the building, of course!)

[Annalisasmom]

My daughter starts at her montesssori school on tuesday. THis is her first year and she will be in the 2-3 year old room. It's a private school ages 2-6th grade :)

[katydid6]

The timing on this post couldn't be better - I'm new to posting here and pretty new to Montesorri as well.

We have one dd who is 3 and just started in a primary program in a AMI/AMS here in Nashville.

I learned about Montesorri from a mom I met in my neighborhood. She had been a Montesorri teacher before she had kids. I loved her parenting style and thought the Montesorri methods she implemented in her home meshed really well with our parenting style. She introduced me to another Montessori teacher-turned-mom who eventually opened up a Mother's Day Out program for 1-3 year olds. It was not "licensed" Montessori, but she implemented lots of Montessori principles into her program. DD was enrolled there from 18 months until last July. She absolutely loved it and so did we.

DD's school is private, so I will be picking up an extra shift during the week to pay for it! There are 2 public Montessori preschools in the Nashville area, but when I went to apply I was astounded at the cost - the same or more than private schools. This one has a great reputation, goes all the way until high school and is 5 minutes from my house, so it was a no-brainer for us.

We have the option to keep dd there all the way through high school, but we have no idea. I was pleased to hear from another parent today whose daughter attended from primary through upper elementary. They just made the switch to public school and she's doing awesome.

I guess my biggest concern is dd going from MDO 2 days a week from 9 to 2 to full-time Montessori, five days a week from 8:30 to 3. My plan is to keep her home 1 full day a week and see how she does. She seems to really enjoy it so far. She told me at the end of the week that she was "missing me all day long." That's hard for me to hear. I think she'll adjust more easily than I will, though! :innocent

[butternut]

QUOTEIn our area at least, the interviews are to see if a child has any attention span or interest in the materials; and if the parents are in agreement with the school's philosophy. For example, if you were either a very pushy parent (one family I knew who didn't get in made their 3 y.o. daughter work in workbooks from the time she got home, and I actually do mean MADE her and were very anxious about how soon she'd start reading) or one who didn't hold much stock at all in academic interests (i.e. you said "OH, I hate reading, what good is it for?!"). At our interview, they even asked our discipline strategies. Maybe they wanted to keep out spankers? :p QUOTE

Ouch! I think interviewing young children is nuts. I live in Sweden. The only school I know of that has any kind of interviewing is a music school--where obviously the children must be able to sing or play an instrument. But that is for junior high and they do not even have to be proficient, just have an ability and an interest. Even "private" schools here cannot charge tuition nor can they interview. I think the interview process you describe in the States for Montessori schools perpetuates the elitistism (Is that a word?). It also perpetuates the myth that Montessori is not for everyone. I know the teachers at our school are so tired of hearing this myth because they firmly believe Montessori is for everyone quite simply based on the fact that the pedagogics are designed to meet the needs and interests of the individual. Our school has a great mix of people, but I have noticed that the more alternative parents here tend to choose it because it is like one big family homeschooling environment. I just don't recognize this strict academic environment people seem to refer to in Montessori schools in the States. I mean, asking you about your discipline strategies and your academic values! That would be downright shocking here.
What are others' feelings about this in your shcools?

And yes, some people put their children on the waiting list from birth but this is pretty common for many schools. Then the parents choose which school they want when the child starts. But many parents sign up and then get a place much later as many do not start to understand what they want for their child's schooling until the child is older.

[flyingspaghettimama]

Ouch! I think interviewing young children is nuts. I live in Sweden.. I just don't recognize this strict academic environment people seem to refer to in Montessori schools in the States. I mean, asking you about your discipline strategies and your academic values! That would be downright shocking here.

Sorry - I should clarify - there are also many public Montessori schools that do not charge nor interview. There are private Montessori schools that do not interview, but you still pay. There are LOTS of choices regarding what you want, but some choices you have to pay for. I don't think it's "nuts" - it's just how it's done here for some schools. My friends from Europe are shocked as well by the interview process; but it's just how it is, and at least they all got in. If I moved to Europe with my 5 year old, I imagine I'd have a very hard time getting into a Montessori school with no seniority on the waitlist...which can be another form of exclusivity, favoring those who are in the area for a long time?

Regarding the academic nature - I imagine many Montessori schools are set up the same, you have a math and language area, along with practical life, sensorial, etc. In the USA, to have math and language/reading and no dress-up corner available to preschoolers is considered overkill and very, very academic. Parents who visit our local schools are shocked that there is no dress-up area and would obviously have a hard time with the lack of such.

[jalilah]

I
I have to say I was surprised that Lorraine (I think it was you) wrote that your child was not interviewed at a Montessori school--I have never heard of that! Here, you get a place just based on how long you were on the waiting list. If you come from another Montessori school in another city, you are guaranteed a spot. Same if you go to a Montessori preschool. Sometimes I get the feeling that Montessori is considered more elisit in the US than here in Europe--is that true?

Just to clarify, my son was never interviewed for any of the Montessori schools. We went to an open house for the first school my son went to.
He met the teacher and she saw herself that my son was fascinated by all the materials and was confident (more than I at that point) that he would do well. As I mentioned before, this was a new school so they also needed more enrolllment.

When I knew we would be moving I wrote by email to several Montessori school in the new city where we would be living. Of the 5 larger more established schools (all in existence about 20 years) 2 never even bothered to return my email. One school replied saying sorry, but they did not take "older" children who had not done Montessori schools. When we moved I saw that this school had an advertisement in the paper saying they did some times take in children who had not done Montessori.I phoned them to see if they would at least meet with us and read the letters my sons teachers had written, but they never even returned my calls. One school said they could put us on the waiting list and my son on it and finally there was the one that accepted us where I mentioned that I heard bad things about it afterwards. None of these schools ever asked for an interview.
The new school I wrote about where my son will be going also did not ask for an interview with my son. They met him when we came to visit the school and I spoke to the principal allot but it was not an interview.

By the way we live in Canada. As far as I know there are not any public Montessori schools in the city where we live.
Greetings!
Lorraine

[montessorimama]

Interviews in the US:

My school really only does interviews for ages K and up, but we do usually have an extensive waitlist, and the interviews are basically for placement -is this child really ready for kindergarten, or is he just old enough to no longer require a nap, or what? We do require parents (unless they're transferring from out of town or something) to come and see the school and speak to us.

I could see the interview, in the US, as a way to seek out parents who REALLY want Montessori education, as opposed to those who happened to live around the corner and thought they'd send in their child because our "daycare" was close to home. Seriously, a lot of American parents seem to be rather uninterested in the places they plan to send their children for 12 hours a day.

Why would that matter to the school? Because Montessori teachers want to keep their children for THREE years, not just till mom and dad decide we're not for them. We want parents who are interested in the long haul, it's part of how we build a classroom community. It has nothing to do with our willingness, it's to do with theirs.

That said, I've found, particularly with my toddlers, that the parents who were sort of "least Montessori" have become some of my staunchest supporters once they've seen their children transform themselves into orderly individuals. So perhaps the whole interview process can backfire.

[butternut]

Thanks for the clarifications, Lorraine and Montessorimama.
We do have an open house night as well for interested parents to hear about Montessori and to visit the school. Interested parents are also encouraged to visit the school during school hours (without their own children) to see if they like it. Once the child has been given a place (solely based on placement on the waiting list or a guaranteed placement because of Montessori attendance in another city) the child has a meeting with the principal just to get to know her. Children here all start school according to age (calendar year) so there is never a question about whether they are "ready" for a certain grade. But I do understand that their meeting with the principal and later their first planning times with their teachers are designed to get a feel for where the child is. Our classes are mixed ages and every child is doing his/her own level--so really it doesn't matter what grade they are in officially.
And yes, flyingspaghettimama. you may have a problem getting a place for your school age child if you were to move to Sweden (I can't speak for the rest of Europe) if the school was very popular or very full. But if you move to my town and to our school, they will give you a place if your child has gone to another Montessori even if the class is full. But I imagine this moving and not getting a place may be a problem for anyone--here or there-- if the school is full. Our classes are never filled just from the waiting list. People move or change their minds, so there are always some places for families who just discover the school when the child is 5.
All that said, I still think interviewing a child and the parents to decide if he/she gets a place is wrong. For grade school and preschool it would even be illegal here. Meeting with the parents to explain Montessori is a very different case.

[OnTheBrink]

Didn't have time to read all the posts, but wanted to add in here:

Our child's age/year
Emma is 4 and in the 3-6 class for the 2nd year.

How we heard about Montessori
My mom was a M teacher while I was growing up, though we went to Catholic school. I just always knew that it was great!

Public, Private, or Homeschool?
The preschool is private and the elementary is charter.
It's only the 2nd year it's been open. We are applying for a charter for a middle school as well.

What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
For elementary and middle: most likely stay there.
For high school - not sure, but possibly at the private HS my husband teaches at.

Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?
Nope!

Our school website:
Lakeland Montessori Schoolhouse (http://www.lakelandmontessori.com)

[ebethmom]

I think of myself as an "accidental Montessorian." I have always planned on homeschooling our kids, but with our recent move and the chaos I felt that we needed more structure this year. So I looked online and found the closest (20 miles away) Montessori preschool that happens to be wonderful!



Our child's age/year
Nathan just turned 4. He goes to a 9 - noon preschool (3-6 room).


How we heard about Montessori
I first heard of Montessori from my childhood friends. They went to a Montessori school through fourth grade and loved it. One friend now runs a Montessori school in Indianapolis. I teach Suzuki method violin and viola, and the two methods work so well together. Dr. Suzuki and Maria Montessori were kindred souls.


Public, Private, or Homeschool?
Private preschool. There are two rooms at our school, both 3 - 6. The Blue Room is an all-day program, and the Purple Room is morning only. In the afternoon, kindergarten kids from both rooms learn in the Purple Room.

What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
We will be homeschooling. I had always thought that we would unschool, but now I'm looking into Montessori homeschooling.


Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?
Not for this year - I am very happy with ds's adjustment. I don't know what we will do next year. The kindergarten program goes from 9 - 2:30, and I'm not sure I want ds going for a long day like that.

[East Coast Lady]

In the US, it's common to have "interviews" at all private schools, never at public schools, for the MOST part. Public Montessori schools in Texas do interviews as well. I know it is different in Europe, which creates its own issues (i.e. signing up babies at birth and hoping for the right alignment of readiness and entry time, at least in Paris, non?).

In our area at least, the interviews are to see if a child has any attention span or interest in the materials; and if the parents are in agreement with the school's philosophy. For example, if you were either a very pushy parent (one family I knew who didn't get in made their 3 y.o. daughter work in workbooks from the time she got home, and I actually do mean MADE her and were very anxious about how soon she'd start reading) or one who didn't hold much stock at all in academic interests (i.e. you said "OH, I hate reading, what good is it for?!"). At our interview, they even asked our discipline strategies. Maybe they wanted to keep out spankers? :p

I think usually most private schools are considered elitist in the USA, whether they offer full scholarships, reduced tuition, or whatnot. We are the only people we know who are choosing private school and we caught a lot of grief from family about it (family full of public school employees, natch).

Addax: I get what you're saying and I definitely think Montessori encompasses "child care" along with getting a rounded education. The original Montessori was designed to keep preschool-aged poor children from vandalizing the neighborhood...keeping them busy mentally so they didn't have so much time to create chaos. My daughter started school at 3.5 because I love Montessori; but also because I went back to work...

Flyingspag:

I felt this stong urge to respond to your statement "The original Montessori was designed to keep preschool-aged poor children from vandalizing the neighborhood". That was really funny! :LOL Pre-schoolers vandalizing neighbors where did you hear that? According to what I have read Dr. Montessori who was a trained psychiatrist worked with children who were developmentally disabled (children who were mentally retarded) who happened to be in poverty stricken neighborhoods (ghettos in Italy). She created a teaching method that could best help these children learn at their own pace. Out of this method developed a philosopy and people in American took it to a whole level. I heard the Montessori philosophy was not accepted in the public schools in American that is why you find people setting up Montessori shops all over the place. There is a flood of them where I am at because the public school systems have been crucified in the press as not being good. Montessori is interesting and the learning materials are fun but I would not rule out the traditional way of teaching over Montessori. We all as parents know the public schools in our area could be better and we want the best for our children. We tend to get sucked into marketing of Montessori. Believe me these montessori schools do a get job with marketing. Now days charter schools are poping up all over the place and parents are choosing the charter schools over private because it is free. A couple of montessori schools in my area went charter and now are free because the parents don't want to pay or can't afford to pay Montessori prices. Nothing against Montessori but I haven't heard of any rich or genius folks in our country coming out of Montessori schools. People create all these notions in their head as to what montessori represent. There is a rumor that it is elitist when montessori market the classroom as being diverse in terms of race, financial status, religion etc. People want to believe that they are getting something special because it is so darn pricey. It is just pricey daycare to me.

[East Coast Lady]

In the US, it's common to have "interviews" at all private schools, never at public schools, for the MOST part. Public Montessori schools in Texas do interviews as well. I know it is different in Europe, which creates its own issues (i.e. signing up babies at birth and hoping for the right alignment of readiness and entry time, at least in Paris, non?).

In our area at least, the interviews are to see if a child has any attention span or interest in the materials; and if the parents are in agreement with the school's philosophy. For example, if you were either a very pushy parent (one family I knew who didn't get in made their 3 y.o. daughter work in workbooks from the time she got home, and I actually do mean MADE her and were very anxious about how soon she'd start reading) or one who didn't hold much stock at all in academic interests (i.e. you said "OH, I hate reading, what good is it for?!"). At our interview, they even asked our discipline strategies. Maybe they wanted to keep out spankers? :p

I think usually most private schools are considered elitist in the USA, whether they offer full scholarships, reduced tuition, or whatnot. We are the only people we know who are choosing private school and we caught a lot of grief from family about it (family full of public school employees, natch).

Addax: I get what you're saying and I definitely think Montessori encompasses "child care" along with getting a rounded education. The original Montessori was designed to keep preschool-aged poor children from vandalizing the neighborhood...keeping them busy mentally so they didn't have so much time to create chaos. My daughter started school at 3.5 because I love Montessori; but also because I went back to work...

Flyingspag:

I felt this stong urge to respond to your statement "The original Montessori was designed to keep preschool-aged poor children from vandalizing the neighborhood". That was really funny! :LOL Pre-schoolers vandalizing neighbors where did you hear that? According to what I have read Dr. Montessori who was a trained psychiatrist worked with children who were developmentally disabled (children who were mentally retarded) who happened to be in poverty stricken neighborhoods (ghettos in Italy). She created a teaching method that could best help these children learn at their own pace. Out of this method developed a philosopy and people in American took it to a whole level. I heard the Montessori philosophy was not accepted in the public schools in American that is why you find people setting up Montessori shops all over the place. There is a flood of them where I am at because the public school systems have been crucified in the press at not being good. Montessori is interesting and the learning materials are fun but I would not rule out the traditional way of teacher over Montessori. We all as parents know the public schools in our area could be better and we want the best for our children. We tend to get suck into marketing of Montessori. Believe me these montessori schools do a get job with marketing. Now days charter schools are poping up all over the place and parents are choosing the charter schools over private because it is free. A couple of montessori schools in my area went charter and now are free because the parents don't want to pay or can afford to pay Montessori prices. Nothing against Montessori but I haven't heard of any rich or genius folks in our country coming out of Montessori schools. People create all these notions in their head as to what montessori represent, It is just daycare to me.

[flyingspaghettimama]

I felt this stong urge to respond to your statement "The original Montessori was designed to keep preschool-aged poor children from vandalizing the neighborhood". That was really funny! :LOL Pre-schoolers vandalizing neighbors where did you hear that? According to what I have read Dr. Montessori who was a trained psychiatrist worked with children who were developmentally disabled (children who were mentally retarded) who happened to be in poverty stricken neighborhoods (ghettos in Italy). She created a teaching method that could best help these children learn at their own pace. Out of this method developed a philosopy and people in American took it to a whole level. I heard the Montessori philosophy was not accepted in the public schools in American that is why you find people setting up Montessori shops all over the place. There is a flood of them where I am at because the public school systems have been crucified in the press at not being good. Montessori is interesting and the learning materials are fun but I would not rule out the traditional way of teacher over Montessori. We all as parents know the public schools in our area could be better and we want the best for our children. We tend to get suck into marketing of Montessori. Believe me these montessori schools do a get job with marketing. Now days charter schools are poping up all over the place and parents are choosing the charter schools over private because it is free. A couple of montessori schools in my area went charter and now are free because the parents don't want to pay or can afford to pay Montessori prices. Nothing against Montessori but I haven't heard of any rich or genius folks in our country coming out of Montessori schools. People create all these notions in their head as to what montessori represent, It is just daycare to me.

I hear your anger and frustration over Montessori schools in your area. Personally, for me, I do not care if my daughter is rich or a genius - I would love nothing better than for her to be a compassionate, enthusiastic, and well-rounded person who loves learning and helping others. It works for us.

I would like to point out: Montessori was a physician (the first female in Italy!) who specialized in pediatrics and psychiatry, not exclusively trained in psychiatry. The Montessori Method was promoted by Montessori herself around the world (including India, where she later lived, and from where my teachers were from as a child), not just taken by Americans to a whole new level. And the first Montessori preschool was an "experiment" set up to prevent preschoolers from vandalizing their neighborhood while their parents were at work. You can read it in her books, but here is a web-based overview:

"However, her early charges must have been a challenge even for Montessori. In The Montessori Method, she describes them as "sixty tearful, frightened children, so shy that it was impossible to get them to speak; with bewildered eyes, as though they had never seen anything in their lives."

"These sixty children were given to her along with an untrained aide because the landlord in the tenement where they lived wanted to keep them busy, more or less to keep them from defacing the walls and vandalizing his property. Since she did not have the intention of evolving a pedagogical system, she began with no fixed ideas of what to teach these children. Instead, she observed what they needed to do and learn, and she prepared materials to help with these acquisitions. She observed what obstacles they had to overcome and set about removing them. "

http://www.aquinasmontessorischool.com/id1.html
http://www.ocmontessori.com/new_page_5.htm

[butternut]

Good answer flyingspaghettimama. I am, like you, not looking to make my child a genius or rich. I think if you, east coast lady, think that is what Montessori is about, you may want to look beyond what is happening with Montessori in your community. You may be interested to know that here in Sweden, the public school system is adopting a lot of Montessori principles. Not all schools will be accredited Montessori but those who decide about the school system are realizing that all children do well learning at their own pace in a calm environment with large block of time to really work on something. It is too bad if people think of Montessori as elitist, because I don't think that is what Maria Montessori intended at all.

[thyme]

Nothing against Montessori but I haven't heard of any rich or genius folks in our country coming out of Montessori schools.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com went to Montessori.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google, went to Montessori.

I don't really think you can get much more rich & genius than that!

(Not that I would consider getting rich to be a reason to send my kid to Montessori, but that's another topic.)

[momto1QT]

Thank-you Thyme for pointing that out!

A little OT but I feel the need to say that I am not sending my dd to a Montessori school either because I think it will magically turn her into a genius, however I do agree with butternut and other pp that Montessori has many wonderful qualities that is important to my family such as an emphasis on child-led learning, mixed age grouping, the emphasis on respect for each other and the environment, and I think the ability to concentrate on something until you finish it and the decreased emphasis on rote learning will serve her wll into the future. I really believe Montessori is Much more than "pricey day care" East Coast Lady.

[boston]

Our child's age/year
My daughter N is starting a Montessori preschool in a few days. She is 4 years old.

How we heard about Montessori
don't remember where I originally heard about it. I think I probably learned about it while reading parenting books when I was pregnant.

Public, Private, or Homeschool?
You mean in the future? Probably private. Would consider public if the particular public school had a very good reputation. N can stay in this school until she is 6, and then we can look for an older kids' Montessori or a different school. It really depends where we are in 2 years.

What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
See above.

Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?
I have a lot of questions related to my specific school, which so far hasn't had the world's best communication. We have a parent orientation this week and I expect to leave that with a better feel for things. I mean, we don't even have a school calendar yet. Kind of irritating. Otherwise, besides really nailing down school holidays and such, I don't have any big concerns. My kid doesn't have allergies or any special needs or behavior issues. She's really excited. Every time we drive past the school she yells "MONTESSORI!!!!!!" and has been doing that for SIX MONTHS. I sure hope it meets her expectations!

[OhTheThinks.....]

Our child's age/year
DD age 3.5
How we heard about Montessori
I feel I have always know about Montessori. Decided earlier on to look at the public school, consider homeschooling, or Montessori for dd.
We have read all the Maria Montessori books as well.
Public, Private, or Homeschool?
DD attending a private M-school. I researched all the schools in my area. I started this one in the parent-toddler program once a week, and then when she turned three we started in the 3-6 class.
What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
This M-schoool goes all the through middle school. I plan on really looking at each age range and doing what is best for dd. Next hurdle will be 6-9. I will look to see if she is benefiting from M-school and also who her teacher/class makeup will be.
Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?
At first being SAHM and attachment parenting wanted a school that believe in our values. No problems thank goodness. She has a great head teacher.
And now I am getting my 3-6 montessori certification in the same school DD attends so it works out well.

[East Coast Lady]

I hear your anger and frustration over Montessori schools in your area. Personally, for me, I do not care if my daughter is rich or a genius - I would love nothing better than for her to be a compassionate, enthusiastic, and well-rounded person who loves learning and helping others. It works for us.

I would like to point out: Montessori was a physician (the first female in Italy!) who specialized in pediatrics and psychiatry, not exclusively trained in psychiatry. The Montessori Method was promoted by Montessori herself around the world (including India, where she later lived, and from where my teachers were from as a child), not just taken by Americans to a whole new level. And the first Montessori preschool was an "experiment" set up to prevent preschoolers from vandalizing their neighborhood while their parents were at work. You can read it in her books, but here is a web-based overview:

"However, her early charges must have been a challenge even for Montessori. In The Montessori Method, she describes them as "sixty tearful, frightened children, so shy that it was impossible to get them to speak; with bewildered eyes, as though they had never seen anything in their lives."

"These sixty children were given to her along with an untrained aide because the landlord in the tenement where they lived wanted to keep them busy, more or less to keep them from defacing the walls and vandalizing his property. Since she did not have the intention of evolving a pedagogical system, she began with no fixed ideas of what to teach these children. Instead, she observed what they needed to do and learn, and she prepared materials to help with these acquisitions. She observed what obstacles they had to overcome and set about removing them. "

http://www.aquinasmontessorischool.com/id1.html
http://www.ocmontessori.com/new_page_5.htm

Hey,

I'm not angry at Montessori schools. I think people are taking this too seriously. My husband and I discussed the fact that there are a few ages mixed together in the group. Yeah Yeah we hear that the smaller children learn from the older children. The reality is if they separated all the kids by age group into their own classes by age it would be obvious that not many parents are enrolling there kids in the montessori school and it makes no since to hire teachers for that class when there is no money to pay the salaries. I know you as well as other parent are fans of Montessori schools but how many people do you know who have children who graduated from Montessori schools vs traditional schools.

[flyingspaghettimama]

Eh? Come again? "The reality is if they separated all the kids by age group into their own classes by age it would be obvious that not many parents are enrolling there kids in the montessori school and it makes no since to hire teachers for that class when there is no money to pay the salaries."

My daughter's school has three classrooms of 24-30 children each, ages 3-6 years. 75 children in all. 2 teachers per classroom, 1:12 ratio. So...uh...OK. It's one of about 20 private Montessori preschools in my area, and two elementary/middle school; and there are at least three public ones as well. They're not really hurting for students; and I highly doubt that Montessori had a grand plan to dupe parents into paying for inessential directrixes.

I'm glad that you have found a school that's right for your family and what you want for your child, which is to be rich and a genius. Rock on. This is the Montessori forum, so I suppose many of us would be predisposed to supporting Montessori and have read a lot about it...

[butternut]

Hey,

I'm not angry at Montessori schools. I think people are taking this too seriously. My husband and I discussed the fact that there are a few ages mixed together in the group. Yeah Yeah we hear that the smaller children learn from the older children. The reality is if they separated all the kids by age group into their own classes by age it would be obvious that not many parents are enrolling there kids in the montessori school and it makes no since to hire teachers for that class when there is no money to pay the salaries. I know you as well as other parent are fans of Montessori schools but how many people do you know who have children who graduated from Montessori schools vs traditional schools.

You lost me a bit here. :confused:
My kids' Montessori school is public--so the teachers are paid the same as other public school teachers in the area and we as parents do not pay a dime more (or as it would be here, a crown more) than we would for a traditional school. It is not all about money. For us it is all about pedagogics and educational philosophy. That said, if I had to, I would pay for it.
As far as I know, it is pretty obvious that more kids graduate from traditional schools because, well, there are more of them.
Loved your answer flyingspaghettimama.

[boston]

As far as I know, it is pretty obvious that more kids graduate from traditional schools because, well, there are more of them.


this is my understanding too. ;-)

[ebethmom]

but how many people do you know who have children who graduated from Montessori schools vs traditional schools.

I don't base my parenting decisions on what everyone else is doing. When my first child was born, I didn't know anyone who chose attachment parenting. But I read about it and found resources. I still know many more parents who *don't* raise their kids with AP ideals. I'm willing to swim against the current to raise my kids with the ideals that are important to me.

I teach Suzuki violin and viola, so I have contact with many children and their families. Over the years, there have been a few families that really caught my attention. The parents and children work in harmony, the siblings seem to genuinely enjoy each other, the children work in a respectful way with other adults, and when there are bumps in the road it is dealt with in a thoughtful manner. These were my homeschool and Montessori families.

[flyingspaghettimama]

I don't base my parenting decisions on what everyone else is doing. When my first child was born, I didn't know anyone who chose attachment parenting. But I read about it and found resources. I still know many more parents who *don't* raise their kids with AP ideals. I'm willing to swim against the current to raise my kids with the ideals that are important to me.

Awesome point! :thumb

[jalilah]

[QUOTE=East Coast Lady]Hey,
The reality is if they separated all the kids by age group into their own classes by age it would be obvious that not many parents are enrolling there kids in the montessori school and it makes no since to hire teachers for that class when there is no money to pay the salaries.>

Most of the Montessori schools in our area are very full and have long waiting lists. I know this because we just moved here and had trouble finding a Montessori school that would accept us.

If the schools are not full, it is either because they are new or for some reason the particular school is not running well.

It was one of Maria Montessori’s ideas about the mixed ages, so for sure mixed ages are NOT because there are not enough students.
.

[kaydee]

The Montessori school my son will be entering has a one-year waiting list. There are 3 3-6 classrooms, each of which has about 20-30 students and 3 teachers. It is one of at least 8 M schools in the metro area.

[TripMom]

Our DS is 3 years old and started Montessori school in a children's house this year. It is a private school. He seems to really like it so far -- no seperation anxiety or other difficulties - Yeah!

I'm a Montessori newbie - What is AMI?

[flyingspaghettimama]

AMI is Association Montessori Internationale. It is the only (I think?) international Montessori association that accredits schools.

Really, I doubt highly that it all matters that much, but it does help if a school is accredited by some Montessori organization, as any school can call itself Montessori...

[anotherKatrina]

I know you as well as other parent are fans of Montessori schools but how many people do you know who have children who graduated from Montessori schools vs traditional schools.

I'm not getting the point of the question. Would you like to have a conversation with my son's middle school teacher and ask him exactly how many students our school has graduated?

Many cities don't have Montessori programs that go through 8th grade, so of course, the kids in these places will graduate from other kinds of schools.

I think you'd be surprised at how many Montessori graduates are out there running around. I just met one who is a yoga teacher. The only reason I found this out is because we were having a conversation about where my kids went to school. It's not something I knew immediately about her because she didn't have a stamp on her forehead announcing her Montessori status. I couldn't tell if she was rich, but she did seem rather bright. ;)

[OhTheThinks.....]

Yes, I that is true there is not many M-schools that go to 8th grade and even less that are high school. However there are many M - preschools/kindergarten. And the graduates from those are many many many (public and private).
I have met students who are now in college who remember being in a M-preschool and say the experience did foster good work and study techniques and love of learning versus just going for the grade, praise, reward, pass by your ass, etc etc, that they see some of thier fellow college students doing..

Also many traditional preschools are trying to follow the Montessori principles, so there is differently credibility there that it works.

[mom2a2z]

Our child's age/year
ds is almost 10, he's in the upper elementary classroom (grades 4-6)
How we heard about Montessori
When we moved 6 years ago, we were looking for preschool/daycare for ds and found a Montessori school that fit our needs for both. We didn't know a lot about Montessori, but loved the teacher and ds seemed to fit well there. They had Kindergarten there as well, so he stayed through Kindergarten. We are lucky to have an elementary school here that is Montessori.
Public, Private, or Homeschool?
Public Charter school
What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
Our school goes through 8th grade (just expanded in the last year, it was previously through grade 6.)
Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?
Ds was in a brand new class for lower elementary (grades 1-3), so the kids his age were always the oldest. This year, the class he moved into already has kids in it, so he's dropped in the hierarchy. I actually think this is good for him, but it's an adjustment.
There are 3 classes of grades 1-3 and only 2 of 4-6, so that's why there was a change. There are still only 20 kids in his class, though. They have one teacher and an assistant as well as various parent volunteers throughout the day, so there's no lack of supervision or 1:1 attention when needed.

[butternut]

I have met students who are now in college who remember being in a M-preschool and say the experience did foster good work and study techniques and love of learning versus just going for the grade, praise, reward, pass by your ass, etc etc, that they see some of thier fellow college students doing..
.

You would appreciate this: Last night I was reading a Captain Underpants book with my sons (which they love) and I read about the characters being principals for the day. They said there would be recess all day and everyone would get an A+ and that there was no detention. My sons just looked at me quizzically--What is an A+?? What is recess?? What is detention?? They have no grades at their school (until junior high when there are national standards) but complete their work at their own pace and move on when they are finished and satisfied with their work. They are allowed to take breaks when they want and need to--no 15 minute recesses for everyone at the same time. And obviously there is no detention needed at their schools as they have such good communication with their teachers.
Personally, I am pretty glad that all these conecpts were foreign to them.

[flyingspaghettimama]

You would appreciate this: Last night I was reading a Captain Underpants book with my sons (which they love) and I read about the characters being principals for the day. They said there would be recess all day and everyone would get an A+ and that there was no detention. My sons just looked at me quizzically--What is an A+?? What is recess?? What is detention?? They have no grades at their school (until junior high when there are national standards) but complete their work at their own pace and move on when they are finished and satisfied with their work. They are allowed to take breaks when they want and need to--no 15 minute recesses for everyone at the same time. And obviously there is no detention needed at their schools as they have such good communication with their teachers.
Personally, I am pretty glad that all these conecpts were foreign to them.

This would be an interesting offshoot thread concerning differences between mainstream public and Montessori schooling...I went to Montessori school too as a child (pretty much the only really positive thing about my childhood :( ) and I remember thinking that Ramona Quimby's life was very exotic. When I first started public school (grade 6) I was very excited to see all of these concepts in real life, but quickly realized how limiting they could be in other ways. The whole punishment/reward cycle was really different for me. It does seem like a rite of passage in US society though, that my daughter is somewhat missing out on, maybe, maybe not? Everyone asks if she's enjoying Kindergarten, who's her teacher, what's she learning and she's "tired" she says of explaining Montessori classrooms.

She says, "Well, today I learned embroidery." The pediatrician was concerned because she had a needle prick on her hand (that she was showing off!), and was surprised that the children were given real needles!

[Ilaria]

I'm a new Montessori mama, I hop eit's ok if I resurrect this thread... :)

Our child's age/year
4 years 7 months, in Casa (2.5-5/6)
(baby girl starting June when she turns 2.5)

How we heard about Montessori
I have heard of it all my life. I'm from Italy and Maria Montessori was on the 1,000 Lira money

Public, Private, or Homeschool?
Private in Mero Manila , Philippines (we are expats)

What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
He'll be at his school until we move ( it goes up to HS)

Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?
None so far

[butternut]

That is so great that Maria Montessori is on currency. I didn't know that!

I am also an ex-pat mamma and enjoyed looking at your blog. :)

[Ilaria]

Hello fellow expat mama! :D

Since Italy adopted the Euro she's no longer on our money, but here is what it looked like (1,000 Lit)
http://www.banknotes.com/IT114.JPG

and the coin (200 Lit.)
http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/viewimage.x/00000000/selvab/P6070158.jpg?allow_mailing_list=1&owner_id=801000&allow_track_link=1&track=023266a79c-c38e8&sp=1

[OhTheThinks.....]

Hello fellow expat mama! :D

Since Italy adopted the Euro she's no longer on our money, but here is what it looked like (1,000 Lit)
http://www.banknotes.com/IT114.JPG

and the coin (200 Lit.)
http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/viewimage.x/00000000/selvab/P6070158.jpg?allow_mailing_list=1&owner_id=801000&allow_track_link=1&track=023266a79c-c38e8&sp=1


Is there still anyway of purchasing the paper money and the coin???
I would love to have that in our classroom !!
Maybe a momma out there as one I could buy !!!

[btlsmum]

Our child's age/year
How we heard about Montessori
Public, Private, or Homeschool?
What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?


Chiming in mid-way through the year here, though I've been sort of lurking about here for a few months.

My 3 older children (I have a 4th still home with me) attend a private Montessori. My kids are 8,6 and 5. We've been with the school since my oldest was 18 months. My younger two are in their appropriate age-level class, but my oldest started the 9-12 class their year for a variety of reasons.

The school had plans to launch a middle school program in the next 2 years, but plans are suspended. For that reason, and a few others, we are looking at options for our oldest for next year. It's possible that he will not return to his school. That is a scary thought for all of us since it's all we've ever known. We are mulling over our options but it's pretty bleak. We aren't really interested in a religious education, can't afford the nice, prep school and the best public schools don't have open enrollment. We certainly can't afford to move to another school district, especially considering the property tax in the better districts are outrageous. I'm really dumbstruck as to what to do. :(

For the other boys, things are going swimmingly and as long as the 6-9 teacher is there, we'll be there. If things change in the 9-12 by the time DS#2 is ready for the class, then we'll consider staying.

[mamamillet]

Butting in mid year:
Our child's age/year Ds is 5 1/2
How we heard about Montessori Was a preschool teacher for 6 years
Public, Private, or Homeschool? Private
What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school? ds will be at his school through middle school-not sure about highschool yet.
Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year? SO far so good. He LOVES going to school. I am very happy with it also. He has been there since he was three.

[chiedza]

I haven't read the other posts yet, but wanted to subscribe.

My DS is 3.5 and his been in Montessori since age 2. This fall he started at a new one after we moved. When I was little my mom was a Montessori school teacher and for a while she and my dad ran their own nursery school out of our apartment. I loved it, so wanted my DS to experience it. He loves it, too.

I'd like to keep him in Montessori forever, but I don't love the one he's at right now. I'll probably look for a new one when it's time for kindergarten.

The issues I have with his current school have to do with the before and after-school program (daycare, really) -- the teachers are undertrained, IMO. And the whole school is kind of businesslike (compared to our last one). If I call to say DS is sick the secretary is like, "Okay I'll let the teachers know." At the old school she would have been like, "Oh DS is sick? Poor guy! Tell him we hope he feels better" (e.g. they knew him and us by name and were super friendly). The teachers were also easy to talk to, whereas here you have to make an appointment.

But it's literally right next door to our house and DS has been through a lot of transitions recently so I don't want to move him. He likes it; the problems with it are from my perspective.

[arwenevenstar]

Better late than never!! :lol Just found this thread and wanted to chime in!

Our child's age/year one nearly 6 and in third year of primary, one 3.5 in 1st year primary and one starting maybe in September in the toddler class at nearly age 2 (but that will depend on if I can part with her!!
How we heard about Montessori We are also expats and have been using Montessori in Europe too. Made the transition so much easier for our children. I am a public school teacher (ex) from the UK and wanted the complete opposite of UK state school primary education!!
Public, Private, or Homeschool? In the US in the future, don't know. Back in the UK - public or private, depending on the options. If you mean the school we are in now, it is private - are there any public??
What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school? Remaining with Montessori until Grade 8 if it all works out
Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year no, bit late to answer that now. Had I found this in September I would have said, that the transition was smooth!!

[gr8tfulmom]

Our kids: dd 10, dd 9, ds 4mo. DDs have been in M since age 3 and are now(as of this year) in an M based school.

How we heard about M: Child development research in college, led us to a public M program. When we moved we found an M based school.

Public, Private or HS: Public for now, HS is a possibility for the future as the middle and hs at their school is intensely college prep and very competetive.

Middle & High School: either where they are or HS

Concerns: That the girls don't lose their love of learning as their school is loosely based on M, but heavily influenced by memorization, standardized tests and repetetive daily lessons. If we see negative changes we won't hesitate to pull them and HS.

[butternut]

arwenevenstar--Our fully accredited Montessori school is public. And free. But we live in Sweden where all schooling is free so that may be why. We did have to pay for the preschool but that is because it falls under the catgeory of childcare here. It did not cost any more than any other child care options would have. We do have to pay for after school care as well, on a sliding scale. The after school care is in the same building with some of the same teachers, so it is still Montessori pedagogics.

gr8fulmom--I was also a child development major in college, but oddly enough I didn't like Montessori then! I even visited the training center in London and thought, how awful. I taught at conventional schools until my kids were born and then it was truly a lightbulb moment when I visited a Montessori preschool again when my own son was going to start preschool. Suddenly I got it!

[doulamomvicki]

double post

[doulamomvicki]

I am so glad I found this thread! Here it goes:


Our child's age/year: DS# 2 11 yrs is in middle school
DS# 7 yrs is in junior elementary

How did we heard about Montessori: Don't remember! I am getting old. My older kids went to Montessori until they completed transition (K) and there was not a Montessori within a fair distance for the grades after that.:( So it has been a long time for our family.

Public, Private, or Homeschool? Private. Our school is a Catholic Montessori. No, that is not an oxymoron:lol .

What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school? Staying through 8th grade/middle school.

Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year? none

[butternut]

Interesting with another Montessori family with older kids--seems like most I meet from the States only go to preschool. Mine will also go from K- 9th in the same school, although we have no M-high schools in Sweden.

[Montessorimom8]

Hello, I posted an introduction at the home page but just a quick recap: We have one ds, 4, who is in his second year of Montessori. Dh and I have been married almost 6 years.

Our ds, 4, started Montessori at 26 months, a parent-toddler class. I was 'referred' to Montessori by a friend of mine who had a child in the toddler class (no parent) and heartily recommended it for our son. Her dd and my ds have similar dispositions and her having a background in education I decided to try the parent toddler class. We were so thrilled that the next school year he went on to the toddler class (15 mos. to 3 years). This year he is in his first year of preprimary, with different directresses.

While I am still satisfied, I do not have the 'warm fuzzy' feeling as I did last year. But I still feel ds is better off with the montessori method than a traditional preschool. We have applied to a well known Montessori school in the next city that goes from preprimary to 8th grade since we are so thrilled with ds learning in the montessori method and that he enjoys it so much. Whether he will 'get in' is still very iffy, technically I should have enrolled him for this school year. Once the spots are filled, it is extremely hard to get in that second year. But I have been advised that if we don't get in the first year, to try the next year and they are 'almost guaranteed' a spot. So now we're playing the waiting game. I will know more next week.

Thanks for listening! MM

[CharlieBrown]

My children, 6 and 8, attend a private secular montessori K-8 in CA. Both started at about 3.5 years old. Preschool was AMI and K-8 is AMS. It is a year round school. Very happy there.

[pigletof4]

My daughter just started this school year in a Public Montessori school that currently goes to 6th grade.

She is 6 and will be in the 6-9 year old classroom next year.

[TattooedMama]

Hi all I'm a lurker on MDC who is just starting to look around and see where I want to "join". Thought I would introduce myself. I'm Jessica from Iowa.

Our child's age/year: My son Quinn is 7 and in 2nd grade in a lower elementary class (1-3, his 2nd year in that class.) He went to K at this school too, that was a big student-teacher mismatch. Glad we stuck it out.

Public or Private: It is the only public Montessori in the school district.

How we heard about Montessori: He went to a "Montessori" preschool for 2 years. It wasn't until he started kindergarten at the "real school" that I reallly learned anything about Montessori and discovered that the preschool really *wasn't*. He had a rough transition into kindergarten because of that. Luckily the school took him though.


What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
Just last year we got a charter for middle school through 8th grade. Now we have an expansion committee trying to figure out how to grow with our older students. Right now there are I think less than 8 middle schoolers but by the time my son and his classmates get there... Look out! We have 4 lower elementary classes right now. Not sure about high school, have a lot of time to see what is best for him.

Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?
I continue to try and gauge whether Montessori is truly the best thing for my son's personality. After Kindergarten his teacher suggested he not come back because he didn't seem adept at staying on task and choosing his own work etc. But he was a very young kindergartner (he just made the age cut off) and had come from a pretty crummy preschool all told. So, we stayed and he had a WONDERFUL 1st grade teacher. She made all the difference. He really started showing his potential and shining. Unfortunately they transferred her to upper elementary so he has to wait to get her again.
My son is very good at what he likes to do... but needs encouragement to stay on task and not talk so much. He must get it from his Mama! He gets distracted and can distract others, so we are working on it. It has been a good year though. I hope his current teacher is still there next year, LOL! It will be the first time he has had the same teacher 2 years in a row, one of the great benefits of a Montessori school!
Hope to talk with you all!

[e&r]

Age of child/year: My son is 3 1/2 and has been "enrolled" since he was 2 years 9 months (last spring). He has "attended" (with my assistant really taking care of him) since he was 22 months. I am the teacher - we are the only school in our "rural" area.

Public/private: Private

future: our school will go through age 12. I am the primary teacher, dh will begin in the fall as elementary teacher. We are both AMI trained.
When ds and dd reach age 12 we plan on sending them to the Hershey Montessori Farm School in Ohio.

concerns: I think that my ds would be better off if there was a different teacher besides me. It is hard for him to "share" both me and our classroom (attached to our house). I am hoping that next year, when we move to a different location (not our house) and he is older (he'll turn 4 in the fall) that it will be easier for him.

I do love watching him in the classroom. He loves to watch the older children and has always been able to focus well on whatever he is interested in.

[RubyWild]

Our child's age/year: 5, primary
How we heard about Montessori Researched all the private schools in our area.
Public, Private, or Homeschool? Private.
What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school? Montessori all the way.

[butternut]

Jessica--that is unfortunate that the K teacher told you that maybe your son should not return for 1st grade. People like her perpetuate the myth that Montessori is only good for "some" children. I think M can be good for all students, and if they are not finding it easy to focus and get things done, then it is up to the teacher to guide them. That is great that you ended up with a good 1st grade teacher.
e&r--what is the Hershey Montessori Farm School? A boarding school? That is relaly interesting that you have your own M shcool. I would love to hear more about how that works.

[jalilah]

I am very sad for I will soon no longer be a Montessori Mom.
Just a bit of back ground history: My son started Montessori late, last year when he had just turned 7.He had been in a Waldorf School before that was "behind" not only because he had been in Waldorf but because they had held him back a year in Kindergarten which is not uncommon in Waldorf. It was so bad (my son was miserable) that I literally changed him into a Montessori school in the middle of the Year. This school was a blessing and the teacher he had was wonderful. She was horrified about what had happened and really worked allot with my son. In just the short time he was there he came so far along. This teacher was convinced that my son would be able to move on two-second grade material by the beginning of this year. I would have kept him in this school until the end (it went until 6th grade) but unfortunately my husband got a new job and we moved across the country. Well fortunately for the job, but not for the Montessori schools. There are a few Montessori schools here but allot of them have bad reputations. The 2 that are supposed to be good would not take my son because he had not done Montessori from the beginning, even though his previous Montessori teachers wrote letters of recommendation for him saying that he had adapted very well. Finally I found a small school. It is more for Younger children but they have one elementary class with 9 children. Unfortunately it comes nowhere near the old school for many reasons.
The 2 main reasons we are taking our son out are:
1.On a social level it has been very hard on my son. There are 5 boys, 2 older in 3 grade, one is my sons age (7 just turning 8) and one younger boy who is 6.The boys his age and older have totally excluded my son. They refuse to have anything to do with him because they say his is a” little guy" or a first grader. To make matters worse, the teacher does nothing to help this. In fact my son even has to have his lunch and snack with the younger children, some are only turning 6 now.
This has really hurt our sons self esteem. He is an only child and we don't know many people in this new place so we were counting on this new school to be a place where my son can make friends but this has not been the case.
2. We are also not happy with the teacher. All the children like him but all the parents complain that he is hard to talk to. He won't allow any parents in the classrooms, which is OK, but he does not seem to want any parental involvement at all.
He knows about my son's past school experiences and got a letter from his previous Montessori teacher. Since my son is not the same level academically to the children his age, the teacher just automatically gives puts him with the younger children and gives him grade 1 work. Several times I saw the work my son was doing and it was stuff he had already done last year and last summer with me. (The previous teacher had kindly given me material to work with over the summer ) I pointed this out to his teacher but he just got snippy with me. In fact every time we try to talk to him he gets snippy. I asked him about options for summer, how we could work with our son to help him catch up to his grade level, but he just answered that he did not know and that he felt children should have summer off. Well I certainly do not intend to deprive my son of his summer vacation but it certainly would not hurt him to do a bit of work an hour or so a day especially sine my son really wants to catch up to his grade level. All the information I have read says that the younger children are when they catch up the easier it is. But this teacher does not seem to care.

I am so disappointed! I love what I know about Montessori. I do regret I did not put my son in a Montessori school from the start and I will tell any one who asks me that I highly recommend Montessori education provided they find a good school.
However in our case I don’t think we have any options here. We have enrolled our son next September in a small Catholic elementary school, which is down the street. All the neighbours’ children go there and the parents tell me it is a very good school. The classes are small, there are lots of extra activities arts, sports, music (none of which the Montessori school where he is at now has) He will be going to the same school as his friends on our street and will be put in the grade he is supposed to be in 3rd grade next and get extra help. Only if he has extreme difficulties would they put him back a grade.

I really hope I am not making a big mistake!

[flyingspaghettimama]

Jalilah,

I don't think you're making a mistake. That school sounds very unacceptable for two reasons: 1) Social exclusion is really not OK, and particularly for the reasons you cited (age) at a Montessori school. The whole point is for the older children to mentor the younger children; and 2) The teacher categorizing "grade level" for an elementary-aged child. There is no Grade 1 in Montessori - each child should be able to work on their own level, wherever that may be, and it should not include a lot of repeating lessons unless the child totally doesn't get it.

I don't think you should be so hard on yourself for not enrolling him from the start. It seems to be a strange requirement; in my area, it is definitely NOT a requirement that children must be in Primary before Elementary in any of the AMI schools. You could go to a traditional preschool and then enroll.

We won't be a M family next year either, due to cost! We will either be homeschooling or doing an alternative public school. If we homeschool though, we will definitely be using elements of Montessori in our schooling.

[butternut]

Jalilah..I just want to second what fsm said--you are making the right decision. Unfortunately just because a school claims to be Montessori, that doesn't make the staff good. Each school must be checked out on its own and it sounds like you gave it a good try. Good luck with the Catholic school--I went to Catholic school for 12 years and came out quite nicely!:lol


But I must also add that I am truly shocked that there are such requirements for an M school--that you needed letters of recommendation and that they gave you a bad time for not being in M school the whole time. That is just baloney. It has NOTHING to do with Montessori pedagogics. Schools like that give M a bad name. Like fsm said, there are no grades in Montessori! How can they tell you your child is or isn't at "grade level" when the whole of M pedagogics is built on the fact that each child is an individual. I wish I could go talk to that school for you! Our school is not like that at all. No requirements for entrance other than that you signed up and there was a plcae available--first come first serve.

So, yes, you are doing the right thing. It makes perfect sense as well that you can love Montessori but not like that school. I hope your son loves his next school.

[OhTheThinks.....]

Roll Call Update

Well we are official !!!!!
I will be taking my daughter out of her current m-school and we will be starting our own !!!
I have graduated with my 3-6 cert and will be making the leap to open my own school.
DD is 4 and now will be with me !! :>)

[Lillianna]

Congrats Ohthethinks! How exciting!
FSM thanks for starting this thread. It is fun to read all the stories.
Ebethmom - wondering if you would care to share more about the similarities between Montessori and Suzuki (would that be another thread?)
I am a late comer to this thread since the school year is almost at an end. My daughter started in her own class this year at the school where I work (private). I originally directed the Allday class but when I had the baby, I decided I would stay home with her. Well, I gradually worked my way back and she came with me at first part time, then the last 2 years full time. She was such a pleasant baby and toddler, it went so well to have her there with me. So, this year when she turned 3, I had to decide if she would stay in our class or be enrolled in one of the other children's houses, which is what I eventually decided to do. SO, this was my major concern; having her in "2" classes since she comes to our class to spend the rest of the day with me. It is actually still a concern, but I think it she is fine with it and know that if she were to have stayed in our class, I would have had to deal with some "sticky" (her sticking to me) situations. Still, I miss seeing her working and have to fight the urge to be critical of her directress ("I would do it this way" kind of thing)
I learned about Montessori because my husband and I lived down the street from a M school and I called to find out what it is all about and ended up working as an assistant there and taking training the following year.
We are definitely "lifers".
Can I also comment on the discussion about interviews at the beginning of this thread. Along with the noted purposes of the interview process (determining the child's abilities and needs, identifying parent's understanding of theory/discipline philosophy, etc), one of the most important purposes is to acquaint the child with the environment. I think it is important for the child to see her parents talking to the directress and having a few different meetings in the room before starting the program. At our school, we also do a 2 week phase at the beginning of the year. First day is only 10 min visit. 2nd day, one hour. Each day it gets a little longer. Does anyone else's school do a phase in along with the interview process?
to Jalilah, I am sorry you had such a disappointing experience. You have such a great attitude though.

[butternut]

Liliana--at both our preschools and our grade school we had an introduction period. For preschool, first the teacher responsible for the introduction of our son into the preschool came to our house. She had coffee with us and talked about and with our son. Very casual. Then my son visited the preschool, increasing the time every day as you said. How much time depends on how the child is adjusting. For the first few days, the parent waits in the cloakroom--available but not interfering. Each time one of my sons started an M preschool, things went very well so we moved more quickly than anticipated. It is always individual so that it is never traumatic. Once the child is settled, parents are welcome to visit during school hours whenever they like.
For the grade school introduction, during the spring before the child starts K (as classes are decided by around January), the child first has a visit from one of the K teachers at home or at their M preschool if they go to one. Then the child visits the school for about one hour several times with a group of about 5 other new K students. A first grader is their "big brother or sister" showing them around. They come and eat lunch at the school one day close to the end of the school year. So when they start in August, they have been at the school several times adn know the other children. Right now our school is moving to a new location so that all nine grades are at the same location. The teachers have been taking small groups of lower grade kids to the new school so they are familiar with it, similar to how they introduce K kids to the school.

About interviews--it is one thing to meet the teacher and learn about the school and the environment and for the teacher to explain things to the parents. That is absolutely necessary. It is another thing entirely if the child is being interviewed to see if he "fits" in or is "at grade level"--I don't agree with this at all. I think every child is suited to Montessori and am still shocked that any school could interview to decide if the child should be accepted. That was what some of the posts here seem to imply. I also think "grade level" should not be used in Montessori schools at all.

My sons' grade school has mixed age classrooms, but each child is doing his/her own work at his/her own level. No one is compared, but progress is noted only for that individual. For example, because my sons are bilingual, they are far ahead of their classmates in English (their school is in Swedish). But they are not given a grade level stamp for that, but rather I can just see it is their own English assessment file which follows them from K through 9th grade. I can see how they are individually progressing as they check off exercises with the teacher.

[CorbinsMama]

I'm late! I've been hanging out in the infertility forum (we are TTC #2) and just made my way over.

Our child's age/year Our son is 6-1/2 and this is his second year in Montessori. He is moving up to Lower El next year.

How we heard about Montessori I had a friend who went to Montessori school and loved it. There are three local Montessori schools, but I think ours is the best as it is a small, very traditional Montessori.

Public, Private, or Homeschool? Private -- here's a link to our school: http://www.litchfieldmontessori.org/

What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school? Our school goes up to 6th year, but there are plans to go up to 8th grade. Hopefully our addition will be completed by the time DS is 12. If not, we will move to a town with better public schools.

Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year? Well, I'm late jumping in here, but our year has gone great! DS is in art and literature clubs, we just had Grandparents Day, and we have Field Day coming up. DS and four of his classmates will be in Lower El next year, where his best friend already is.

I am the President of our school's parent organization (the Circle of Friends), and I'm running for a second year of that. I organize our Fall Festival, and I'm a room parent and on our auction commitee. Yep, I'm always at school!

[gratefulmom]

Hey there, new here and to Montessori.
CorbinsMama~ DS (4) is enrolled in Litchfield for the fall!
We are very excited althoughI am a bit sad, my original plan was to home/unschool but as a working mama that is not working out right now. I am totally comfortable with our decision, I love the school and all the people that I have met. Were you at the new parents reception?
Anyways~
Cassidy (4) will start CH in late August. WE decided to hold off on Caleb (2) for financial reasons as well as keeping our nanny that we have 2 days a week for vscations, etc. It ends up being a little cheaper to keep her another year.
Glad to be here woth you mama's~Lori

[KeysMama]

Hi new to this thread! Glad to see it.

My into-
I have a 10 year old that started her Montessori at age 4 and will be going into 5th grade in August :bigeyes

My 5 year old started pre-K this past year and will be in K in the fall.

Our Montessori is a charter school (free limited enrollment public school, no charge) for PreK-5th. 6th is middle school and so my oldest will be 'graduating' after this next school year !

We will have many decisions to make at that point: homeschool, public middle school, etc.

My girls have benefitted greatly with Montessori teachings. I have been very active in both of their classrooms, so a Montessori mama for 6 years now!

:hippie

[CorbinsMama]

Hey there, new here and to Montessori.
CorbinsMama~ DS (4) is enrolled in Litchfield for the fall!

Wow, Lori! How cool!

I wasn't able to be at the new parents' reception because I was preparing for my embryo transfer the next day (we are doing IVF, but unfortunately it wasn't successful this time). Ordinarily I would have been there -- I'm always there! :wink Was your mentor family there? Who are they? Do you know who will be Cassidy's teacher? (You can PM me -- I'm just curious.)

We were a homeschooling family before we went to LMS. We moved back to CT after having been in GA for several years. Once we got here, I realized that DS really needed a wider social circle than I do. :lol So I explored our options and decided upon LMS. We are so happy there. The people are wonderful and there are so many opportunites to get involved. Even if you are working there are still ways you will get to meet other families and become part of the community.

Today we had field day, which was so much fun! My face hurt at the end of the day from laughing! I love our school and I think you will have a great time.

If there is anything at all I can do for you or anything you would like to know, please feel free to PM me any time!

[Sierra]

Our child's age/year

13 months (infant-toddler)

How we heard about Montessori

My mom was a Montessori teacher for part of my very early childhood. Recently I've been doing more reading, and also hired a Montessori teacher in my professional life to do some work in the program I run, and it's just been inspiring...so we've become more focused on it.

Public, Private, or Homeschool?

We've barely just begun, but we are doing Montessori at home. We do plan to homeschool over the longrun. However, he goes to childcare/preschool very part time during the week, and I really, really, really, really am upset that there is no 0-3 Montessori program in our area, and that in fact the "Montessori" schools in our area in general don't have the best reputations. As we change more at home, I'm finding his experience at his preschool to just differ too much from what we're doing at home (even though the preschool is great, and my dw works there with the older kids). I am near tears trying to find something that more closely resembles what we're doing at home.

What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?

Homeschooling, perhaps supplemented by some other schooling.

Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?

1. Getting it together at home-- I am so disorganized. And so slow to get our house better set up for Montessori.

2. Dealing with my own temptation to intervene in work. I have been way too "hands on" in the past few weeks, and I really think I need to get a handle on this. Also, I think my dw and I also need to spend some time observing an infant-toddler Montessori community with a good rep, just to get re-centered in the basic Montessori way again.

3. Finding affordable materials. I recently bought a low table to have in our kitchen for ds to snack at, and it's too tall still for him (by about 4 inches). But the shorter tables I've found have been more expensive...and I have purchased other materials recently, so I have been going over budget.

4. Having such a non-Montessori atmosphere at ds' preschool. Even though he only recently enrolled and it is very, very part time...I still feel like it just doesn't jive to have something so different.

[Tinas3muskateers]

Hello everyone! I am a Montessori mama :)

Caden age 7 attends a Montessori Charter school, (basically the private school board sought out a charter so more kids could come to the school and do so at no cost, after 5 years they got the charter) he is ending his first year. He is very excited about being a second year student next year. We have seen wonderful things happen with our little scientist since the school year started. I LOVE this school and I currently serve as the head of fundraising on the PTO

Isaiah age 2 attends Montessori Children's House of Erie. (which is where the charter came from) he is in a toddler class with the most fabulous teacher in the world. She has been teaching Montessori for 20 years and comes fron Ithica NY.She was very fortunate to train under the direction of Virginia Varga, who started the very first Toddler program in the United States and is one of the formost authorities in the field of infant/toddler development. WE adore her! I serve on the School Board at the Children's house because of my love of Montessori, the school and Isaiah's wonderful teacher.

[gratefulmom]

Corbinsmama~ They don't know who his teacher will be yet, still deciding who is going where, etc.
Our mentor family was not able to make it either. Her name is Laura Wood, my DH spoke with her. I hear there is another family in our neighborhood as well. I will pm you soon, one question...
I got the health form in the mail and it has vax info on it. How are they with non vaxing/selective vaxing???
Great to "meet" you !

[CorbinsMama]

Laura Wood? Hmmm.... I'll have to check on that because there isn't a Laura Wood at our school. Strange.... I had input on who the mentor families should be, and my friend Sue set everyone up so I'll check.

Have no fear about the health form! :thumb We don't vax and there are other families who don't as well. When you get your child's physical done, just have the Dr. check that you are opting out of vaxing. No one has ever said a word about it to me.

[britmama3]

Hi,just wanted to join this thread



Our child's age/year
How we heard about Montessori
Public, Private, or Homeschool?
What are you considering for elementary, middle school, high school?
Any issues or concerns anticipated during the next year?



- I have a 7 year old just finishing 1st grade in Lower El, and a 5 year old in Pre-Primary (just from 8.30 to 11.30 at the moment but in the fall he'll be in the same classroom full-time for his kindergarten year);

-I researched local area pre-schools and fell in love with the montessori approach.

- Private

- Our school has just opened a Middle school and I would love for my children to attend all the way through. This probably won't happen though as I suspect we will return to our home in the UK before that time and elementary montessori schools are rare in the UK.

- No issues or concerns for the coming year - both sons will be staying in their respective classes where they are thriving! Lucky us!

[gratefulmom]

WEll Megan~ I totally wrote the wrong name down. It's Lauren Long..
Funny, I know she couldnt make the reception because she was teaching a Yoga class and I know a Laura Wood who teaches Yoga..my bad!
Glad to hear about the vax stuff, I was a bit nervous!

[CorbinsMama]

Heehee! Lori, I asked Sue last night if it could be Lauren, and that's who it was! Very funny!

I found out who lives in your neighborhood. I'll PM you.

[madsandandy]

hi,

i wanted to join this thread too.

dd is almost 6. she's been in a private montessori preschool and kgarten and we couldn't be happier.

i've had some relatives that went to montessori and always knew it was great so when it was time for preschool i did some research and knew it was right for dd and us.

she's going to be in a public charter school in the fall for 1st grade that does montessori thru 5th grade. she'll be in a multi-age room with 1st-3rd. i've requested that she have one of the 2 certified montessori teachers so that's one issue. the other 4 are not certified yet...the lower elementary is only 2 years old. we are very excited that she got in to this school (lottery) and hope that everything goes well.

ds is almost 3 and we'll be starting him at the private montessori in the winter i think when he's 3.5.

[mami_guera]

Montessori is AWSOME! I just started working in a Montessori preschool last year. It was a big change for me coming from Head Start. I would not send my children to anyother preschool. :thumb

[mightymoo]

I thought I would jump on. We are sending DD to a half day children's house program in the fall. She's 3, its a private school and its AMS.

I would love to send her to Montessori for as long as possible, but I am afraid the cost may be prohibitive. I'm already not sure we haven't overstepped our ability to send our son and possible future child to a children's house program as well. So we'll see.

I had a very hard time in traditional school and I think I would have done much better in a montessori setting, I see my daughter is very much like me at her age and I feel this will be really good for her. She's very bright and I fear the public school system might squash her love of learning. The montessori school we enrolled her in only goes through upper elementary, but there are two schools two towns away (in either direction) which do middle school, so its certainly a possibility. (And who knows if her montessori school may add middle school by that point)

[mami_guera]

Mightymoo- have u checked in to maybe volunteering in the school or checking to see if they take low income child care for preschool aged children? Where I work they do both. Just an idea, cuz Montessori is worth it. I also have a dd who is struggling with public school (not socially) and I feel Montessori would do her wonders but as u say it can be pricey and I already work in the preschool. Good luck!:wink

[eraso]

Montessori Papa here..

My Son is 5 starting Kindergarten. We first heard about Montessori from our sons early intervention therapist...read up on it and decided to go for it when I saw te 20 / 20 about how bad American schools were compared to Europe.
Still pinching myself that we found a montessori charter scool for my boy!

[butternut]

Montessori Papa here..

My Son is 5 starting Kindergarten. We first heard about Montessori from our sons early intervention therapist...read up on it and decided to go for it when I saw te 20 / 20 about how bad American schools were compared to Europe.
Still pinching myself that we found a montessori charter scool for my boy!

Now you have got me curious. I live in Europe--what did 20/20 say about European schools compared with American?

[eraso]

That in parts of Europe schools are run as private buisnesses which make them very competative...you get an allocated amount of money per child and you can
shop around. Here if you don't go to private school you must attend the school near where you live.

Also how poorly students do here compared to europe...
Which is funny because we have pretty good higher education
(i guess we need it!!)

[butternut]

Yes, we can choose any school we want. Also, at least in Sweden where I live, the "private" schools are also free. The only difference is that you might have to be on the waiting list to get a place, but as long as there are places available in the school, your child can get in. For us with Montessori, children who have attended M-preschool get bumped to the top of the list, but that is the only advantage they can allow.

[cynwel]

Hi, Katydid6... I live in the Nashville, TN area and would really like to find a Montessori school here for my daughter. Where is the school located that you are using? Thanks!!