A question about Montessori Schools

Our son (who's 4) is in primary montessori, and he'll be enrolled through K. We all love it, DS included, and at the moment we intent to keep him in through 5th grade. Our school district has Montessori through 8th grade via the public school. The philosophy and teaching style fit very well with DS's personality and his learning style. However, I might caution a parent to immerse their child in this environment at an older age - I wouldn't advise against it, but more to know that what you're getting into will likely be radically different than the environment he's been accustomed to. How does he learn? How does he need to be taught? What are his strengths? Those are all things to consider.

Can you talk with the Montessori teacher in the next few days to and get his/her opinion on whether your child could get all that he can from the program? I don't think it's better or worse than "traditional" education, but it IS very different, and it's not for everyone. It's very self-directed in many aspects.

Montessori is a completely different approach to teaching. I think it works great for some kids and not so great for others. Maybe do a quick google of Montessori and it should give you the outline of the principles and you can see if you think they would work for your son and your family.

Wanted to add, I don't have children so can't help with personal experience but chimed in as we studied Montessori in my Dip Ed.

That's nice. All of them in our area cost $800-1200 a month.

I did not like the lack of structure. The "mini" lesson and then go out and do it on your own doesn't work for my aspergers daughter. She needs structure. She loves to explore and learn but the serious lack of structure would not work.

I did not like the mixed age groups. I don't think an 11 yr old should work with a 5 or 6 year old. They were basically using the older child to help and teach the younger child.

There was a special drop off mat. Parents were not allowed to go I to the gate to walk child to class and they limit parent involvement in school.

There was really no tracking of their education through the year. Assessments but nothing like public school. I could see where a child could fall through the cracks with them.

Oh and ours is prek-12. Prek-6 on one site and across the street 8-12

My daughter did Montessori from preschool to 4th grade. Some of those years were private & some were Charter.

The benefits of Montessori are that you work at your own pace. The advanced kids are challenged & the kids that are struggling in areas can focus on those before moving forward.

Some benefits at her school were working ahead, music, foreign language & field trips. They also had small class sizes, a community garden & can study things not on the curriculum in public school.

Some negatives were kids that were lagging didn't always catch up & got further & further behind. Little to no sports programs (other than basic PE). The lunch program wasn't set up at the beginning. Small library. They didn't offer band.

I have volunteered in Montessori classes for years & I would definitely speak with them to see if they have the resources to assist with his IEP. Many times, public schools can offer more assistance with IEP's.

I would also be concerned about transitioning in 6th grade. Montessori methods are based on hands on learning. There will be a learning curve for him although as kids enter middle school they start to move away from the math job learning tools.

My daughter went to a Montessori preschool briefly before we moved to a different state. I really liked the school and many aspects of Montessori. Exploratory learning and individual pacing were of particular interest for us at that age. I have to say regarding the above poster a 5 year old and 11 year would have never been in the same classroom at that school. They did 3 year blocks, which I believe is standard Montessori structure. so 4, 5, and 6 year olds are grouped together and then 7, 8 and 9 year olds, etc.

If we'd have found the right school, I think we would have continued through elementary school. I would hesitate to keep my children there through middle school, mostly for fear that the transition to a more structured environment may have a few bumps and I wouldn't want that to occur in high school.

In your case OP, you have a child with some unique challenges, I'm not sure how the Montessori structure, or lack thereof would fit for your son - particularly if he is easily distracted. Definitely something I would want to explore further with the particular school you're considering.

I haven't read all of the responses.

Our dd attended Montessori until 1st grade. She loved it and so did we. She thrived in it and it was a fantastic learning experience for her. We moved her in 1st grade because the rest of her schooling wouldn't of followed Montessori. So, we didn't want her to have a hard time adjusting to real school rules and expectations.

I wouldn't put a child who is going into 6th in Montessori. There are too many things that 6th graders must accomplish in order to be successful in future schooling. I feel Montessori learning is great for the younger kids who are exploring to figure out things, not for older children who have to fulfill time line expectations.

What if you look at it this way? You son has won a place in the Montessori school. After getting as much information as you can by Friday why not put him in and see how he does? He might surprise you and love it there. Really what have you got to lose? Most of these schools charge tuition and this one is free. If you see it isn't working you can always move him back to the public school. But you can't do it the other way around. Start at the public school and then move to the Montessori school.

I know, change like this-and we parents making the decision that can effect the rest of our children's lives is scary! My son has severe ADHD, was in a private school from grades K-5 and by grade 5 he hated school with a passion. Absolutely hated it. Every single thing about it. I'd fought with the school for the last year over DS's IEP but because they were a private school they didn't have to adhere to any of it-so they didn't. I finally took a deep breath, did a ton of research, pulled him out and homeschooled him from grades 6-12. It was SCARY! I didn't know what the heck I was doing! What if I ruined his chances for college? What if I ruined the rest of his life? All of those questions go through your mind.

But you can't think like that. You have to take what is in front of you and make the best decision for your child and for his particular needs. For DS I knew sitting at a desk for hours a day was killing him. He need to move and explore. Hands on learning was best, is best for an ADHD kid. So that's what we did. Slowly but surely he learned to love learning again. His curiosity came back, and his hunger for knowledge came back. Today he's a senior at a University and is in the top 15% of his class. Never in a million years would I have guessed he'd come this far.  Does that sound bad? I just mean back when I was sitting there making that choice.

Trust you gut, trust your child. Your his mother and you know what he needs. Find out everything you can about this school before Friday and I'm sure you'll make the right choice.

Debbie in MD.

One caution I will give is that I was advised to stay away from a charter school until it has been around a few years. There are just so many growing pains, and it seems like a lot of them fail pretty quickly.

That having been said, we are sending our kids to a Montessori-influenced charter school next year. It isn't a "Montessori school," but they do incorporate many of the principles, along with many other more progressive learning styles. As I described in my thread earlier today, my kids are both pretty severely ADHD, and have some other difficulties as well. DD is a slower learner, and definitely learns through doing, so she was beginning to hate school in a very traditional environment. She will need an IEP for her needs, which she wasn't able to have formally in our previous (private, parochial) school. On the other hand, DS will probably qualify as gifted, and we anticipate they'll be able to meet his needs as well. Both will definitely benefit from being hands-on, having more active learning, etc. They do combine ages, but only in 2-year groups. DD, for example, will be with 3rd and 4th graders. She is someone who will likely benefit from the mixed ages. DS was fine in pre-K at the previous school, but in pre-K, they still get lots of wiggle time. By 2nd grade, DD was missing recess often to finish work. The new school REFUSES to keep kids in at recess for things like that - they'll send it home if necessary, but firmly believe kids need breaks, too.

One thing that will be hard for me is the mix of families. Speaking in stereotypes, we'll be going from a school with moderately religious helicopter-ish parents to a school where people are largely named things like Rainbow Sky, don't believe in car seats, and have strong recommendations on what you're allowed to bring for lunch. This will be interesting! (Particularly as I'm kind of a weird mix of the two types, lol!)

My great grandson, 2 years old, goes to a Montessori school in Milwaukie, WI. The only way to have him be eligible for K on up was to enroll him at 2 years. There are far more parents wanting their children to attend that there are slots. I would urge you to investigate this as a possibility for your son. Free is WONDERFUL. You could always withdraw and return to traditional school.