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Does anyones child attend Montessori preschool
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maybeamommy
Blessed beyond belief
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Re: Does anyones child attend Montessori preschool
I'm an SLP and I travel to a bunch of Montessori preschools in Yonkers.
I LOVE the idea of them and will probably send Loey to one.
What Colesmom mentioned is pretty much what I have seen. The students are VERY independent! The schools that I go into do have structure, but there is a lot of choice involved, play and multi-sensory teaching. During centers, the kids have one where the teacher puts a glob of shaving cream on the table and the kids draw shapes and write letters in it. How fun is that?
I have seen some good systems and also ones that aren't as great, but obviously as with any school you would need to do a lot of research before sending your child there.
The only thing that I noticed is that often times, students with behavioral difficulties who act out... it seems as though the teachers don't have a good system in place for that. But that could just be the few situations that I have seen.
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Posted 2/5/11 7:47 AM  |
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Faithx2
All good things in 2016!!
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Re: Does anyones child attend Montessori preschool
Several mom from a group I'm in sent their kids to one in Bayport I believe. They all had nothing but bad things to say about it. I have no personal experience there.
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| Posted 2/5/11 9:11 AM |
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itsbabytime
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Re: Does anyones child attend Montessori preschool
Posted by janedoe
I do not have a child in a Montessori school but I was a related service provider in one for a few years and I just wanted to add....
that in "my" montessori school, I worked with a lot of kindergarten students and with their teachers and was able to observe the entire class on multiple occasions. Certain academics such as letter identification, number identification, shape identification, color identification, scissor skills, drawing skills or handwriting skills were not addressed at all in the kindergarten program. In fact handwriting was not taught until the 2 or 3rd grade. so even though I do agree that the children were encouraged to socialize, explore, had great movement classes for gross motor skills and encouraged self help skills, the academics were not initially encouraged for the first few years.
Many children would attend the montessori school for Kindergarten and then switch to the public school (that I also worked at) and were very far behind many of the children that attended public school from the beginning in such tasks as coloring, handwriting and scissor skills as well as the ability to sit at a desk for an extended amount of time.
so i think it is important to look at if your child is going to remain in the montessori school through 8th grade or high school
I am not trying to start drama at all, just some food for thought. And like I said this was at "MY" montessori school - I have obviously not been to all of them and do not know how all of them operate.
I was just doing a search and came upon this thread by accident and forgot that I wanted to respond to it but, never had the chance.
My DS (3) is in a Montessori preschool. Like others have said - every montessori school is VERY different. I just wanted to say that for our particular school the exact opposite of what you wrote is true. It is pretty well known in our town that the montessori is one of the best choices of all the pre-k's and k's and, in fact, pretty much all the kids that go there start 1st great WAY ahead of where the other kids are. It's one of the more expensive schools in the area and they continue to thrive b/c their reputation allows them to as in the parents know their kids will excel if they are sent there. The reason for this is the fact that the kids are encouraged and allowed to learn at their own pace. All the other nursery schools around here only taught letter recognition and numbers to the 3 yr olds. So, if your child started already knowing these things they basically learned nothing academically. At the montessori - the sky is the limit. My DS is exposed to everything he is interested in. I can't even list all the things he has learned. The things he is doing/learning on a daily basis are WAY above what the other schools are doing. He is already way beyond letters, numbers, shapes colors etc. Just wanted to say that your experience is not our experience at all.
Also, what another poster said about the teachers is the EXACT opposite of DS's school. His school is SO nurturing - he loves his teachers and they are very warm and comforting especially in the beginning. When I have observed I always see him hugging his teachers or leaning on them etc. At pick up he is always chummy chummy with one of his favorite teachers. When he was really upset in the beginning his favorite teacher was like a mom to him. I find it to actually be a very family like, safe and warm atmosphere for them to learn and play. And, while it isn't AS social as your more typical school socialization is still encouraged. The kids are broken into groups and have partners they do works with. The older kids are encouraged to help and interact with the younger kids. So, again, it is very different than what I am seeing described by some on this thread.
Also, as another poster said the fact that you have all different ages in one classroom is AMAZING. Until you watch it first hand (our classroom has an observation room - two sided mirror) you can't imagine how it actually is in practice. It really is unbelievable to watch the older kids teaching the younger kids etc.
I can't say enough good things about the Montessori progarm. But, I will say, it depends on your child. Some kids do get "lost" in that type of atmosphere while others thrive in a way they never would in a traditional preschool.
HTH!
Message edited 2/25/2011 8:38:29 PM.
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| Posted 2/25/11 8:33 PM |
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| Pages: 1 [2] |
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