Montessori

[DeadPool1998]

Originally Posted by twingles

Make sure if you go that route that it is a "real" Montessori school. As someone above said, there are a lot of schools that claim to be Montessori that aren't rigidly following its principals. If you are going to pay that kind of money, get what you pay for!

I would say that there are three categories of Montessoris. First, there are the purist Montessori-types. You will know these people/teachers when you talk to them. They tend to start their sentences with, "Montessori used to..." and "Montessori wrote that..." The real whacks will train in Italy. There is a cultish feeling with them, but harmless. They stray little from the ideas and even the toys/learning instruments in the classroom.

In the second category are the people who have studied well, but believe there should be some contemporary adaptation to Montessori's now-100 year old program. So, the training will be similar, the toys will be similar, but there will be differences. Teachers will be allowed to and be motivated to do different things with the students based on their instincts.

The third category is what the person above warned about - programs that just call themselves Montessori. I don't think these programs are licensed as Montessori, and if there is some association certification I doubt that most parents would know about it. As such, from time to time a Montessori trained teacher (or partially trained) will break off from a school and start his/her own school, hiring people who have no formal Montessori training. Teachers could be glorified pre-school teachers for all you know.

Just ask around and talk to the principal for his/her philosophy. As for the person who said that Montessori limits creativity, I have no idea what s/he is talking about. No idea whatsoever. Yes, the toys are designed with specific functions in mind - so is chalk. So are books. What is wrong with that? Take for example - the pink block tower. Twice I've visited Montessori programs and have watched a teacher do the pink block tower demonstration. For those who don't know, this tower consists of little pink blocks that get progressively smaller. The task is to stack them from largest to smallest. Anyway, the task is not just to stack these things, but to quietly and calmly sort through the blocks before stacking them. The students are taught concentration - something I was never taught in my public or private (Catholic) institution.

It's a quiet, calm, cooperative learning environment. You could find that elsewhere, but there is a curriculum and a philosophy behind it at Montessori. Kids have plenty of time to be creative and scream when they are sitting next to their negligent parents at all of the restaurants I visit.

[AlexisT]

Montessori can work really well for some kids. The only caveat I have is that it's not for everyone. Some kids benefit from a more traditionally structured program.

DeadPool, I think the issue with "creativity" is the way some Montessori teachers react when materials are used the "wrong" way. Badly done Montessori is rigid. That said, appearances can be deceptive. A Waldorf classroom looks creative. It looks warm and inviting and natural, whereas a Montessori classroom has a very different feel--I don't want to say cold, because it certainly isn't, but it lacks that immediate, superficial warmth. But investigate under the surface and Waldorf creativity isn't all that it seems, and Montessori offers more avenues for expression than it might appear.

[JaNaPad]

I agree... it's not for everyone. Also, regardless of what kind of school it is- you really need to go and check it out for yourself. Not all Montessori schools are the same!

[LongIslandCitizen]

sounds pretty communist to me. Kids need a fairly regimental schedule to learn routines, schedules, and timelines for time management skills and team orientated tasks. Traditional teaching environments promote self discilpine and adherence to standards, policies, and procedures. Could you imagine if the military or corporate businesses were run in the montessori way?