Anyone send their child to Montessori?

I know very little about it and am thinking about it for my DS for kindergarten.

Any help would be great.

Re: Anyone send their child to Montessori?

I did & do.
But for preschool.
They both will attend our district's K-high school.

Sent my DS for half days. Traditional montessori. He really was able to thrive & they figured his trouble areas (fine motor skills) & focused on them. Have had moms approach me and say things like "your kid can REALLY read".

It is individualized learning through "work" and they focus a lot on life skills (please, thank you, put stuff back, building structures, cutting with knifes, washing, pouring). I liked this being that my kids were drinking out of regular cups at 1. They were pouring their own milk at 3. They have a group lesson & then break up into self-directed solo learning & then go back to group lessons. It seems like that would be chaos, but it comes out as extremely ordered. I went to a birthday party recently of one of the kids & when the kids were told to line up & sit on the line... the instructor was shocked on how quickly, quietly & well organized these trained kids were. I don't know what type of magic that is...

Sending my DD currently. She talks more, so I get a better idea of what she's learning. She may be listening more as well (better attention span). She has been talking to me about Monet as an artist, Bach as a musician and told me details about what Martin Luther King day was about. She is doing numbers, writing, etc as well. For whatever reason, her teacher, or maybe my daughter is focusing more on the painting aspect of school (and is really producing some great stuff at home with no help that has our family floored).

I love it. It is expensive though. I would send them for full time if they had issues in our school district, but DS who started kinder is doing great in every area except his own maturity/social skills.

Our montessori is exceptionally multicultural & I love that. I can't pronounce any of the names. They are really mixed: cultures I'm not familiar with (and I'm from Queens).

There is variety across Montessoris though. I'd visit & ask people who go to the one you are looking at.

Personally, I love ours & recommend it over our local preschool. My son definitely came out as an independent thinker (which is part of their goal).

Anyone send their child to Montessori?

Thanks. There are a few in my area. We are sellign our house and DS misses the cutoff for K except for 4 districts on LI. I really want him to go to K. He thrives around older kids and slacks when he is with younger kids so i'd love to keep pushing and send him to K. I have the option of renting in one of the districts he can make the cutoff or go the Montessori route. I reached out to a few and they would take him but now I need to dig into it all deeper.

Money isn't an issue cause they arent' any more expsnive than his daycare now

Re: Anyone send their child to Montessori?

I have a friend whose daughter goes to Montessori, I believe she is in 1st grade now and she loves it, her daughter is very bright, and is doing so well, she is becoming such a well rounded, caring child
she doesn't want it to ever end!

Anyone send their child to Montessori?

Make sure their teachers are actually Montessori certified. I have a family member who is certified and often was one of the only legitimately certified teachers at her schools.
Also, there are certain kids that thrive there, and others that don't. There is a lot of focus, independent play; and typically the kids who are high spirited do not succeed in that environment.
What area are you in? Some parochial schools will allow a December baby. However be sure your "home" district will allow them to go into first the following year. Some districts have closed this loophole.

Re: Anyone send their child to Montessori?

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Message edited 3/20/2016 9:46:06 PM.

Re: Anyone send their child to Montessori?

The only word of caution I can tell you is that with the current practice of redshirting, I'd def not push a child forward.

My DS always liked the kids 1 year older. DD too. Both are academically advanced.

BUT when DS started K as a August baby, he was by far the youngest in his class. Most kids are 6months- over 1 year older. I had no intention to hold him back. Our cut off is December 31, but the second youngest kid in class was born in early June.

BUT DS is younger & as K is the new first grade, he is reading, writing & sitting for super extended periods. His maturity level is a lot younger than the other kids (he is an appropriate 5 year old in a land of 6 year olds), he's one of the few who hasn't lost teeth & is the smallest. Socially, he was "behind". He's being seen as the naughty outlier.

I thought about pushing my DD ahead (she's reading, writing, etc at just turned 4 in January). Teachers have suggested it to me twice. After my experience, I would not.

Re: Anyone send their child to Montessori?

Re: Anyone send their child to Montessori?

Re: Anyone send their child to Montessori?

Anyone send their child to Montessori?

I toured 2 when looking for preschools. One called itself montessori but really want at all. The other let me bring dd and have her participate while I observed and talked to the director nearly 2 hours. I learned a lot about their philosophy and was really impressed by most of what I saw. Ultimately a few things made me hesitant and I went with another school but sometimes I still wish I'd gone for it. Talking to others, it seems that like all schools there is still a lot of variation. I'd say just observe each and see if they would be a good fit for your family and go from there.

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Message edited 3/20/2016 9:45:24 PM.

Anyone send their child to Montessori?

Montessori is great but if you have a high spirited kid, i wouldnt suggest it.

Re: Anyone send their child to Montessori?

I have heard both sides to Montessori .

One friend of mine used it for her son, then when he entered first grade @ a public school - he was behind and ultimately had to repeat the grade.
My one neighbor sends her daughter there now- currently in K, she had to commit her daughter for N, PreK and now K. I think it works for her daughter. However I will say, I don't believe the " school work load" is much and they don't get HW. My neighbor is nervous because she's sending her D to the public school for first grade.
Like previous posters wrote- it's not for every child, the method is very unique. I believe- based on stories told to me from these 2 moms -- it's very laid back and hardly much structure, the child gets to learn at their individual pace.
Best advice, let your child go and interact.

My understanding it's$10k for k and tons of fund raisers.

Like the above poster wrote, if the child doesn't continue with Montessori the adjustment for the child can be difficult.

Message edited 2/11/2016 5:51:08 PM.

Re: Anyone send their child to Montessori?

I send my daughter to Montessori and I love it. It focuses on individualized learning. Each kid is offered materials to help them gain skills in areas that are important to them. They work more often individually than in groups early on. As they get older, they work more in groups than individually. It's basically the opposite of your traditional program. There is a lot of emphasis placed on independence. The teacher will encourage them to complete skills independently and only help where necessary.
They also use multi aged classrooms. Most traditional Montessori schools have childrens house which is children ages 3-6. The older children are encouraged to help the younger children with tasks. There is little structure although they do follow a loose schedule. Teachers observe behavior closely and their responses are extremely consistent.
The rooms are also very systematic. They have stations set up that offer specific life/leisure skills. They are taught to clean up after themselves including dusting, vacuuming, washing windows, and the sort. They also have activities designed to be fun while helping them learn gross motor, fine motor, reasoning, and creative thinking... Of course there is an educational component to it, but it is taught differently through the use of Montessori materials. For example, when teaching math, they use puzzles and an abacus.
It really is a whole discipline. I never really understood that until I noticed how well DD settled down when she returned in the fall after being at a traditional summer camp.
There is a lot that makes Montessori unlike traditional school. There are some good books out there. One I found particularly helpful was "The Science Behind the Genius"... If you are one of those lucky moms that actually has time to read.
My best advise is to go and observe one of the classrooms. Most will let you come in and see how the classes are run.

Message edited 2/11/2016 11:25:49 PM.