Advice on Montessori Schools

dear C.-
my advise to you is to go for it! my son is 4 and he has been reading since 1 1/2. he can do so much more than all the children in his 4K class. he is like a little adult stuck in a kid body. unforunatley we could not afford montessori schools so he is going to public school. he has a wonderfull teacher who reconizes that he is way ahead of the class and she does her best to keep him occupied but she does have 16 others to teach. he gets bored very easily and they see it as misbehaving. my son loves to be challenged and if he is not then he tends to make up his own challenge which is seen as misbehaving. he can read,spell,write,add,subtract,knows his states,abc's,counts to 50,etc..... for show and tell he built a circuit board and made a siren for the kids. he was upset because the children were not interested in what he was doing until the siren made noise.
if you can do montessori---- more power to you! good luck!
M.

C.,

I do not have any children in Montessori School, but I myself went to them up until 6th grade. I must say that it will be the best decision you ever make in your life to send your children to one of these wonderful, hands on schools.

Their unique ways of teaching instilled in me a wonderful pleasure in learning, one I carry with me to this day. I have had relationships with many of these teachers that has lasted well beyond my school years. I am 27 and still talk to one teachers, my 4th grade teacher!

I hope this helps.

H.

C. -

We send our 3 year old to Montessori and we love it! He was in a more traditional type of preschool setting, which we pulled him out of. He seems to have learned so much more and can work on the areas that he needs to spend extra time on learning, rather than just move on to the next subject like in a regular school setting. I would definately look into it for your son.

My four year old daughter attends Montessori school and it has been an extremely positive experience for our whole family. The school she attends is a true Montessori school, not a school with daycare services also. I would recommend that if you are thinking of sending your child to a Montessori school it be one that follows the true Montessori curriculum instead of "Montessori Light" which is what you see very often.

My daughter's school is in Richfield and it is called:

Augsburg Park Montessori School

the webpage is:www.augsburgpark.com

If you visit the webpage they have a very good description of what the Montessori curriculum is along with an outline of what the school is about.

A couple of thoughts...

My daughter attended Montessori and truly thrived (became herself, reading before entering kindergarten, etc.) and my son will be starting at Sunny Hollow this fall. However, I would do a lot of research on Montessori schools before sending your son. I believe that it must be a good fit for your child, not every child is right for the method. It also requires a lot from the parents end (i.e. no tv, work space for the child, etc.) Also, keep in mind that reputable montessori's start at 33 or 36 months. If they start younger, you are just getting daycare. Again, read some of Dr. Maria Montessori's writing, it is very clear what age group she is talking about.

I'm not trying to disuade you from persuing it, in fact, it was wonderful for my daughter and we are hoping it will be perfect for my son. Just do the research and find what is right for your son. All schools will let you visit, observe, ask questions.

Good luck!

Hi C.,
My daughter is in Kindergarten at a Crossroads Montessori in St. Paul. I feel that Montessori is an excellent choice but like many people have mentioned it is not for everyone. My advice would be to sit in one day to observe. You know your child better than anyone and will know if your child will thrive in this setting. I really like the life skills that are taught in my daughters school which helps them become more self sufficient and proud of themselves. I also like the multi age classrooms where the older kids mentor the younger ones to reinforce what they have already learned. This is an all year school which I feel helps a lot too. They have the same amount of time off but in intervals throughout the year. So they are less likely to get bored in the summer. I origanally put my daughter in this school because our neighborhood school didn't have the 4 year old program and we decided to keep her there.
Just do some research and weigh the pros and cons.
Good luck in your decision,
C.

Hi,
Both of my kids (Emma 7, Maxwell 5)have attended Montessori schools since age 4. Saint Paul has a great school, Nokomis, that is part of the public school system. My kids are both independant and excited for school each day. The teachers and the administrators are fabulous. I can't say enough good things about Nokomis.

I used a montessori school after being dissatisfied with several daycare centers. My daughter attended Early Education Montessori in St.Louis Park and I have friend that is a teacher at a Montessori school in Burnsville. I personally loved it. Usually but not always the montessori's have highly educated and intelligent foreign teachers. I believe my daughter's teacher was from India but I didn't want to be rude and ask. They seemed to have more patience and love for the kids and discipline than the typical american daycare's my daughter has been to. This is just my observation. I felt so comfortable dropping off my daughter. The two montessori's that I've actually stepped foot into were not fancy or high tech some of the toys looked like they came from my own childhood but I was so impressed with the school's and teachers from a love and kindness and education point I didn't care. I have one regret, that I moved and switched jobs and took my child out the school. I am kicking myself in the butt for not keeping my child in a Montessori til Kindergarten. I used to walk down the halls and look at the work 3 and 4 year olds did I was AMAZED! They teach each kid and at their own individual level. If your kid can handle something they will challenge them and have them learn something harder. I don't feel they push to hard or anything like that. Kids in montessori's are usually reading before Kindergarten. I've heard some negative things like they concentrate to much on education and not enough on playing. I don't have any problems though. My daughter was heavily focused on education during the regular school year with play time and then in the summer it was mostly just play time. If I were you, I'd go visit and tour several. I have also heard that in MN any childcare center can call themselves a montessori without the real montessorri accreditdations or whatever so check into that as well. I also have the experiance of putting my daughter in a regular preschool through our school dist. because it was all I could afford at the time and although it helped somewhat it was nothing compared to a montessori. Preschool was ok but we didn't get much out of it. I hope this helps a little. It's so hard choosing what's right for your children and what works with your family.

I had my daughter in a Montessori school in Brooklyn Park. I loved their program. My daughter had a great teacher most of the time. We did have to change teachers at one point because a teacher left her out side with another student. I'm not sure what happend to that teacher but I know I didn't care for her in the first place. Every location in run a little different. I would go and visit spend a couple of hours there. See how your child does and if they like it and you like how the do things. I made an appointment once then stopped by one day with out them knowing I was comming before I signed my daughter up. It was very spendy but when It comes to who is taking care of your kids sometimes it worth the extra money.

C.,

My son has been in Montessori since he was 1.5. He loves it we love it. It really teaches them to be more independent and self sufficient. :) He explores everyday and comes home talking about how we live in North America and what kind of animals live in North America etc. He can write his name and can count to 30 and he is 3. He is really learning about his surroundings and who he is. He is helpful around the house. He sets the table and cleans up his toys when he's done. School has taught him a lot.Now we do not really do the workspace etc @ home as suggested my Maria. He does have things @ his height etc...but we are not the hard core ____@____.com have been moving a lot over the last 3 years and every time we have had him in a Montessori school and it has made the moves easier since his schooling environment stays consistent.

The only hard thing for us with the Montessori philosophy is they only go outside as preschoolers once a week. We have a very go go go 3 year old who loves to move and loves to play outside. This was an adjustment when he moved out of the toddler class where they went outside everyday.

So we have to make sure we get his ya ya's out after school.
Hope that helps.

A.

We had an awful experience with a Mont School with our very active then 3.5 year old. Just make sure you get testimonials from people you don't know...teaching methods, etc. My son went for one month...and it was AWFUL.

Also know that ANYONE can be a Montessori School...the Montessori name isn't trademarked. Interesting tidbit to know. Which was the problem with where we were. My lack of research...and lack of friends telling me their TRUE expeirences...it was bad. LOL

Make sure they are licensed with the Montessori in your state (presumably Minnesota) and nationally. Anyone can put a sign out front that says "XYZ's Montessori School". It's what is inside that counts.

Good luck!