I am thinking about putting my daughter in a Montessori school within the Milwaukee Public School system, and I was wondering what other moms thought about or experienced with Montessori learning. The program I'm looking at begins at 3 or 4 years. Thanks!
I love the Montessori schools. Both of my kids attended the school, I was a Montessori mom for 4 years. And both of my kids are at the top of the class reading level. They taught them sounds of each alphabet. It's a great school.
I taught Montessori for a few years and also worked at a Montessori teacher training center (and I went to Montessori as a child, and my mom worked as a Montessori assistant prior to that!). The Montessori approach to children is lovely and really address the whole child - not just academics. It is a rich social, educational, creative environment. Very few cities have public Montessori programs and Milkwaukie's is considered well established. All that being said, every teacher and classroom is a little different and a family will have to decide what is a good match for them. Observing in a classroom is pretty standard fair in Montessori schools, this could be very helpful in guiding your decision. Good luck :)
Absolutely love and adore montessori schools. The combination of teacher led and self directed learning, personal responsibility, learning at each child's own pace, education being treated as fun & adventure (instead of work... although ironically every activity is CALLED "work", works are *fun*), multiage classrooms (so each child not only learns from other children, but also teaches other children). Love, love, love montessori.
Some people say children don't learn how to read/ write/ do math/ & follow directions in montessori school... and that absolutely blows my mind away. My son was reading fluently (as were most of his classmates) and doing simple arithmatic (+-*/), by "graduation" (aka entering kindergarten). Following directions of teachers is integral. It's just that also each child is taught to learn HOW TO learn, and to follow their own interests / discover passions.
Here's a great montessori quote on the subject, by the marvelous lady herself:
"To give a child liberty is not to abandon him to himself." Maria Montessori
Those who talk about the wild, non-listening, uneducated children coming out of "montessori" schools, obviously were not in REAL montessori schools. Like just about anything, any school can CALL itself montessori (it's a great draw for parents), but whether or not that school is actually accredited montessori, or has teachers who have been trained and interned in montessori is an entirely different matter.
They vary, the best thing is to observe the class. If possible, let your daughter go for a few hours to see how she responds.
C.
I, too, am thinking of putting my daughter in the 3 year old program in Milwaukee (public, not private)! They recommend you come for a tour of the school, which I am actually doing with my husband on Wednesday. I have a couple of neighbors whose 3 year olds are in the program right now and they love it!! I'll update you on what I see after the tour.
**Update: Went on the tour and everything seems amazing! Especially for early learning, it's just so perfect! It's definitely different from standard school (the biggest thing I was surprised at is that they learn letters in cursive, not print), but I can't be more excited to (hopefully) be sending my daughter there next school year!
