<p>Our twins went to Montessori. We switched them after 1 year because we wanted a more play-based preschool. One could easily read at 4, the other 5. The slower reader became the stronger math student. They are both out of college now. The reader got great grades but had to work at it and is now teaching high school English. The math wiz got horrible grades in high school, but then straightened out and got a degree in Engineering. Our younger 2 went to play-based pre-schools. Both are exceptional students and extremely well rounded. One is in high school, the other a sophomore in college. I can’t see that pre-school had any influence on their academics other than teaching them to socialize more easily once they reached kindergarten.</p>
<p>My younger D (she’s 11) just switched from Montessori to public middle school. She is having a difficult time, particularly in Math. The Montessori she went to was very traditional in that the children chose what they wanted to learn and my D “chose” not to learn any math for 2 years. Nevertheless, she is on level in math and extremely advanced in all other areas. She really liked Montessori a lot better.</p>
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<p>^^I think this message can be got across in various ways, not necessarily through Montessori. My children all had the same kindergarten teacher, whose mantra was “We’re all learning,” meaning everyone is in a different place in the kgn work, but slow or fast, everyone is learning. (It was a pretty cool classroom…very individualized. They did not all learn the same letter of the alphabet together every day!)</p>
<p>And in high school, kids realize that different ages may be in the same classroom, esp. in foreign languages and AP courses. And electives, for that matter. Having kids be grouped by age in elementary school is for the convenience of administrators, and not necessarily optimal for learning.</p>
<p>I went to Montessori from kindergarten to grade 5. I’m now a sophomore at Cornell University Engineering. However, I don’t know how much it helped, because I felt kind of bored with the system by grade 5, and there weren’t many students there, so I don’t know how it affected me socially.</p>
<p>Two perspectives from me.
- I personally went to a Montessori school in the 60’s. I was an oldest child, pretty bright, and was encouraged to “move at my own rate” through the material, which resulted in moving ahead in grade level. So when I transitioned to traditional (elementary) school, I was placed in a grade 2 years ahead of my chonological age. Fast forward to graduating HS at 16, and entering college right away. Socially, I was never at the right level. It took me until after college to feel comfortable around people of my own age. The style of learning was not so much a factor, as the jumping ahead in grades. My parents (God rest my Mom) had a large family and just went along with what they were told. I never had trouble with the actual class work, in HS or college.
- When we were looking for schools for our two daughters, we looked seriously at two Montessori programs. For D1, we opted against it, as the particualr school was very rigid and prohibitively expensive. She went to a church-based pre-school, then public K. She excelled, ending up a typical CC kid-high achieving, high GPA, high test scores, entered college as a Soph due to the AP credits, now double majoring & LOVING LIFE at school. For D2, she was a early reader, and at 3 yrs old was already bored at the church pre-school. So we looked again,and found a different (less rigid) Montessori school that would allow her to come for 1/2 day (5 days per week). She went there for 1 year only, but just THRIVED. She loved the “work” and she bought into the responsibilty aspect right away. She learned alot and was socially exactly where she needed to be. She was (still is) a kinetic learner- loves to move around. The Montessori experience really supported this style of learning. We could only afford 1 year there (DH STILL whines about how much it cost) so she went to public K and is now a HS Sophomore. She is still bright (gifted IEP) but does not have the work ethic of D1. She is a funny, happy person. Very self-actualized, kind and aware of her environment. How much of this is attributable to the Montessori year, I’m not sure. She still talks about how much she loved it, though.
Bottom line for us: “Montessori” is not as homogenous as you might expect. Different schools can be different- teachers, parent involvement, whatever the reason. As a parent, knowing your own kids (strentghs, learning styles, social limits, etc.) and really looking past the “Open House” experience is very important. </p>
<p>The end result in our house is (seemingly) more closely related to birth order than the type of early education, IMHO.</p>
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<p>I now believe that going to college at a younger age is not a good thing. I won’t encourage my kids to do that.</p>
<p>While researching colleges for my daughter, who is interested in education, I came across Siena Heights University, offering a degree in Montessori education. I don’t think it’s very common.</p>
<p>[Montessori</a> Education](<a href=“http://www.sienaheights.edu/NewMajorsProgramDetail.aspx?MajorID=MOE&CampusID=1]Montessori”>http://www.sienaheights.edu/NewMajorsProgramDetail.aspx?MajorID=MOE&CampusID=1)</p>
<p>I know a young man who was Montessori educated, then went to public high school, on to one of the tippy top Ivies where he was captain of his sports team and graduated last year. I recently heard that he turned down a 6-figure job to volunteer with the Peace Corps.</p>
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<p>Undoubtedly, Montessori messed up HIS priorities! ;)</p>
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<p>I’m fortunate to know someone similar who inspires lots of people to happily do what they truly love for themselves and for their loved ones (they love people), family included, performing at the highest level. Don’t if there is a Montessori connection though.</p>
<p>This is a very impressive young man … extremely intelligent as well as athleticly gifted, with concerns and interests beyond that six-figure office job. One of my favorite friends of my older son … and probably the only one of S1’s friends that S2 admires.</p>
<p>I was a Montessori teacher’s assistant in a 3-6 yr classroom for a while and I found the experience fascinating. Neither of my children attended a Montessori school. (the nearest one was too far and too expensive). The cost of the school for a 5 day program was approximately $1100/month which was high relative to church based/YMCA preschools available in the area.</p>
<p>I noticed that self-directed disciplined girls with fine motor skills seemed to do quite well in the program. They were happy to select their work and, of course, the more work they did and mastered, the more the teacher was willing to demonstrate new materials. They made rapid progress.</p>
<p>More active impulsive children had a difficult time in the classroom. Many boys were miserable and it was my job to try to engage them in the materials. This was difficult and exhausting. The boys paced the classroom like caged animals. They clearly wanted to be outside kicking a ball or playing on a jungle gym. They had great large motor skills but the Montessori materials generally favored those kids with fine motor skills.</p>
<p>Both my kids were bouncy active kids; I put them in a play-based preschool with lots of large motor activities and they flourished there. I think they would not have had success or happiness in a Montessori program.</p>
<p>So, you should really consider your kid’s personality before placing them in Montessori program. Take the time to observe the classroom in action and see if it is right for your child. Also, I think it is important to read as much as possible about the Montessori method (including the books Montessori wrote) before enrolling your child so you can understand what you are seeing in the classroom.</p>
<p>Both our girls went to a Montessori from grades 1-5/6 respectively (they are a year apart) because the only other choice was either conservative private schools or public schools that seemed too traditional. Neither seemed like the right environment for our artistically-inclined daughters. We then moved overseas and they transitioned to an international school five times the size of the Montessori. </p>
<p>It was bumpy for about a month as D1 and D2 adjusted to both the move, and the very rigorous academics. The 3-4 hours of homework per night was a huge culture shock! Yet once they hit their sweet spot, both kids ended up on the honor roll. They continued to succeed in HS, with strings of AP’s, leadership positions in their EC’s, and all throughout, this love for learning that was, to me, just glorious to watch.</p>
<p>Now D1 is back in the US and thriving at a great LAC; and D2 is comparing scholarship offers at two top art schools. </p>
<p>How much of my kids’ happiness and success at school is due to their Montessori background? Can’t really say. We wanted to provide them with the best experiences and opportunities we could afford, and were more concerned with “fit”. The same philosophy served us well when it was time to choose colleges.</p>
<p>I think there is a self-selection bias, insofar as parents who do the research / make the effort to choose Montessori (versus “whatever preschool is closest / cheapest”) are likely more engaged, involved, smarter parents in the first place. (We did not do Montessori.)</p>
<p>The older my kids get, the less I think all the angsting we all did about their education as little kids made any difference whatsoever.</p>
<p>My older daughter attended Montessori for a month after the local public kindergarten suggested that it wasn’t a good fit for her. ( she was reading chapter books)
However, I had registered her for a 5’s program there, but they took it upon themselves to move her to the 2-6yr olds classroom as " she would have been the only girl in the 5’s".</p>
<p>I was not happy- as it was quite a bit different & her presence in the 5’s room might have inspired some girls to change, so I continued looking for something else.
( not to mention, I wanted to observe how she was doing- but as soon as I came to pick her up everyday, her teacher would call out " emeraldkity daughter, your mom is here" !, even though I had asked her specifically not to. Kinda of a control maniac.)</p>
<p>The curriculum I suppose was OK, although I thought lack of pretend play was a little rigid but I was able to find another 5’s program, this time a half-day co-op program run by a botanist.
( D majored in biology- w a botanical thesis at Reed college)
;)</p>
<p>Interesting topic and its fun to read all the information and opinions. My son went to a small independent Montessori pre-school three blocks from our house for three years. It had a maximum of 12 students and was two blocks from our neighborhood library and playground, where they went daily. The director/teacher was wonderful!!! I think it was the combination of all those factors that made it a very special place.</p>
<p>My son is now a high school senior, takes honors and AP classes, weighted GPA 4.75, plays the trumpet in the jazz band, plays sports and is student body president. Is his high school success directly related to Montessori preschool? I don’t know, but it sure didn’t hurt.</p>