Montessori

[yingers74]

Am abit unsure about the local state nurseries as the ofsted reports have not been particularly good so am thinking of sending my dd1 to a montessori school until she is 5 and then review the options again! I would like to know what people think about montessori schools and their experiences. Thanks x

Fine for nursery, crap for primary (esp late primary, prob OK for up to about age 7). DD1's school has just had an influx from the local Montessori - they are really behind and completely undisciplined.

IMHO montessori doesn't do any good for the children

esp if they then go into reg primary

makes the change over too much

but that is just IMHO

others love them

my dd did really well at a small Montessori nursery. thing I like about Montessori is the mix of ages.

but lots of nurseries use the name without having a clue about the true ethos.

dinny I think that may be the problem

My two went to a Montessori nursery (but not very iyswim). I think that the undisciplined thing is probably true, but that may be down to individual teachers. ds had problems adjusting to school (well, more acurately the school had problems adjusting to him I think!) and I do think that was partly because at nursery they loved him too much, and were very concerned when he threw wopping tantrums, rather than clamping down hard (one teacher would hold his head because she worried he would hurt himself!!). The very experienced reception teacher seemed very unsurprised when we said he had been at Montessori! On the other hand dd has had no problems and is aparently a model child at school, but then she seemed practically perfect at nursery too! (saves her poor behaviour for home...)

The thing I would say about Montessori at a primary age level is that the children are given lots of choices and choose whatever they want to do, transitioning from one thing to another throughout the day. The teachers model situations for children to learn from and then are left to grow and develop according to their experiences of interacting with Montessori resources.

The problem is that when 'Montessori' children go to school, although they are very independent (generalisation) the challenge is to follow directions and follow rules as that's what happens in mainstream schools right from the word go! Children have to do work when they are asked to and choosing time varies from school to school but is not as much as in Montessori.

As with all things, children do vary and your child could well adapt into mainstream school life after a Montessori education.

I would ask to sit in on a few Montessori sessions and find out as much as you can about the local schools. Try not to rely solely on written reports, meet the heads and visit actual local schools to compare. If you can meet actual parents of local and Montessori schools you will get a better idea than written reports athough bear in mind that different parents look for different things. That said, then decide what type of educative experience you are looking for.

My dd loves going to her montessori school. Loads of super activities for the kids to discover.

thanks, all good points for me to mull over.....