Montessori?
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Topic: Montessori?
Posted By: Nikki
Subject: Montessori?
Date Posted: 12 November 2010 at 10:07pm
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Hi - I'm considering a montessori pre-school --- pro's? con's? experiences?
Thanks! ------------- DS (5yrs) and DD (3yrs) |
Replies:
Posted By: fattartsrock
Date Posted: 12 November 2010 at 10:19pm
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Not ment to sound um, yeah, well, but Why Montessori? What do you think makes it better than other types of ECE?
Only asking because I am a bit suspicious of it...here it seems to be all audi/porche/bmw 4wd mums...who send their kids to montessori because its the "in" pre school...then they all go to the same zoned well out of the way school cos its the "in" school. We've had a couple of kids recently start at our place who were "turned down" as wrong fits for montessori and one who was "expelled"...seems a bit eletist to me, and not entirely in the manner in which the montessori method was created? That might just be ours, though. ------------- The Honest Un PC Parent of 2, usually stuck in the naughty corner! :P |
Posted By: lizzle
Date Posted: 12 November 2010 at 10:27pm
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a couple things i didn't like about montessori - they don't agree with objects being used for things other than what they are intended to be. as in, I have a cup - it can be used as a playcup, but NOT as a hat, i felt like this inhibited imagination.
can't remember the other one. they like to teacher reading after 6...or is that steiner? |
Posted By: fattartsrock
Date Posted: 12 November 2010 at 10:37pm
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Steiner don't teach to read til 7.
Yeah that bugged me too, liz, so you can't roll a ball down the slide. Also if they go in dress ups they get asked to change and get sent home if they don't. Anthing, including dress ups that get brought into school gets confiscated. I've only just started working in ECE but the imagination thing is what bugs me, cos thats how they learn. I don't think its bad, I just think its not suited to all children. They do a test too, before accepting you into montessori to see if the child will fit in with their philosophies. The kids at our Casa de Bambini get invited to the plays our pre school do in the church (they are about 50m down the road from us) and they are very well behaved children, but seem a little devoid of personality and fun....a bit sad I think. JMHO though, cos I know lots of parents love it and for the right reasons you should love something (IE not cos its the "in" place) I just think they seem like wee robots. I think they often go into year 0/1 ahead of the other kids but get levelled out with them all after about 6 months - so they are all on "even" playing fields. ------------- The Honest Un PC Parent of 2, usually stuck in the naughty corner! :P |
Posted By: fattartsrock
Date Posted: 12 November 2010 at 10:39pm
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Oh (and so not spamming) I got my information form some parents I know who send their kids there and love it (althoughone possibly for the social ladder, lol) and one of our teachers left last year to go teach there and she came and spoke to us about how it differs from regular ece. ------------- The Honest Un PC Parent of 2, usually stuck in the naughty corner! :P |
Posted By: MyLilSquishy
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 9:20am
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do schools not teach reading until 6 here? I remember when I was 5 in first grade at primary school (in aus) I was asked to go and read a book to the grade 7s. (i dont know why. maybe some kinda big kid - little kid thing?) But i was hiring books from the library from my first day of school.....
and thats not right telling kids they arent allowed to use their imagainations! but what are the main differences between Montessori, Steiner and 'normal' ECE? |
Posted By: amme_eilyk
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 9:39am
| I think its montessori that I am not a fan of. There is one that teaches phonetic reading and spelling, which is good in that they learn to read fast, but they then run into problems and I have seen a lot of kids lose confidence (i have done tutoring in reading and spelling) as when they go to a normal school and get to about 9 or 10 then the phonetic spelling is no longer acceptd and they have to learn to spell everything the normal way. |
Posted By: scribe
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 10:51am
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Search for 'Montessori' - there are quite a few threads on this topic.
Clara is only at the playgroup stage (she's 2 years 4 mths), but it's been a good introduction to the Montessori approach, I've been to information sessions etc. Overall I have been impressed by the approach. Pros: - Encourages the children to be proactive (rather than passive) learners, and to take responsibility for their own education. It gives them a genuine love of learning. - (I like that) classrooms span 3 years; the younger ones learn from the older children, and the older children become 'teachers'. - The children are taught to be respectful of others (which suits my daughter, who is quite shy), eg, to wait their turn to use toys etc. I've been told regular preschools are more chaotic, that Montessori preschools are calmer and more ordered, which suits my daughter (who is fairly introverted and can't handle too much noise etc). - The Montessori approach, and the accompanying educational materials, are based around studies into the natural developmental cycles of the child, and they make good sense to me. - We've adopted many of their ideas into our home - basically encouraging Clara to do as much as she can for herself, and contributing to family life - and she seems to be thriving on it. Also, the school she is going is great - it's a really strong community and they are very true to the Montessori approach. However, note that not all Montessori schools are created equal - it's not a brand as such, schools can adopt the Montessori 'label' without adhering too closely to the philosophies of Dr Montessori. (Oh and it's not Porsche mums down here - the school is located in a low-decile area, and while many children travel from outside the area, we have many local mums as well, and I love the multi-cultural mix of the school. But the hours are longer than kindy for example, so it does cost more.) They "teach" them to read (phonetics) and write, spell etc from early on - but the inverted commas are there for a reason - like everything, they don't force it on them - they introduce it to them, but expect them to teach themselves (they have reading recovery programmes for later on, for children who do struggle). But it's Steiner that believes that written language should come later (around 7), once the oral tradition is well established. However, I do have a few reservations about it. It's still very early days for us, but Clara is pretty uninterested in most of their educational materials, like puzzles, etc. (Though she does like things like preparing food, washing clothes etc.) At home she's very imaginative and either wants to read books or to play with dolls or combine her toys in creative ways, which makes me wonder how well suited she is to the Montessori ('one object for one purpose') approach. She may be better suited to Steiner's imaginative approach - which I also like, but I have more reservations about it than I have about Montessori - and unfortunately you can't pick and mix when it comes to their philosphies! But I do like a 'holistic' (whole child) approach to education, of Montessori and Steiner, than the state school approach, which IMO was developed from a history of serving the state (making good workers), rather than the development needs of the child ... though many state schools are great, it's just finding the right one. (And I'm talking more about primary than preschools here.) The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_method - wikipedia entry has a good overview on it, with links to further research on the pros and cons of the approach. Modern research seems to support the findings of Dr Montessori. |
Posted By: TheKelly
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 10:58am
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The only experience I have with Montessori preschool is my cousins, now 13 and 16.....(so they tell me, I refuse to believe it since I think they are still my little babies )
My 13 year old cousin has won the all rounder cup for her school 2 years in a row, top in academic, drama, sports and cultural. She is well rounded, friendly, confident and has always had a great imagination......however I don't know if thats due to her start in Montessori, or due to her parents, or due to other awesome influences in her early life, such as .....me  ------------- 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: scribe
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 1:27pm
| I should add that it's not that Montessori discourages the child's use of their imagination - what they discourage is 'fantasy', which they believe is something adults impose on children through fairy tales, monsters, superman etc. They believe imagination should grow out of experiences grounded in reality - which is why a child might get sent home for going to school wearing a dress-up costume. Montessori is ok with fantasy for older children - who have developed a grounding in reality - but not the under 6s. |
Posted By: TheKelly
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 2:21pm
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I don't get that....I mean a kid could be dressed up as superman , but kids don't see things black and white, what we see as someone dressed up as superman could actually be a king of a golden city as far as they are concerned . -------------
http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: scribe
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 2:59pm
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I haven't decided my POV on this either, I need to read some more ( http://www.montessori-ami.org/congress/2005Sydney/papersd.htm - here is some light reading for your weekend - scroll down to the sections on 'fantasy' and 'imagination')
I found it helpful to hear the imagination vs. fantasy discussion rephrased as "creativity vs. imitation" ... so if the child is simply acting out superman, he or she is merely imitating a storybook character, not actually creating his own original character (according to Montessori theory) ... but like you say, what looks like just an imitation of superman could be much more, and fantasy/imagination was such a big part of my early life that I find this aspect of Montessori challenging. |
Posted By: zoeymil
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 4:30pm
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I really like some aspects of Montessori, like using real things, children drink from glasses, use saucers for there food and pour their own water. They are encouraged to tidy up after themselves, as in not to get another activity out till they have put the one they are playing with away!! The preschool i work at does all this anyway and we are not montessori, i think preschools these days take on many different theories and different teachers have different personal teaching philisophies. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Lisha
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 4:41pm
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Both my daughters attend Casa Dei Bambini here in Christchurch and I think it is the best thing. It has given them a headstart in life. It may seem more advanced than normal mainstream kindys but we wouldn't turn back the clock.
Go and have a look and see for yourself :) ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Lisha
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 4:44pm
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Only asking because I am a bit suspicious of it...here it seems to be all audi/porche/bmw 4wd mums...who send their kids to montessori because its the "in" pre school...then they all go to the same zoned well out of the way school cos its the "in" school.
Haha we drive an old legacy!!! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Emmecat
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 5:59pm
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I intend on sending Clodagh to the local Montessori pre school, it's gorgeous and very into nature and learning to care for animals etc as well as their emphasis on teaching children self respsonisibilty. Having said that, I also LOVE the Steiner approach...very much and so much so that if we had a local school here I would send her there in preference probably. But the closest one is too far, half hour drive and that seems illogical to me given some of the reasons I want my kids to attend these types of schools lol. I don't think they're ness better than other ECE's...just different approaches. I've also dealt with many parents and children of all ages from BOTH these schools and tbh have found them almost without exception to be empathetic, kind, outgoing with great social skills and very attuned to the natural world around them. Of course this could be luck on my part hehe but it certainly helped shape my views on these schools. -------------   http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Emmecat
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 6:00pm
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lol ignore my spelling, it's a pg thing ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Nikki
Date Posted: 13 November 2010 at 9:50pm
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Thanks for all the opinions. I'm certainly not looking into it as a "fade" or because its the "in thing" where I live - we're way out west, so far from a "bmw/audi" type area, not a porshe in sight out here! lol. (and to be honest its actually in a lower socio-economic area than their current dc)
The reason I started looking is because my kids are in a daycare a wee way from where we live, and I'm thinking when Jake gets to school it would be nice to move Morgan to a closer centre. Our options are one we sent J to briefly and took him out of (long story), one I didn't like, one I really liked that started at 2yrs so wasn't an option when Jake first started -- which I recently visited again (it has a great rep and ero report and I know a few kids going their, but seemed so chaotic compared to their current one) and the montessori one (also starts at 2yrs) ... so I popped in to check it out and she wants me to come back and observe for a morning. From what I could see I actually think it would suit Jake better than Morgan in some respects .... he is a very respectful child and hates other kids hitting him / taking toys etc as he doesn't do that to others. He is also really into counting / numbers and gardening, baking etc so I think could like some aspects. But it seems very focused on learning (ie they can read/write quite well when they start school) and I'm not sure if its so much fun!! And being a typical boy he just loves to run and yell and kick balls and vrrmmm cars! So since I didn't know much at all I thought i'd ask opinions. I liked some of the things Anakk likes. I like the learning focus, and I like that the children are very settled and calm and respectful (I wonder how they achieve this though!! lol). It would be a huge decision to move him, as hes very settled. But I get the impression they would push for him to start, not just wait til M turns 3 to start her (and he starts school). I also have to consider the hours (longer than kindy, shorter than daycare). I am still considering going to have a proper look though.... ------------- DS (5yrs) and DD (3yrs) |
Posted By: RubySoho
Date Posted: 14 November 2010 at 9:18am
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We've got Felix's name down with our local Montessori. I have always loved their philosophy. Two of my Aunts ran their own Montessori schools, I did work experience with one for two weeks when I was in High School. It's a fabulous system.
I would recommend checking out the NZ Montessori website, it will answer a lot of your questions. Then visit a local Montessori and have a chat. Our local one is fabulous for taking time to answer questions and show you around. http://www.montessori.org.nz/your-questions-answered - http://www.montessori.org.nz/your-questions-answered -------------   tinyurl.com/6ptm6bn - My Blog
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Posted By: freckle
Date Posted: 14 November 2010 at 9:54am
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I'm not a fan of montessori preschool. I think the things most people are mentioning as being great about montessori are the basic skills that all ECCs encourage (e.g. fostering independence, being respectful of others, looking at the child holistically, etc). TeWhariki is the curriculum document that guides ECCs in NZ, and all these skills are covered in this document.
The fantasy/imagination thing seems silly to me - children learn through imitation, yet imitating fantasy is not acceptable?? What I don't like about montessori is the lack of focus on group work - children need to learn to work in groups, yet montessori's focus is on the individual... I also think doing table top, structured kind of activities is very unnatural for preschool children. I think the claims that it is child directed are false as the types of activities and resources are more limited. I think preschool kids need to be kids, and sometimes kids make lots of noise and can be a bit chaotic, they play together, and they learn from play and imitating what they see from others... to me Montessori isn't meeting these needs. I also think if you want to introduce more academic type stuff (like reading etc) you can do so at home, but many ECCs do introduce the basics of numeracy and literacy - however, I believe the focus at this age, at preschool, should be learning independence, social skills and learning through play - which you will get at any good centre. ------------- mum to 3 lovely girls :D |
Posted By: scribe
Date Posted: 14 November 2010 at 1:52pm
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Yes Nikki I think you should just go and have a look, observe a classroom. We spent a morning observing at the school (which goes from preschool through to high school) and that was the best insight into their approach.
Many of my misconceptions were corrected then; for example, like Freckle I thought Montessori was very individual rather than group focused, but if you go into a classroom you'll see lots of little groups working together, the older children 'teach' the younger ones, rather than the teacher (say in a primary school) leading the class. Yes it does seem like 'work' but seeing how much the children love doing the so-called work (really, to them it is 'play'), and how much satisfaction they get out of it, changes your perspective on it. That's part of Montessori's key philosophy - that children learn best (and get personal satisfaction, leadership skills etc) through doing something productive, like we as adults get more out of doing productive work that is useful and rewarding, than just wasting it on leisure activities. The 2-year-olds at our playgroup race to be in first to make the bread for morning tea 
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Posted By: MrsMc
Date Posted: 14 November 2010 at 2:04pm
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I love montessori, but like someone else said theyre not all the same, some are amazing, some arent.
One thing to remember when worrying about how focused it is is that there is plenty of time at home to 'be a boy' so to speak, to run around dressed as superman. When you go to school, you go to learn, i think this is the way montessori works |
Posted By: freckle
Date Posted: 14 November 2010 at 2:31pm
I know they do do group work at Montessori, however, from my experience they are more focused on individual work than mainstream ECC. I have worked in many ECC (as I worked with special needs preschoolers) of all kinds and in general that has been my experience.
I think that is sad - at preschool level children IMO should be going to preschool to have fun, play, interact with other kids, and as a consequence learn. There is plenty of time to get serious about academic learning once kids are at school... ------------- mum to 3 lovely girls :D |
anakk wrote:Posted By: Nikki
Date Posted: 14 November 2010 at 10:25pm
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When I visited the kids were all outside (which is what they apparently do in the afternoon, the morning is more about learning from what I could gather) and they seemed to be doing what they normally do at daycare, just a little calmer and no yelling or crying! which I don't think is a bad thing. ------------- DS (5yrs) and DD (3yrs) |
Posted By: TheKelly
Date Posted: 14 November 2010 at 10:42pm
Agree! so true -------------
http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Shezamumof3
Date Posted: 14 November 2010 at 11:29pm
 but dressing up and playing make believe is what kids do!
That all sounds really silly to me. Regular daycare sounds better IMO, I wouldnt want DS sent home cos he wanted to dress up as batman or something! Freckle, I agree, thats really sad... ------------- |
Posted By: freckle
Date Posted: 15 November 2010 at 8:27am
But kids are learning ALL the time, they don't need set times to learn... They are constantly experiementing with their environment and testing out their perceptions... ------------- mum to 3 lovely girls :D |
Posted By: Nikki
Date Posted: 15 November 2010 at 9:32am
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Perhaps I should have said "inside time" instead of learning. Of course they are learning all the time. Didn't realise that would cause confusion sorry!
My point was - they were all outside playing and running around just as they do at my kids normal daycare ..... there was just less yelling and hitting and crying - which I think my son would like. I will have a look into the dress-ups thing if I go to observe. My son has never been really into dress ups anyway, but as he goes to kindy too he would still get that there and at home. As far as taking things into a centre -- I know my "normal" daycare and kindy would not allow kids to turn up in dressup or with toys from home either, so I don't think thats unusual (causes fights apparently - they both have signs up saying that, as did the other two daycare I looked at). Thanks for all your opinions! ------------- DS (5yrs) and DD (3yrs) |
Posted By: fattartsrock
Date Posted: 15 November 2010 at 2:12pm
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Oh yeah we don't allow toys either, but they do bring them, we don't encourage them. Dress ups, well, not sure we have such a huge range that maybe they don't feel the need to come dressed in them but there is one wee girl who often comes as something.
Our pre school dosne't hae much yelling/hitting/crying either, but that said it is for kids over 2.5, so more like a kindy. We do "extension" classes twice a week for kids over 4 1/2 to get ready for school foccussing on literacy and numeracy, and while we ahve soem structured "lessons" they are always about things the kids want to learn about - as in the week before Jake left it was bones and skeletons and the week before that, pirates and ships and stuff. Having said all that I have about montessori and my fervent dislike of it, Im also not a fan of hugfe "institutionalised" centres either. I like small centres that have small rolls, so more scope for better/quieter/more foccused stuff. ------------- The Honest Un PC Parent of 2, usually stuck in the naughty corner! :P |
Posted By: Poline195875
Date Posted: 01 October 2015 at 12:59am
| My kids attend http://kids-collective.com/" rel="nofollow - palms preschool with Montessori curriculum and they like it very much. I'm glad to see that every morning they hurry up to go to this preschool. |