Do you have an opinion on Montessori Schools?

Question

Do you think they are good for children? What is your opinion on sending a child to a Montessori School?

Answer 1

As a parent of two children attending Montessori school, I am whole-heartedly in favor of sending children to this type of school. In fact, my degree is in Education and I had determined that a Montessori education would be a wonderful opportunity for my children long before I was married or had kids to speak of.

I am glad that Matt, a former Montessori student, answered this question, too. I had the same reaction to some of the answers already given.

Like these,
"trouble adjusting to schools they're sent to later in life"
"how receptive your child is to rules and rule changes"
"the lack of free play and choice"
"many skills do not have the opportunity to develop"

These statements couldn't be further from the truth in a real Montessori environment. Anyone who has invested time learning the details about an educational method, or has observed classroom interactions, or discussed the finer points of child development with a certified Montessori director/directress knows the tremendous benefits a Montessori education provides.

Here's a few important notes for you to consider, quoting,

"Montessori Philosophy: http://www.wmsde.org/montessori.html

Montessori education for all children is based on these concepts:

The aim of Montessori education is to foster autonomous, competent, responsible, adaptive citizens who are lifelong learners and problem solvers.

Learning occurs in an inquisitive, cooperative, and nurturing atmosphere. Students increase their own knowledge through self- and teacher- initiated experiences.

Learning takes place through the senses. Students learn through manipulating materials and interacting with others. These meaningful experiences are precursors to the abstract understanding of ideas.

The individual is considered as a whole. The physical, emotional, social, aesthetic and cognitive needs and interests are inseparable and equally important.

Respect for oneself, others, the environment and life is necessary to develop a caring attitude toward all people. "

You may also want to review how much care is taken to provide an integrated curriculum a good Montessori school can provide. As a degreed educator, this amount of thought and actual implementation always impresses me. It is so far beyond what most public and many private schools actually offer.

Kindergarten http://www.wmsde.org/curriculum_k.html
Ages 6-9 http://www.wmsde.org/curriculum_6-9.html
Ages 9-12 http://www.wmsde.org/curriculum_9-12.html
Other programs http://www.wmsde.org/programs.html


If you want to base your decision on real research and knowledgeable studies, then I would highly recommend reading on some of the following sites,

Montessori 101: Some Basic Information that Every Montessori Parent Should Know
http://www.montessori.org/sitefiles/Montessori_101_nonprintable.pdf

Students Prosper with Montessori Method
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=000D5CF0-96EF-151D-96EF83414B7F0000

New Scientific Study Supports the Montessori Method
http://www.montessori.org/story.php?id=286

What Montessori Parents are saying about Montessori Education
http://home.neo.rr.com/larrow/parents.htm

Research studies on Montessori education
http://www.montessori-ami.org/research/research.htm


And other snippets of education research articles

1) "Outcomes for Students in a Montessori Program. A Longitudinal Study of the Experience in the Milwaukee Public Schools"

"This study supports the hypothesis that Montessori education has a positive long-term impact. Additionally, it provides an affirmative answer to questions about whether Montessori students will be successful in traditional schools."

"A significant finding in this study is the association between a Montessori education and superior performance on the Math and Science scales of the ACT and WKCE. In essence, attending a Montessori program from the approximate ages of three to eleven predicts significantly higher mathematics and science standardized test scores in high school."

2) "A Comparison of Montessori and Traditional Middle Schools: Motivation, Quality of Experience, and Social Context" by Kevin Rathunde

"With the help of co-investigator Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Dr. Rathunde compared the experiences and perceptions of middle school students in Montessori and traditional schools using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). Montessori students reported a significantly better quality of experience in their academic work than did traditional students. In addition, Montessori students perceived their schools as a more positive community for learning, with more opportunities for active, rather than passive, learning."

3) "In a 1991 study by Alcillia Clifford and Carol Takacs, graduates of the Montessori Head Start program at the Marotta Montessori Schools of Cleveland who had entered the Cleveland Public Schools (CPS) were studied in relation to their CPS peers. California Achievement Test scores for Marotta graduates in grades one through eight were compared with the overall scores of first- through eighth-graders in the Cleveland Public Schools (mean percentile rankings for grades one through eight). (No math tests were given in 1989.) As these comparisons show, the former Montessori students consistently fared better" http://www.montessori-namta.org/NAMTA/geninfo/rschsum.html

I know this is a lot of information. Choosing an educational path for a child should be done with as much quality information as possible. Best wishes!

Answer 2

This is a bigger question than you might think. Because Maria Montessori did not copywrite the Montessori Method in the US any one can claim to be a Montessori School. Do some research on the method and see what you think about it. Maria was a fascinating and brilliant woman.

A "real" Montessori School will be "Certified" and employ certified teachers who are trained in Ireland or Italy. My personal opinion, I think they are great. I wish I had gone to such a school. My daughter puts a lot of credit for her success today on her early Montessori education.

Answer 3

It's always interesting to see other people's responses to the Montessori questions and I am always curious exactly what they mean. People rarely explain themselves well, but I always see the same responses. Here are some examples from this question:

"Some kids who go to Montessori Schools have trouble adjusting to schools they're sent to later in life."

I'm curious what this means by "trouble adjusting." It seems to suggest the school they go to has no clue how to cater to their needs. Whereas before, they were in a school that does cater to their needs. (If the school was able to suit every child it brought in, why would they have trouble adjusting?)

That's not a problem with Montessori. That's a problem with whatever school they were sent to after Montessori.

It also makes me wonder if the people that say it think no student has trouble adjusting in schools unless they come from a Montessori school. This is absurd! Students may have a lot of trouble when it comes to transitioning schools.

For me, leaving Montessori was difficult. I did not like the lack of freedom and often found myself bored waiting for others to catch up so we could move on with the lesson. "Why am I learning about prepositions when I learned about this in 2nd grade? Can't you teach me something new?" I had more of a "give me more to learn" attitude. Which I still think was a good thing.

"You should decide if it's right for your child by judging how receptive your child is to rules and rule changes."

I...don't understand what that means. So hard for me to comment on it.

"Due to this amount of structure a lot of children with difficulties on the autistic spectrum can be masked, or it may suit children on the spectrum."

Maked in what way? A lot of problems with the autistic spectrum is that the teacher has to be honest about his or her abilities. Is being in that particular classroom going to be beneficial to the child? I know of at least one Montessori school that works only with children on the Autistic Spectrum. There may be others. So it's a fantastic method for that. But whether or not the particular teacher can work with the child is another question.

"Another negative side for me personally would be the lack of free play and choice."

In Montessori? I think this person might be confusing it with another form of educational system. ??
Anyone that knows even the very basics of Montessori knows that this statement does not make sense.

"Mainstream schools do not teach this. Instead they teach children how to bully each other. "

Eh...that's another generalization going the other way. I do agree that Montessori Schools are fantastic in terms of helping students take care of each other and treat each other with respect. But I don't think "Mainstream" schools are really terrible at it. Many are, I'm sure. But I don't think they strive for it. So I think that's an unfair statement going the other way.

But Montessori does provide the more opportunities for Students to work with each other and help each other. The 6 year old is a teacher to the 4 year old. This is beneficial to both people involved.

I think the 2 biggest benefits to Montessori have to be that each student is working at his maximum level (thanks to Lysa for that way of phrasing it) and that the materials used are hands on.

I was actually explaining this last night to a friend. I teach in Taiwan and was talking to him about teaching English. Here, a lot of people can speak, read, write, and understand English fairly well. But they have very rough grammar. So I was teaching him how we take sentences, tear them up, rearrange them, and see first hand how things go together. Once they have a clear instinctual understanding of how things work, THEN we can introduce the rule.

Most schools here do it the other way around. They tell you the rule then they have you practice it. Then they're stuck trying to remember all the rules to use. It is much more important to have that physical "I can manipulate these things" concept before you learn the abstract. This is not something you can grasp as well by sitting in a desk and watching the teacher draw on a whiteboard.

Matt

Answer 4

I think that Montessori schools (inclusive schools) are great for ALL children because it teaches children to learn how to live together. Mainstream schools do not teach this. Instead they teach children how to bully each other. They group them based on ability. That's how tension builds up between children. And that is why I think that inclusive schools are better than mainstream schools.

**The person who gave me thumbs down just doesn’t want to face the reality of our corrupt world. You just don't want to admit it.

Answer 5

I think that they are great for some children - but not for others. Some kids who go to Montessori Schools have trouble adjusting to schools they're sent to later in life. You should decide if it's right for your child by judging how receptive your child is to rules and rule changes. I personally wouldn't send a child of mine to a Montessori School - but really it's up to you and your child.

Answer 6

I think they are very well organised, bright and colourful. They suit children who like structure. Due to this amount of structure a lot of children with difficulties on the autistic spectrum can be masked, or it may suit children on the spectrum. Another negative side for me personally would be the lack of free play and choice. Hence many skills do not have the opportunity to develop.