4 ms·

This is exactly right. I suspect that the parents of people who attend Montessori schools are more educated than average to begin with. Go into an inner city L

by gxs 16y ago

This is exactly right. I suspect that the parents of people who attend Montessori schools are more educated than average to begin with. Go into an inner city Los Angeles elementary, and I guarantee you the great majority of parents wont have even heard of the name. TL;DR: the parents of people who care enough about their education to enroll them in a montessori school, would have probably turned out pretty bright kids regardless.

bostonpete 16y ago
> the parents of people who care enough about their education to enroll them in a montessori school... Really? You think it's just a matter of caring enough to make it so? I think I'd phrase this differently -- that the parents of people who have the means to send them to a montessori school probably would have the means to give them other advantages in life as well, so their kids are probably going to do pretty well regardless.
- kbutler 16y ago
  > the parents of people who have the means to send them to a montessori school probably would have the means to give them other advantages in life as well, so their kids are probably going to do pretty well regardless. I disagree with the emphasis on the "means" of the family. Contrast the success of immigrant families who struggle to get an education for a child with the wastrel habits of many "rich kids". Care is critical. Wealth may be helpful.
  - bostonpete 16y ago
    I don't think most immigrant families who struggle for the education of their kids do so by sending them to private grade school. More often they take maximum advantage of the public options available to them and augment it with good parenting. > Care is critical. Wealth may be helpful. Certainly I agree if we're talking about raising a successful child but that wasn't the issue we were discussing. When it comes to sending your kid to private school, I think money usually goes a lot further than care.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- tomjen3 16y ago
  I can't answer for the grandparent, but to me if you really, really care you make it happen. Not having the means is an excuse, not a reason.
teej 16y ago
The article mentions a study that shows the direct influence of a Montessori school. The study was published in Science. You can read it here: http://www.montessori-science.org/montessori_science_journal.htm http://www.montessori-science.org/montessori_science_journal... (click "see article full text") An excerpt: On several dimensions, children at a public inner city Montessori school had superior outcomes relative to a sample of Montessori applicants who, because of a random lottery, attended other schools. By the end of kindergarten, the Montessori children performed better on standardized tests of reading and math, engaged in more positive interaction on the playground, and showed more advanced social cognition and executive control. TL;DR: Montessori kids turn out better on many measures when controlling for "bright parents".
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- greendestiny 16y ago
  I understand that research into something as complicated as education can't control all variables. But I can immediately think of numerous other variables - what about the other children at the schools backgrounds? what about the level of funding the schools received? the level of training of the teachers? I think Montessori and Steiner are far more dogmatic than sense dictates - but stay this way, despite the negatives, in order to give their system a magical quality. Determining the quality of a school is hard. So people are willing to cling to a belief because they don't know any better. Just one example of negative; Montessori doesn't use imaginative play. It's been shown to be a great tool to give kids better concentration spans. But the writings of Montessori are against it and the dogma has to be followed.
  - qaexl 16y ago
    Wouldn't that just mean that parents would add some imaginative play with their own kids? What do you think about this? http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100311190247AA34P7t http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100311190247AA...

by gxs 16y ago

bostonpete 16y ago

> the parents of people who care enough about their education to enroll them in a montessori school... Really? You think it's just a matter of caring enough to make it so? I think I'd phrase this differently -- that the parents of people who have the means to send them to a montessori school probably would have the means to give them other advantages in life as well, so their kids are probably going to do pretty well regardless.

kbutler 16y ago
> the parents of people who have the means to send them to a montessori school probably would have the means to give them other advantages in life as well, so their kids are probably going to do pretty well regardless. I disagree with the emphasis on the "means" of the family. Contrast the success of immigrant families who struggle to get an education for a child with the wastrel habits of many "rich kids". Care is critical. Wealth may be helpful.
- bostonpete 16y ago
  I don't think most immigrant families who struggle for the education of their kids do so by sending them to private grade school. More often they take maximum advantage of the public options available to them and augment it with good parenting. > Care is critical. Wealth may be helpful. Certainly I agree if we're talking about raising a successful child but that wasn't the issue we were discussing. When it comes to sending your kid to private school, I think money usually goes a lot further than care.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
tomjen3 16y ago
I can't answer for the grandparent, but to me if you really, really care you make it happen. Not having the means is an excuse, not a reason.

teej 16y ago

The article mentions a study that shows the direct influence of a Montessori school. The study was published in Science. You can read it here: http://www.montessori-science.org/montessori_science_journal.htm http://www.montessori-science.org/montessori_science_journal... (click "see article full text") An excerpt: On several dimensions, children at a public inner city Montessori school had superior outcomes relative to a sample of Montessori applicants who, because of a random lottery, attended other schools. By the end of kindergarten, the Montessori children performed better on standardized tests of reading and math, engaged in more positive interaction on the playground, and showed more advanced social cognition and executive control. TL;DR: Montessori kids turn out better on many measures when controlling for "bright parents".

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
greendestiny 16y ago
I understand that research into something as complicated as education can't control all variables. But I can immediately think of numerous other variables - what about the other children at the schools backgrounds? what about the level of funding the schools received? the level of training of the teachers? I think Montessori and Steiner are far more dogmatic than sense dictates - but stay this way, despite the negatives, in order to give their system a magical quality. Determining the quality of a school is hard. So people are willing to cling to a belief because they don't know any better. Just one example of negative; Montessori doesn't use imaginative play. It's been shown to be a great tool to give kids better concentration spans. But the writings of Montessori are against it and the dogma has to be followed.
- qaexl 16y ago
  Wouldn't that just mean that parents would add some imaginative play with their own kids? What do you think about this? http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100311190247AA34P7t http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100311190247AA...