4 ms·

Remarkable... I wish the US system were more like that but I can't see it happening. My high school was nothing like that. Montessori schools seem to lean in

Remarkable... I wish the US system were more like that but I can't see it happening. My high school was nothing like that. Montessori schools seem to lean in that direction though. Can anyone with first-hand Montessori experience comment on that?

Alex3917 18y ago
That's the problem with Montessori. It's unclear what they actually believe. If you go through the mainstream literature on various educational theories, the proponents of each theory make a clear case about what this method does for children and why it is better than other methods, with some set of empirical results. With Montessori if you want access to their materials then you have to pay.[1] It's like the Scientology of the education world. [1] With the exception of the original books from 90+ years ago.
- dgabriel 18y ago
  I think you may be getting Montessori mixed up with Waldorf. Information on the montessori method is widely available (start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori, google for more). My son goes to a public Montessori school, and if I want access to the materials, I just ask the teacher. Everything is open, and parents (including prospective parents) are very much encouraged to observe the classroom. Waldorf is kind of weird and secretive and expensive, and based on suspect and outdated science. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education
  - Alex3917 18y ago
    No I meant Montessori. The Wikipedia article and the information on montessori.org provide a short description and a few example activities, but neither contain anywhere near enough insight/information to make a rational evaluation of the program. So far as I can tell you pretty much have to accept everything on faith.
    - dgabriel 18y ago
      Seriously, as much info about Montessori as you want is out there, and unless the school you're dealing with is a little shady, you should be able to walk in & request anything without paying tuition. You can also find a lot more than those two sites on the internet.
riahi 18y ago
I went to a Montessori school from pre-k to 5th grade. The school I went to was just completely different from any public elementary school I have visited in this country. Instead of a one-size-fits-all mentality for education, each teacher developed a work-plan for each student that he/she was to complete at the end of the week. There were no desks, but workmats that we could arrange on the floor or at a table. Everything we did had to be kept on the workmat, but allowed for freedom of working wherever in the classroom. There were 9 week assessments which determined our progress and helped establish the pacing of our work-plans. Almost everything was independent. Teachers only taught in small groups of similarly leveled students, but this was maybe twice a week. They seemed to serve more as facilitators of learning, not leaders. A similarity to this article was that second/third languages started early. I went to Montessori only speaking Persian and a little English, but within 1 year I was also enrolled in Spanish, and 3 years later in French. I have since forgotten the French--there are few to speak it with in Alabama, but I have retained decent fluency in Spanish. We had little in the way of sports aside from PE, but we had art classes twice a week (visual arts once on tuesdays and musical arts on thursdays). We also had computer training from a very early age; I remember being on the early internet waaaaay back in 1995 when I was 7. Classes were interestingly set up as well. In one classroom there were 3 grades of students with two teachers. I think there were maybe 40 kids spread amongst the years. We stayed with the same teacher for 3 year blocks. My experiences were Pre-K and Kindergarten / First-Third Grades / Fourth-Sixth Grades. Interaction and cooperative learning between both grade-level and skill-level was encouraged, with the idea that one could only master the material if you could teach it to someone else. Any further questions? I'll try to answer to the best of my ability.

Alex3917 18y ago

That's the problem with Montessori. It's unclear what they actually believe. If you go through the mainstream literature on various educational theories, the proponents of each theory make a clear case about what this method does for children and why it is better than other methods, with some set of empirical results. With Montessori if you want access to their materials then you have to pay.[1] It's like the Scientology of the education world. [1] With the exception of the original books from 90+ years ago.

dgabriel 18y ago
I think you may be getting Montessori mixed up with Waldorf. Information on the montessori method is widely available (start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori, google for more). My son goes to a public Montessori school, and if I want access to the materials, I just ask the teacher. Everything is open, and parents (including prospective parents) are very much encouraged to observe the classroom. Waldorf is kind of weird and secretive and expensive, and based on suspect and outdated science. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education
- Alex3917 18y ago
  No I meant Montessori. The Wikipedia article and the information on montessori.org provide a short description and a few example activities, but neither contain anywhere near enough insight/information to make a rational evaluation of the program. So far as I can tell you pretty much have to accept everything on faith.
  - dgabriel 18y ago
    Seriously, as much info about Montessori as you want is out there, and unless the school you're dealing with is a little shady, you should be able to walk in & request anything without paying tuition. You can also find a lot more than those two sites on the internet.

riahi 18y ago

I went to a Montessori school from pre-k to 5th grade. The school I went to was just completely different from any public elementary school I have visited in this country. Instead of a one-size-fits-all mentality for education, each teacher developed a work-plan for each student that he/she was to complete at the end of the week. There were no desks, but workmats that we could arrange on the floor or at a table. Everything we did had to be kept on the workmat, but allowed for freedom of working wherever in the classroom. There were 9 week assessments which determined our progress and helped establish the pacing of our work-plans. Almost everything was independent. Teachers only taught in small groups of similarly leveled students, but this was maybe twice a week. They seemed to serve more as facilitators of learning, not leaders. A similarity to this article was that second/third languages started early. I went to Montessori only speaking Persian and a little English, but within 1 year I was also enrolled in Spanish, and 3 years later in French. I have since forgotten the French--there are few to speak it with in Alabama, but I have retained decent fluency in Spanish. We had little in the way of sports aside from PE, but we had art classes twice a week (visual arts once on tuesdays and musical arts on thursdays). We also had computer training from a very early age; I remember being on the early internet waaaaay back in 1995 when I was 7. Classes were interestingly set up as well. In one classroom there were 3 grades of students with two teachers. I think there were maybe 40 kids spread amongst the years. We stayed with the same teacher for 3 year blocks. My experiences were Pre-K and Kindergarten / First-Third Grades / Fourth-Sixth Grades. Interaction and cooperative learning between both grade-level and skill-level was encouraged, with the idea that one could only master the material if you could teach it to someone else. Any further questions? I'll try to answer to the best of my ability.