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Not exactly answering your question, but my wife and I considered Montessori for our kids. However, after observing it (and getting some advice) we concluded it

Not exactly answering your question, but my wife and I considered Montessori for our kids. However, after observing it (and getting some advice) we concluded it wouldn't be a good fit, since our kids (one of whom likely has ADHD, the other was diagnosed with high-functioning autism) would probably spend all their time looking around to see what the other kids are doing and struggle to pay attention to their own work in that environment.

nouveaux 5y ago
> since our kids (one of whom likely has ADHD That's interesting. My impression is that kids with ADHD would function better in a Montessori setting compared to a traditional education. Where do you plan to send your kids?
microtherion 5y ago
Both of my children went to Montessori kindergarten. Our younger son is neurotypical, but our older son has atypical autism; when he started kindergarten he struggled with language and would spend literally hours looking at the aquarium in the room. He was exactly the sort of kid would would not necessarily stick to an activity unassisted. The Montessori philosophy is very much NOT laissez faire: Kids are free to choose their activity, but then they are supervised and assisted to persist at that activity for a period of time (AND to put everything away neatly afterwards AND to not interfere with others). A properly run Montessori school might be very well suited for your children, but of course you'd have to evaluate that yourself. Both of my children transitioned to the state school system without too many difficulties (the younger one had some initial problems adjusting to the rougher environment). We loved Montessori as a school concept; one problem with sending your children to a private school in Switzerland however is that it puts them in a social bubble (in a telling anecdote, the other children once referred to my wife as my son's nanny, because so many of them were picked up at school by hired help), and we preferred a more egalitarian environment.

nouveaux 5y ago

> since our kids (one of whom likely has ADHD That's interesting. My impression is that kids with ADHD would function better in a Montessori setting compared to a traditional education. Where do you plan to send your kids?

microtherion 5y ago

Both of my children went to Montessori kindergarten. Our younger son is neurotypical, but our older son has atypical autism; when he started kindergarten he struggled with language and would spend literally hours looking at the aquarium in the room. He was exactly the sort of kid would would not necessarily stick to an activity unassisted. The Montessori philosophy is very much NOT laissez faire: Kids are free to choose their activity, but then they are supervised and assisted to persist at that activity for a period of time (AND to put everything away neatly afterwards AND to not interfere with others). A properly run Montessori school might be very well suited for your children, but of course you'd have to evaluate that yourself. Both of my children transitioned to the state school system without too many difficulties (the younger one had some initial problems adjusting to the rougher environment). We loved Montessori as a school concept; one problem with sending your children to a private school in Switzerland however is that it puts them in a social bubble (in a telling anecdote, the other children once referred to my wife as my son's nanny, because so many of them were picked up at school by hired help), and we preferred a more egalitarian environment.