What are your views on Montessori education?

[jussi]

Just that really.thanks.

[ommmward]

Perfect for some children, who want a calm, focused atmosphere. Less perfect for others. :)

[StupidFlanders]

Excellent in theory. Practice less so.

[hermioneweasley]

I went to a Montessori school as a young kid. I remember being bored out of my tree

[jussi]

Hermione-why were you bored?

[Munashe]

I have a son in a Montessori school, what exactly are you asking for? Is it the pedagogy you are interested in or what? I chose ours simply because we loved it and then investigated the Montessori bit afterwards when my son started pre school there. I love our Montessori and hence why I am keeping my son there.

Do you want to implement it in home ed? I think its a bit difficult and expensive to implement unless you have patience to make the manipulatives from scratch. However certain aspects can be easily implemented. By the way I home ed my older child.

How good a Montessori is depends on who is delivering it as anyone can call themselves Montessori.

[jussi]

Thank you.im just interested in the views of people who HE as Montessori is supposed to be child led and as that is quite often cited as a reason to HE,I wondered what opinions/views people had.
Obviously in HE interests can be directly linked to the child but I guess I'm just interested in exploring this method a little further.As you say ,it all depends on who is delivering it (as in any other educational establishment).
(I'm basically fed up of mainstream and am considering HE but there is a chance of a Montessori free school opening in my area.Any experience of Montessori with children with SEN also appreciated-maybe I should post this in SEN/primary.
Thanks anyway.

[mam29]

I have been looking onto montessori methods and how to do at home and mostly looked at pinterest and few american blogs/websites.

countingcoconuts.blogspot.co.uk/

this is my fave.

theres a few others.

The concepts are are simple enough.

buts its more the cost and amount of resources needed but if you searh montessori on pinterest loads comes up including some cheap homemade ideas.

Amazon also have few books too.

montessori is still quite child led though.

[hermioneweasley]

I was bored because we never seemed to do anything much. There was a big shelving unit in the middle with activities in and you could help yourself (I guess this was the child led aspect) but none of them were very stimulating. I remembering poring lentils from one jug to another and sort of sighing inwardly.

[Saracen]

I know some people love Montessori but since you asked for opinions...

It seems very restrictive to me. Perhaps not compared to other school formats, but compared to how home education can be.

For example, the materials are only to be used in a certain way. As I understand it, a child cannot take the stacking cups over to the pouring area and use them as boats, or wear them as hats, or remove the laces from the lacing station to tie the stacking cups together to make a robot.

There are defined tasks. It's true that the child is allowed to choose from among them, but she can't define her own goals. In common with any curriculum, the Montessori approach assumes that someone else understands what the child ought to be learning at a particular age, and what materials she needs to achieve this, better than the child herself does.

Many of the tasks are to be carried out individually, even though children often have the urge to collaborate.

I guess Montessori is child-led in the sense that the child is presented with a fixed number of different paths and allowed to choose one of those paths and go down it at her own pace. It's better than telling her which path to take and how fast she must go. But I would rather set my child free in the world to forge her own path, or even just sit and eat her sandwiches and watch the clouds for awhile if she isn't ready to go anywhere yet.

[merrymouse]

I think there are some brilliant aspects to Montessori, particularly managing the environment to enable children to do things by themselves.

On the other hand, (as with Steiner) the method was developed a long time ago - some strict Montessori teachers can give the impression that nobody else had any interesting ideas about education after Montessori died. I think re: SEN it depends on the teacher. The approach can work with any child, but I think some teachers can be frustrated when a child doesn't match their expectations.

A great blog by a Montessori teacher is 'sew liberated'. (Look for earlier posts as she isnt teaching anymore).

[merrymouse]

My experience is that most state school settings are noisy (playtime/lunchtime/recorder practice/dodgy classroom reconfiguration) and, atleast where DS was at school, teachers don't have much option but to put up with it because of pressure on space.

However some private settings are noisy, but some are very peaceful. Also, fewer children=fewer noise.

DS has sensory challenges - his Montessori nursery wasn't perfect, but he could cope in the quieter setting. For him an overcrowded reception year (emergency intake) was a disaster.

I definitely think its worth trying to find a quieter setting, (or home eding..,)

[MariscallRoad]

I have not done research on the effects of the method, but I ve read the book by Maria and liked it - long ago. It is said that it offers the child independence, self confidence and ways to learn how to learn and to rely on herself. Other methods too might achieve this but I do not know all of them. There is a lot of flexibility in HE. You can try Montessori if you feel so. You will see it works with DC. DS many times found out about things by himself like in Montessori method. He liked to work things in his own time and in his own way. It seems to me the method lets the child learn and work things in its own pace which is a good way of learning.

[CrazyAlien06]

hi, i recently visited a montessori and am 50/50 with the choice to send my daughter there. It was very quiet and calm. The toys were very well organised and regimented.
My daughter did go off and play with the different activities quietly as she is a quiet little thing ( no idea where she gets it from !).
Anyway she turns 2 in a couple of weeks and loves learning. can count to 20, recognise numbers and many shapes.
I think she would thrive educationally in a montessori but it may make it more difficult for her to integrate into normal primary school..

My ideal would be two mornings @ montessori and two mornings at a 'normal' pre school. However this wouldnt be fair on her to understand two different situations.

Really not sure what would be best. She is a child who likes to watch the world go by like myself. And is very kind. If anyone takes a toy from her she just lets them and maybe gets a little emotional if she was playing with it. But she never snatches and just lets all the other children play around her. I think she would enjoy the calm of a montessori except she absolutely loves playing outdoors! and this one didnt have an outdoor area as such, just a strip of grass. they did take them to the park everyday though.
Also I have to remember to begin with she wouldnt be going all the time and seeing as we have a garden at home and her Grandma has a massive plot of land its not like she would miss out..
awww this is so tough!!

[Saracen]

Crazy, I think your daughter is much too young for you to be worrying too much about transition to primary school. It's what, almost three years before she would start school? There's plenty of time to get her used to a school environment later!

I also think that at just two she would be best off in just one setting (if she goes to any setting at all).

Send her to wherever will meet her needs best right now. Or keep her home if that is better.

[Gratitude86]

As a Montessori teaching assistant, in my opinion, if your child has SEN don't send him to a montessori nursery as some Nurseries will put 2,3 and 4 year olds into the same room as the montessori theory is that the younger children learn from the older children, however, the environment is not always calm and quiet as not all children are the same. Some children want to run around all day in the garden (Active learning) while others are quite happy to be passive and do activities in the various areas to help develop their skills for later life. My point being look for a nursery that has an individual room for SEN children or age appropriate room (separate age room) where your child can focus and concentrate and reach his potential with quality SEN teachers that can give him their full attention and stimulate his interests because montessori is very repetitive until activities are mastered. He may get bored!

[Gratitude86]

You could look for a forest school. A lot of Nurseries offer forest school all year round and beach school in the warmer weather. 2 sessions sounds about right for her age. If the nursery you looked at doesn't have suitable outdoor facilities then don't send her. Like you said grandma has big outdoor facilities. Keep her at home and try again when she is older.