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Arative

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Anyone have young kids who did/are doing Montessori education? Opinion?

My wife is a kindergarten teacher and she says kids that go to Montessori schools have a harder time adjusting to the structure of a public school. She said academics depends on the school.
 
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Ao-

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Anyone have young kids who did/are doing Montessori education? Opinion?
I put 3 of my kids through Pre-K at a montessori and it was "good".
The oldest went through really well, and moved into spanish kindergarten easy.
The middle went through, and I thought it had gotten a bit... less beneficial?
The youngest will start kindergarten in the fall, and there was a major change at the Monessori in December. With the new teacher, I think he'll do amazing.

Overall the self-sufficiency they learn is great, but I don't think I know enough about "Montessori" to tell the difference between the place my kids went and any other decent pre-K system.
 
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Lenaldo

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We are doing montesorri for our kids. First just finished her first year and we really like it. Tried the public school route but just found the environment was not great. We have pretty good public schools in this area, but it makes a big difference when your child is surrounded by like minded families.

The montesorri we goto is pretty strict and it has been great. There are definite downsides and I've been told its completely dependent on the school... but so far so good. We are planning to move them out during middle school as I think that's when the academic structure really picks up... but for elementary school it seems like a great choice if you have one close to you .
 
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lurkingdirk

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I know many Montessori families, and without exception they all have a wicked hard time transitioning to high school. They're actually starting a Montessori high school here, and I'm pretty sure every student, without exception, who goes from K-12 in Montessori, will have a terrible time in college. I think Montessori does many things well, preparing kids for anything that isn't Montessori is not one of those things.

Also, I want to say that my kids have some amazing teachers who have gone above and beyond in this weird e-learning situation. But I just read this story, and it's fantastic. Public schools are not all crap, and there are really dedicated, fantastic teachers.

daily_picdump_3411_640_high_05wtmk.jpg
 
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chaos

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I bitched about our school system in the coronavirus thread a bit. It hasn't gotten much better. Some teachers are great, some are clearly not, but the system itself can suck a pile of fucks. Never before in my life have I been tempted to go to one of those school board meetings and chew their asses out until now, but this whole situation is fucking bananas.

There's no stakes, my kids have basically all already passed for the year, the work is busywork, and they need busywork over this long break, I appreciate that. I imagine that kids with no siblings are taking this whole thing way harder, my kids miss their friends etc but they are for sure never lonely.
 

Jx3

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I bitched about our school system in the coronavirus thread a bit. It hasn't gotten much better. Some teachers are great, some are clearly not, but the system itself can suck a pile of fucks. Never before in my life have I been tempted to go to one of those school board meetings and chew their asses out until now, but this whole situation is fucking bananas.

There's no stakes, my kids have basically all already passed for the year, the work is busywork, and they need busywork over this long break, I appreciate that. I imagine that kids with no siblings are taking this whole thing way harder, my kids miss their friends etc but they are for sure never lonely.

Most of my students have checked out and I don't blame them. The secret got out that essentially they can't fail. To quote our superintendent "No students grade for the 4th nine weeks can be lower than what their 3rd nine weeks grade was/is." Which means I assign say, 10 assignments, Lil' Jimmy decide he'll do one. Gets 100%. Well now his grade is 100% for the nine weeks.

The whole situation is fucked, be prepared to possibly deal with the shit up through the first semester of next school year. West Virginia is talking about doing just. We're red as fuck, if we're talking about you can bet blue states are coming up with plans to keep schools closed for a long while.
 
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Springbok

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Fire Dept rolled out 6 trucks, two SUVs, and two ambulances today for my son's birthday. Just blasted the everloving fuck out of the neighborhood and stopped traffic. Family members were behind the parade too. He was ecstatic but also confused. Hopefully one day he realizes how incredible it was with the strings I pulled.
How’d you swing that if I may ask?! Called local Fire Dept?
 

Captain Suave

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Anyone have young kids who did/are doing Montessori education? Opinion?

Overall the self-sufficiency they learn is great, but I don't think I know enough about "Montessori" to tell the difference between the place my kids went and any other decent pre-K system.

My daughter went through a Montessori pre-K and we've been pleased. She's probably a year ahead of her older brother at the same age (he went to a different program). She'll start public Kindergarten in the fall and can read simple books independently and do basic addition and subraction with numbers up to 100. She's been very good with task followthrough and following directions, but that may be a difference in personality.

As Ao- said, I'm not sure that the difference is attributable to anything specifically Montessori, or if they simply asked her to perform at a higher level earlier. Kids in general are more capable than we give them credit for, and IMO it's mostly a question of discipline and expectations.

Our local Montessori program only operates through Kindergarten, so I have no information about what the elementary+ experience is like.
 
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Noodleface

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Because of my son's diagnosis and his functionality, he was able to qualify for free preschool - full days 5x a week starting in September. Oldest is starting kindergarten at the same time. Gonna be saving some serious money.
 
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Kalaar kururuc

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Because of my son's diagnosis and his functionality, he was able to qualify for free preschool - full days 5x a week starting in September. Oldest is starting kindergarten at the same time. Gonna be saving some serious money.

Silver lining I guess, although I'd rather not have that particular cloud. Child care is my single biggest outgoing after my mortgage. Although kid has been home 5 weeks now as nursery closed, so saving a bit of money.
 

Noodleface

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Yeah I mean obviously life would be easier for us and him if he wasn't autistic, but I've come to terms with it. I was surprised they diagnosed him when he was 2 but it's become very clear now that he's different
 

lurkingdirk

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Because of my son's diagnosis and his functionality, he was able to qualify for free preschool - full days 5x a week starting in September. Oldest is starting kindergarten at the same time. Gonna be saving some serious money.

Dude, that's just fantastic. So happy for you.

You and your wife's lives are about to change. It's a bitter sweet thing. Yeah, someone else is responsible for a bunch of hours every day, but there are also all these things in your kids' lives that you have no control over. It's great, and it also will make you wish you had more time with your kids all at once.
 

Noodleface

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Dude, that's just fantastic. So happy for you.

You and your wife's lives are about to change. It's a bitter sweet thing. Yeah, someone else is responsible for a bunch of hours every day, but there are also all these things in your kids' lives that you have no control over. It's great, and it also will make you wish you had more time with your kids all at once.
For me at least, I work Monday through Friday so it won't be different for me. My wife on the other ha d... Got a feeling there will be many tears
 

lurkingdirk

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For me at least, I work Monday through Friday so it won't be different for me. My wife on the other ha d... Got a feeling there will be many tears

Absolutely, there will be tears, and there should be. Her life has been defined by caring for these kids, now they're going to be gone during the work day. What does that do to her identity? What is she left with? My wife and I certainly went through this. While we both did child care, she bore the largest burden, and when our youngest went to school full time she had questions about who she was, what her purpose was, and it was real work to get through that.

I can tell you with plenty of joy that 7 years later we have both carved identities that can survive children going to school, children leaving home, children becoming more independent. Don't fear this transition, it's a wonderful transition. Just be open and honest and encourage your wife to do the same.
 

Hateyou

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For me at least, I work Monday through Friday so it won't be different for me. My wife on the other ha d... Got a feeling there will be many tears

The day my wife went back to work and my son went to daycare, she only worked a half day and was a total wreck. Sat in the daycare room holding him and crying, called me at work crying. She still says that was the worst day of her life, and her dad passed away from a brain tumor with her holding his hand since then. Wild the connection they have with their kids.
 

Falstaff

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My wife was the opposite... she was having serious stay at home mom identity crisis the past year and a half and couldn't wait to go back to work. She started back in her teaching career in January and now everything is fucked because of corona... so now she's a stay at home mom again and being miserable.
 

Noodleface

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Unfortunately my wife never really "found" her calling for work. She has a BA in English, and if she went for a Masters she could teach but she doesn't want that. So she's unsure what she'll do. She does want to work, just not sure. Her last job was being a mail carrier for the USPS. She loved that job, but there's no way she could do it while having kids, she has to do something else. I think even a part time job would be nice.

We aren't hurting for money, but I definitely wouldn't mind added income.