Parenting: Montessori Schools

[SKEEphistAKAte]

My daughter, Kelyce went to a Montessori school last year. She started there at 13 months and did great. She learned so much. It was unbelievable. I loved the teachers, she always brought home products of her work. The school that she went to was owned by a hispanic family who run a chain of Montessori schools in Tampa. They taught spanish as a part of their curriculum, so my daughter learned both the English and Spanish alphabet and numbers. We couldn't keep up with how much she was learning. One day we were trying to get her to count to 10 by saying every other number (we'd say 1, she'd say 2 and so on) and she counted all the way up to 20!
They also did a lot of performing arts activities, they had a winter concert and everything- she wasn't even 2 yet. I highly recommend montessori. It is a little pricey but worth it!

[PenguinTrax]

Montessori is great.

Another alternative learning style that is also very good is Waldorf.

[carolyne]

Originally posted by CrimsonTide4
I have nothing to add but CONGRATS to your son because THAT IS AWESOME!!!!! Congrats to you and your family for your little genius. Thank you for being such a powerful advocate on your son's behalf.

Thank you so much.

We have to be advocates for our children. If we don't do it, NO ONE else will. I want to make sure my child continues to grow.

[carolyne]

I just did a search on Waldorf education and I don't think it is for us. I'm really concerned about their tactics. Here is a list of what they say differentiate them from other schools:


Academics are de-emphasized in the early years of schooling. There is no academic content in the Waldorf kindergarten experience (although there is a good deal of cultivation of pre-academic skills), and minimal academics in first grade. Reading is not taught until second or third grade, though the letters are introduced carefully in first and second.

During the elementary school years (grades 1-8) the students have a class (or "main lesson") teacher who stays with the same class for (ideally) the entire eight years of elementary school.

Certain activities which are often considered "frills" at mainstream schools are central at Waldorf schools: art, music, gardening, and foreign languages (usually two in elementary grades), to name a few. In the younger grades, all subjects are introduced through artistic mediums, because the children respond better to this medium than to dry lecturing and rote learning. All children learn to play recorder and to knit.

There are no "textbooks" as such in the first through fifth grades. All children have "main lesson books", which are their own workbooks which they fill in during the course of the year. They essentially produce their own "textbooks" which record their experiences and what they've learned. Upper grades use textbooks to supplement their main lesson work.

Learning in a Waldorf school is a noncompetitive activity. There are no grades given at the elementary level; the teacher writes a detailed evaluation of the child at the end of each school year.
The use of electronic media, particularly television, by young children is strongly discouraged in Waldorf schools.

[SKEEphistAKAte]

Um, no, I'm going to have to pass on the Waldorf technique. That sounds like some ol' shullbit to me.

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally posted by SKEEphistAKAte
Um, no, I'm going to have to pass on the Waldorf technique. That sounds like some ol' shullbit to me.

Ditto. Soror Carolyne, thank you for providing information on the Waldorf technique. I can't get with it for my as yet unborn children.

[FeeFee]

Originally posted by SKEEphistAKAte
Um, no, I'm going to have to pass on the Waldorf technique. That sounds like some ol' shullbit to me.

Um, yeah, what she said....