Montessori education

[mummypeanut]

We are considering a montessori nursery for our baby when i go back to work 2 days a week and he will be 8 months.

Has anyone here had a montessori education themsleves or are thier children going to montessori school?

There is a very very high chance our child will have moderate to severe dyslexia so from our point of view a child focussed education is really important to make sure a variety of teaching methods are used (not just listening which my husband really struggled with at school because of his dyslexia) and our kiddie doesnt end up 'turned off' to education because he is struggling.

 

[kirsten1985]

I went to a Montessori school from 2-6 years old, I enjoyed going and can remember quite a bit of it. I would love for Freya to go to one, I think it will be that or H.E. for us. I haven't really looked into where they are yet round here but will need to get a move on soon I guess, lol.

 

[mummypeanut]

I went to a Montessori school from 2-6 years old, I enjoyed going and can remember quite a bit of it. I would love for Freya to go to one, I think it will be that or H.E. for us. I haven't really looked into where they are yet round here but will need to get a move on soon I guess, lol.

completely! call me niave but i really thought i would only start looking at nurseries whern the baby was here....as it is they have a waiting list from now to october so i need to put babies name down NOW if we want a place! I couldnt believe it! I think im gonna feel very silly wandering around the place with a bump and no child.....Oh well!!

Ive read a bit about montessori style education and it keeps making refernce to montessori sensory learning tools. Im gonna ask to see an example when we walk round but can you remember anything like that?

Heres the database website if you wanted to see if there was a school or nursery near you https://www.montessorieducationuk.org/

I would love to do home education but as both me and my hubby are dyslexic im not sure we'd be the best people I can teach it loads about art which is great so long as it never want to spell or add up !!

 

[krwh]

I don't know if this is helpful or not (I didn't go to Montessori school) but I do have friends that did and one of them in particular said it was one of the best things that ever happened to him. He is incredibly creative and thoughtful person and absolutely loves building things and he attributes it to going to a Montessori school because they operate on the of hands-on approach. Hope that helps!

 

[milkmachine]

we have one here my god daughter goes it is ££££

 

[mum2beagain]

we really want our dd to go when she gets the funding at age 3 but we wnet to look around last week and becasue her bday is oct she will not get funding till jan but we are going to pay from sep-dec to secure her a place as they cannot garuntee a place in the janruary we have looked at many nurserys but this is by gfar the best we have seen

 

[mummypeanut]

we have one here my god daughter goes it is ££££

meaning expensive?

 

[bky]

I went to one until 5ish. (I've been to about every type of school there is lol). Was a nice experience, though I can't comment on how it would do for someone with dyslexia. I was a bit of an unusual and self motivated child so I came out of there knowing how to read fairly early.
However, RE dyslexia, my mother is a special education teacher and learning disability tutor (I know it means something different in UK, in the US it means dyslexia and other sensory processing/learning difficulties) so I'd' recommend some preventative tutoring focusing on phoneme development.

 

[mummypeanut]

I went to one until 5ish. (I've been to about every type of school there is lol). Was a nice experience, though I can't comment on how it would do for someone with dyslexia. I was a bit of an unusual and self motivated child so I came out of there knowing how to read fairly early.
However, RE dyslexia, my mother is a special education teacher and learning disability tutor (I know it means something different in UK, in the US it means dyslexia and other sensory processing/learning difficulties) so I'd' recommend some preventative tutoring focusing on phoneme development.

Thanks for the reply

yeah, i learned to read using phonetics but then i think think montessori use a phonetic system for reading as well. I will make sure to ask them when we look around.

I hope we will pick up a diagnosis early because both of us know the signs and at least both of us have a good understanding of what the barriers were for us so we can support a child more effectively through that.

I think for both of us more of a rounded sensory approach to education would have been useful. It just gives you more chance of accessing information if its presented in a few different ways rather than only auditory.

Both hubby and I have degrees and work in professional jobs so we havent let it stop us from achieving the things we wanted to in life. I hope we will be able to effectively support a child so that they can do the same.

 

[TigerLady]

When I was 22 months old a doctor saw me and told my parents to get me into a gifted school asap as I was clearly very gifted. (They didn't know the difference as I was their first. )

I started out at a Montesorri and went for a while. I have some memories of it and I personally didn't care for it. My parents finally took me out as I didn't like it. The strongest memory I have of it is feeling very upset one day. I was mad because things were taken away from me. Another boy didn't want to share his PILE of toys (and I had none) and I got in trouble for trying to play with a toy in his pile. LOL I also remember things like forced nap times and being bored a lot.

However, that is ONE experience at ONE school, over 30 years ago. I highly doubt it is representitive of the system as a whole.

I would consider Montessori for my kids IF we had one in town and IF I checked it out and liked it.

In the end, not going there long didn't really impact my education. I went on to do very well in school. I got a good, difficult degree, from a very good uni and maintained a high GPA with minimal effort.

I think how well your kids do in school is mostly down to 2 things: 1. Natural talent and 2. Parental involvment and encouragement.

But extra help from good schools and teachers is never a wasted effort!

 

[bitter almond]

Montessori can be a very mixed bag. I've both taught Montessori (my district has some magnet public schools with Montessori programs) and taught in regular public school classrooms. I've found that parents make two big mistakes concerning Montessori education. One is that they think all Montessori schools are created equal. They aren't. Do some serious research into the methodology and the school's (and individual teachers') qualifications and accreditation. There are so many pre-schools, especially, that call themselves Montessori because they buy some of the manipulatives, but they don't follow any of the actual pedagogy. Montessori is not chaos, it's actually very structured. The other error parents make is to take their child out of Montessori once they've started. It's one thing to use Montessori for pre-school only, but when you commit to that process and then withdraw your child in favor of a more traditional school setting in, say, 4th grade, you're asking for disaster. At the school where I currently teach (a non-Montessori but very progressive kinder through 8th grade public school), we had a kid transferred in 4th grade from a Montessori school. It was terrible. He's still having adjustment issues and he's currently a 6th grader.

 

[marley2580]

If you are seriously interested in HE I actually think you and OH would ideally placed to teach your LO if they have dyslexia as you would both have a very real understanding of it.

 

[mummypeanut]

If you are seriously interested in HE I actually think you and OH would ideally placed to teach your LO if they have dyslexia as you would both have a very real understanding of it.

aww thanks, nice of you to say - the one problem is that I cant spot or correct my own spelling mistakes though so Id struggle to correct a kiddies. I also dont know my timestables, cant read the time quickly, cant sequence months etc etc . Id worry about there being big gaps in his education and also theres no guarantee that he will be dyslexic in which case I dont want him learning bad habits from me

I think we will stick with some kind of schooling and we can give him the 'how to get around your brain being a bit different' tips and tricks when he's at home.

 

[marley2580]

I don't know my times tables either, yet I'm going to be home educating. Have a look at the idea of unschooling, it's when you let your kids learn what they want when they want. It's proven to be very successful. Not trying to persuade you, just want you to know that you don't have to know how to spell etc to home educate - it's not about teaching your kids, it's about enabling them to learn.

 

[milkmachine]

we have one here my god daughter goes it is ££££

meaning expensive?

 

[Shifter]

we have one here my god daughter goes it is ££££

meaning expensive?

You get what you pay for though. To give you an idea, the Montessori school near us charges £1942 per term for over 5 year olds (don't know about the younger ones but their website says they claim Early Years funding and that their fees reflect this.)

I will be home educating following some Montessori principles. I think it's a great way for kids to learn

And I agree with Marley, I don't think it matters so much if you have gaps in your own education, the aim is not necessarily to impart all of your own knowledge, it is to enable your child to learn for themselves.

 

[Tacey]

Just to add, it's worth having a look at state schools and nurseries too. Education has changed a huge amount and the focus in early years (and ideally beyond) is far more centred on the individual child's learning styles. It is very unlikely to be 'chalk and talk' nowadays. Learning through play and child directed education is much more common now. If necessary, getting a statement of special educational needs is a good step to ensure that provision is put in place for additional support.

 

[mummypeanut]

Just to add, it's worth having a look at state schools and nurseries too. Education has changed a huge amount and the focus in early years (and ideally beyond) is far more centred on the individual child's learning styles. It is very unlikely to be 'chalk and talk' nowadays. Learning through play and child directed education is much more common now. If necessary, getting a statement of special educational needs is a good step to ensure that provision is put in place for additional support.

thanks, I was statemented in school so I know the process well. I think kiddy will be going into the state system once he is old enough but we're currently looking at pre-school provision (baby) so where ever we go it will have to be some kinda paid for provision.

 

[Shifter]

Just to add, it's worth having a look at state schools and nurseries too. Education has changed a huge amount and the focus in early years (and ideally beyond) is far more centred on the individual child's learning styles. It is very unlikely to be 'chalk and talk' nowadays. Learning through play and child directed education is much more common now. If necessary, getting a statement of special educational needs is a good step to ensure that provision is put in place for additional support.

Unfortunately state education also places way too emphasis on tests and targets, even during early years childcare.

 

[Tacey]

Unfortunately state education also places way too emphasis on tests and targets, even during early years childcare.

It really does depend on the school/nursery. I've taught in early years settings and have thankfully not been pressured by testing. Due to a very supportive management team, the focus was always on child development, not attainment.

It was another story when teaching KS2, however!