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Ask HN: Anyone go through Montessori education until age 12 (end of grade 6)?

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone go through Montessori education until age 12 (end of grade 6)?

#91

Post by SQueeeeeL »

huevosabio wrote: post #55

I did Montessori from kindergarten until grade 6 (age 12), in Mexico. I really, really like it. I think it reinforces the kids natural curiosity. In middle school, my first year out of Montessori, I was shocked at how little other kids cared about learning. I remember the teacher discussing something about astronomy, and I raised my hand to comment on some fact I had read, and what followed was mockery by my peers an…

Damn, that part about being excited to learn and share knowledge with your peers only to be shouted down dredged up some memories. Most American schools are so regimented that any exploration of knowledge is actually sneered down. How did our communities let it get so bad...

Re: Ask HN: Anyone go through Montessori education until age 12 (end of grade 6)?

#92

Post by perlgeek »

eclarkso wrote: post #45

I went to a private Montessori school grades 3K-5, and my children have been or are in Montessori school grades 3K-6. As you might have guessed, I am a fan. As most Montessori schools are private, my impression is that the variance in the quality of Montessori implementation varies considerably, but at a high level I have positive views of many of the same method characteristics as other comments: - mixed-age classes…

> As most Montessori schools are private, my impression is that the variance in the quality of Montessori implementation varies considerably

Having gone to a different kind of "alternative" school (Waldorf / Steiner), I agree 100%.

Variance in quality among teachers was pretty high, higher than my children's public schools.

Sadly my school was also used a bit as dumping ground for children who failed in the public school system, so at least in the later classes most of the newer students were below-average in performance, making progress slower and classes more boring.

Switching from an "alternative" to a public school (after 9 years for me) was a pretty big culture shock.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone go through Montessori education until age 12 (end of grade 6)?

#93

Post by dyingkneepad »

I have a slightly negative experience to share.

I put my kid in a Montessori Preschool. The school was one giant 25-kid classroom with about 5 teachers. He absolutely loved a specific and was learning from her. He was starting to learn to read at the age of 4, super interested in everything she brought him. Then his favorite teacher left the school and it was never the same thing again. Even though he already knew the others, they could never actually get him interested in reading again or simply learning. It seems to me he didn't like the "focus time" (I forgot the name they use!) and doing activities all by himself. School as mostly boring to him, I ever wonder what the heck he was doing there all that time, 99% of the stories he shared with us happened during the little outside play time they had.

Then we put him in Public School for Kindergarten and he absolutely loved it. He loved doing the same activity as everybody else, he loved the teacher, he loved the more energetic environment. He immediately got interested in learning again.

So my conclusion is that it has much more to do with the teacher and the environment than with the method. Choose well, and trust your feelings when you see and talk to the teachers.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone go through Montessori education until age 12 (end of grade 6)?

#94

Post by liveoneggs »

I went to certified and uncertified montessori until mid 5th grade after public kindergarten offended my mother. It was fine and nice (especially the certified school) but going into a regular school was a bit of a culture shock. The social structure of my tiny parochial school was just so different. I can't even imagine what kids in public middle school go through (although I'm about to experience it by proxy with my own kids).

The montessori was probably a great fit for me because I couldn't sit in a desk all day after moving to regular school and got in a little trouble for being unable to do so until I was about 16.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone go through Montessori education until age 12 (end of grade 6)?

#95

Post by conductr »

spiffytech wrote: post #73
conductr wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just want to point out this sounds more like a private->public pros and cons list. I’m not doubting it at all, just not sure if it’s due to the Montessori method. Most Montessori’s are or are operate similar to the private setting.

I attended a small, private, religious, non-Montessori school through middle+high school. While the atmosphere wasn't toxic like I hear people say about public school, few of my peers were interested in learning, excelled academically, etc. A non-negligible portion of the kids in my school were the ones kicked out of the public school for grades or troublemaking. I think they did better at my school, but that populat…

This is a good point. "Private" encompasses a wide variety of experiences and quality. My private experience with my kid is of the somewhat elitist variety. They simply would not accept expelled students from any school. They heavily curate enrollment to create an environment for success. They're building a cooperative community of Families that will reinforce the holistic development of each student. Parental involvement is required and with fairly high expectations.

If you just throw kids together and expect the syllabus/curriculum to prevail, you'll quickly find the Lord of the Flies elements of public school social dynamics come into play and for a child often are more important than academics. At that point, simply being "private" has no advantage.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone go through Montessori education until age 12 (end of grade 6)?

#96

Post by boringg »

rodelrod wrote: post #82
sedeki wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - Difficult transition to the cliques and more aggressive social dynamics of public school Am I naive in thinking that the aggressive social dynamics of public school adds no value whatsoever to a child's or teenager's development? Like, _why_ would anyone want to put their children through that? Is it _really_ integral to a person's social development to understand how to interact with bullies (worst case)? I admi…

I spent two years in a rough-ish public school. It was the hardest period in my life but it taught me very much about valuing people from all walks of life and especially on adapting my behavior to get positive outcomes in any social setting. I can absolutely see how that experience is lacking on some of my friends that spent all their lives in protected environments.

Fair point but can't that be worked around through having parents teach their kids to value people from all walks of life? True the lack of exposure does play a factor but I would wager it falls heavily on what parents hand down to their children and how they perceive the world.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone go through Montessori education until age 12 (end of grade 6)?

#97

Post by boringg »

dyingkneepad wrote: post #93

I have a slightly negative experience to share. I put my kid in a Montessori Preschool. The school was one giant 25-kid classroom with about 5 teachers. He absolutely loved a specific and was learning from her. He was starting to learn to read at the age of 4, super interested in everything she brought him. Then his favorite teacher left the school and it was never the same thing again. Even though he already knew th…

Sorry to hear that - that sounds concerning as a parent but I'm glad your child found their way again. Agree with you that and my sense is that teachers are the foundational component of education regardless of systemic benefits/drawbacks - all the way through your adult years where someone interesting at work can light up topics that you wouldn't otherwise be interested in.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone go through Montessori education until age 12 (end of grade 6)?

#98

Post by boringg »

kqr wrote: post #32

I did Montessori between ages 6 and 15, then transitioned into more traditional education for the last three years. The main difference was how much more challenging Montessori education was. The teachers really observed me and how I performed on assignments, and they could tell when I needed more of a challenge, and assign something to me that was just at the edge of what I was able to do. In the traditional educati…

In terms of authority figure respect - - I always get the feeling that's something thats innate. I have the same aversion to authority and has gotten me into trouble not reading the politics of a situation / power dynamic. I probably could attribute it to be raised in a public school system though my recollection is did respect the teachers. Interesting take.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone go through Montessori education until age 12 (end of grade 6)?

#99

Post by boringg »

krn1p4n1c wrote: post #15

Both my kids transitioned from Montessori to public school at 11 (grade 5) in the US. 13 and 16 now. + Love of learning and self-driven discovery + Top of class in pretty much all subjects + Comfortable giving presentations + Comfortable working in groups + At ease working with younger students/children and essentially mentoring them + Excellent handwriting + Respect for teachers - Difficulty with testing that involv…

Thanks for sharing - those are some very valuable insights. If it's not to personal to ask what sex are your children?

I suspect transitioning out may be slightly different depending on a large variety of factors but maybe how children are raised to socialize in a traditional sense. To be fair its been many years since I've been in school but there's probably still a bit of a lean for activity based socializing for boys vs girls but hopefully that's changed.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone go through Montessori education until age 12 (end of grade 6)?

#100

Post by em-bee »

foobarian wrote: post #39
JustAPerson wrote: post #27

Yes, I went to a Montessori school through 6th grade (now 25 years old). I have mixed feelings about the experience. I agree that it did well to set my up academically. I ended up going to middle/high schools that were relatively average academically, so I was pretty strong in all subjects in comparison to my peers. Ultimately I went to a very prestigious college and now work in a wonderful finance job I love. Howeve…

We have a Montessori nearby we considered, but ultimately decided it was too risky due to the small class size - if we went in blind and ended up with a bunch of kids ours didn't get along with it would be painful to roll back. The local public school seems to be fine (this is elementary/middle grades). Thinking about going from there to a more elite private high school though, biggest downside being that it will req…

i am very confused by the reasoning for your choice. i believe the smaller the class size, the less likely there are going to be any problems. for one, the teacher will have more time for each child and be able to notice and deal with conflicts, and also your child will spend more time with the same kids, and so they will have more opportunity to get along.

but most of all, i do not believe that children can not learn to get along over time. so any issue with kids not getting along is going to be temporary.

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