Montessori Madness

[pmcd9]

Video Link

Watched this Montessori propaganda video that someone posted on Facebook.  The narrator really makes it sound like a cult.  A lot of what I heard sounded like a terrible idea to me, but what do I know?  Have any of you fine people ever had any first hand experience with Montessori education?

[littlefallsmets]

My girlfriend has considered teaching it and... yeah... it always came off as a little culty to me.

[JorgeFabregas]

My wife went to Montessori school. Her mother worked at one as a business administrator and later school head for many years. Most of the kids/people I've known who've attended one seemed bright, but there's an element of self-selection (class, etc.) that makes causation blah blah blah blah

I don't know that much about it. Never seemed like a cult to me.

[Carlos del Vaca]

Yeah, we looked at a Montessori school for preschool. Letting the kids pick their activities was the big feature. It seemed a bit new age-y, but not cultish IMO.

[greenkoolayd]

...new age-y, but not cultish...

that is the vibe i get, too.

[side_show]

I've had several experiences with Montessori schools and all have been positive.  All my experiences are with kids who went to such schools for early education up to say grade six or so.  When it comes to educational theory, these schools tend to be ahead of the curve and were doing things 20 years ago that public schools are implementing now.  At least locally these schools were the answer for families of children who didn't function well within an institutionalized system (wait, which children do function well in an institutionalized system?), but these days, thankfully, public schools are becoming less institutional as well, so now the primary benefit of a Montessori school is the small class sizes.  All the kids I've seen who transition from Montessori to public school are typically on the same level or slightly ahead of their classmates cirriculum-wise, so I suppose that's a good sign.

[Asherdan]

My experience with them, although our boys were ultimately channeled in a different direction, is that they do more good than not-good. At that age, you're making a developmental and personality match-up. If the kid fits, wear it and don't worry.

But yeah, they do lean real heavy on the "we're special" around the ones I've been backed into.